Last Saturday morning greeted us with a brisk biting wind and a mere 20°F.
Brrrrrrr.
We love nature but we’re not crazy…so we decided to sketch from inside the nature center.
Each of us found a spot we wanted to paint from and got to work.
The hard part is balancing sketchbook, paints, brushes, water, etc, etc…
The group did an amazing job painting the display of mama deer and her baby. We started with the lightest colors first, then medium, lastly darks and then touched up spots with a micron pen. We also used masking fluid for baby’s spots. Still life is much more difficult than landscape, but you couldn’t tell that these artists weren’t pros!
Here is a close up of my baby sketch.
And a close up of mama.
Photo by Alanna. (Michelle, Myself, Alanna, Katie, and Amanda)
We had fun, even though we couldn’t paint outside. That didn’t stop us from taking a hike afterwards though!
Hopefully next month will be warm enough to be outside. Maybe you would like to join us? No experience necessary!
Let's Paint Nature! 
What dear sketches! (pardon the pun.) Terrific sketches. How nice to have such a terrific display. In the wild, the deer would never sit still enough to even start a sketch – you might get a flash of white tail as they dash by.
Thank you! I’m so lucky to have access to such a great place! There are so many displays, next I’ll try fox family. 😀
Thank you, again, Christine. I enjoy all of the artists who attend your sketch classes and learn so much about having no limitations for myself. I must admit, I thought this would turn out to be a lesson in what I cannot do, but a usual, you showed me there are no limits — with your guidance — when it comes to making satisfying artwork and having so much fun!
You did AWESOME…and I’m not just saying that! We challanged ourselves and it worked. You grew your artistic muscle! Way to go…gold star!
I too learn a lot from the other artists..much fun!
Lovely!!!
Thank you very much!
Cute. We had a deer lounging in our yard all afternoon…didn’t occur to me to sketch it!
Wow how lucky!!! Right out your own window! Maybe leave a few apples for them and they will stay long enough to sketch!
Wonderful! It’s enormously inspiring to see artists up-and-at-em, and out on a frosty Saturday morning honing their skills. Loved the sketches– so fresh and alive. Congrats to all!
Thank you Mark! We enjoy painting in nature and believe it or not, people at the schoolhouse LOVE watching us paint too! I try to get them to show up the following month 😉
Wow what a neat way to spend time with a group and there is nothing like sketching from life – great drawings!