A walk along the lake shore with sketchbooks

After packing up and cleaning our rooms, we had breakfast, met in the classroom for a few tips and then took a nature walk along the lake shore to find a spot for skeetching.

Stopping to admire all the greens there are around us.

The excursion boat leaves ripples in the lake

The dappled shade from the surrounding forest was welcome on an unusually sunny and warm day.

While we're studying trees, an otter is discovered. Bronze sculptures are to be found throughout the grounds of the North Cascade Institute.

A salamander is caught basking on a warm rock. -photo credit Marvin Yamaguchi

My watercolor lesson on trees; single and in a group

Everyone settles in for sketching in their nature journals

Rita Sketching

I was tempted to do a contour drawing while Rita was focused on her nature journal at the top of the trail from Buster Brown Field.

I tucked this sketch into the fold over part of my handmade accordion sketchbook, ready to add watercolor washes later.

June 28, 2018 = 7:30pm Back in the studio on Thursday night, I did a live broadcast of some additions and corrections to my North Cascades nature journal. See the replay on periscope.tv/michelecoopart

Some souvenirs of our weekend in the North Cascades

My 19 minute demo on Periscope includes tips on making corrections and using watercolor, watercolor pencil and pen.

Rita sketching on a windy hilltop in the North Cascades.

Post Workshop Studio

This morning in the studio I face the aftermath of a weekend in the mountains teaching a nature journaling workshop. We had a great time together making our own journals from the cover to the watercolor sketches and personal notes inside. See my new scarf hanging over the back of my chair? It's printed with a hand painted map of the North Cascades National Park. What a perfect souvenir!

Stay tuned for lots of photos here on my blog and in our Watercolor Workshop Flickr album as well as through the North Cascades Institute and Learning Center social media. Okay, so now back to unpacking!

Check back often as I have more of my sketches to add and will be adding photos that come in from students. I trust they will be sending finished pages from their journals and action shots they took along the way. I hope those who saw the bear captured it on their camera. Workshop students should ask for the private journal link for more than what the public sees in this Flickr Album.

A Forest Discovery

At noon we took our sack lunches on a short trek to Buster Brown field. We spent a wonderful afternoon sketching in the meadow. On the return hike Sylvia and I discovered a bracket fungus growing near a woodpecker hole.

We have some growing on our birch trees, too. I actually saw and heard the northern flicker who made the holes in our tree when he did it.

The fungus in the N. Cascades National Park looked like a set of steps and with the moss covered "porch roof" over the hollow spot, reminded me of a fairy tale house that a tiny gnome might live in.

I added the sketch to my nature journal page for the day along with some swirly gnome-like writing. During lunch I sat on a fallen log, shared by some big black carpenter ants. I'm not sure yet if I'll add them to this spread.

Bracket fungus, lichen and moss share the bark on this tree in the forest.

Nature Trek to a Mountain Meadow

Handmade Nature Journals by my Watercolor Students

On the second day of my Summer Watercolor Workshop at the North Cascades Learning Center, we finished up our journals and took a sack lunch to Buster Brown field for some nature journaling and sketching.

Our naturalist guides Evan and Hannah, gathered our group together at noon and led us up the trail.

We all pretty much stopped in our tracks as the scene opened up and the overwhelming beauty of our outdoor studio revealed itself to us.  After I gave everyone a moment to explore I started my watercolor nature sketching demonstration.

I used my DIY Altoids mini watercolor palette, Fabriano Artistico 140 lb. CP watercolor paper and my Pentel Aquash waterbrush. As you can see this portable set up is easy to use while standing and slips into a pocket or day pack when not in use.

Here are my students working on their watercolor sketches at Buster Brown field. That's Pyramid Peak in the distance. More photos and stories here in my Flickr album.

Yesterday's Drybrush Demo on Periscope

It was fun demonstrating live yesterday afternoon on periscope.tv/michelecoopart 

We had people from Camano Island to Seattle to Virginia to New Zealand watching as I shared some tips on drybrush technique in watercolor. If you missed it, you can still watch the replay.

I enjoyed sharing the process of discovery as I played with a granulating, low chroma palette of Daniel Smith colors. For those who asked, the easel I used can be viewed here.

Thanks again for watching!

"Snowline"--Original Watercolor by Michele Cooper (8x10" on Arches 140lb Rough)

I was inspired by this photo from the North Cascads Institute Instagram. 

A Seasonal Turning Point

The end of November and beginning of December creates a shift in the landscape here in the Pacific Northwest. The North Cascades Pass is now closed until May. Fall colors fade and disappear under new snowfall as the snow line comes down lower into the foothills.  (View and comment on Instragram) Watch live on Periscope at 4:30 today for a watercolor demo of similar scene.

As I sorted through my studio yesterday, I picked up this half sheet watercolor and decided to make a few adjustments. Not a lot, just a few refinements and then signing it. The contrast of soft, rough and hard edges is a challenge to ones watercolor technique, brushwork and timing. Sometimes it takes a while to allow the initial impetus to fade and to see the painting on its own terms.

Inktober Day 7 and 8

Day 7-Lost
Looking out the back door of our cabin and a sunbreak across the path reminded me that not all those who wander are lost.

Day 8-Rock
All the buildings at the North Cascades Institute are beautifully integrated into the landscape. Our front door had this huge rock for a natural privacy screen!