Event Description
In these workshops, participants will be introduced to the media of watercolor pencils in the context of a nature journal, a combination of sketches and text. Drawing skills are helpful but not required. Our goal is to experience the process and to broaden our connections to the natural world. Each week the class will focus on a different aspect of botany and/or landscape elements, techniques, and art elements. Materials will be available for purchase, but participants are welcome to bring their favorite portable watercolor pencils and sketchbook. Each class will build on the class before, so continuity is important if you are a beginner. Please plan to take the classes in succession if possible.
- Dates: Saturdays, February 6, 13, 20, and 27
- Time/Place: 9 am – 12 pm, FGCU Kapnick Center room 124 or 123 at Naples Botanical Garden
- Cost: $35 Members / $40 Non-Members per class
Class 1 (Jan 16): Introduction to watercolor pencils and nature journaling. Observation, techniques, and drawing exercises.
Class 2 (Jan 23): Focus on flowers. Color and color layering.
Class 3 (Jan 30): Looking at leaves. Shapes and relationships.
Class 4 (Feb 6): Looking at branches and trees. Different kinds of lines.
Class 5 (Feb 13): Looking at foliage, bark, seedpods, fruits. Textures and patterns.
Class 6 (Feb 20): Focus on rocks and water. Exploring value: lights and darks.
Class 7 (Feb 27): Looking at landscapes. Using composition and perspective.
Class 8 (March 5): Playing with Mixed Media.
Elizabeth spent her early years in the woods and waters of Iowa developing a love for plants and wildlife that is reflected in her artwork, whether quick sketches or more intensive watercolor paintings. She received her B.A. in art at Florida Gulf Coast University, with postgraduate classes in education. She is especially interested in combining art with other disciplines and using the arts to heal. She is a member of the United Arts Council and was selected in 2011 by the Legacy Institute of Nature and Culture as one of ten Florida artists to participate in the “Greater Everglades Conservation Atlas” project. Her most recent artistic project was to provide line drawing illustrations for the book Florida’s Edible Wild Plants: A Guide to Collecting and Cooking by Peggy Lantz. Elizabeth’s goal is to combine nature and art as a venue to increase awareness, enjoyment, and stewardship of our natural world. A longtime Florida Native Plant Society member, Elizabeth Smith has been keeping a nature journal for several years, publishing her pages in an online blog, A Nature Art Journal: the natural world of Southwest Florida. She shares what she’s learned in workshops and classes, and exhibits occasionally in Naples and Ft. Myers.
To register* for this or any other Lifelong Learning class, workshop or lecture, please call 239.643.7275 or email agrace@naplesgarden.org.
*Please note: The registration process is not complete until payment is received over the phone. Certain classes fill up quickly and we will accept registrations on a first come, first served basis.
