Two New Books to be released at Sketcher Fest Edmonds

 Mark your calendar! The public release of my two new photo books on plein air and travel sketching takes place on July 19-21 at Sketcher Fest Edmonds.

I will give a 15 minute presentation with Q&A about my books at the Sunday Sketchbook Fair and Art Market at the Edmonds Waterfront Center on Sunday, July 21 at 12:30pm. Purchased books may be signed upstairs at table #18 throughout the day.

The Sketcher Press Bookstore at Graphite Arts Center will have copies for sale July 19 & 20.

Small Format Watercolor Workshop - January 3, 2024

   

Small Format Watercolor Workshop 

Join us January 3, 2024 at 6:30pm PST

Ready to have a fun hour or two with other creatives painting watercolor? We had a great time in December so let’s do it again! Live online and interactive.

In this workshop “small” means 5x7”, 8x10”, 9x12”

You may want to choose the smaller format for three reasons:

1. Limited display space.
2. Cost of framing.
3. Practice for a larger composition.

Join me from the comfort of your own home on Wednesday, Jan 3, 2024 at 6:30pm PST

Paint along, ask questions about watercolor materials, methods, etc. Get some unique tips and hacks from experienced artists.

Wednesday, January 3, 2024

6:30 PM – 8:30 PM PST

Live from Michele’s NW Studio via Zoom

All levels,  Ages 14 through adult

Tuition: $45 for a 2hr. class on Zoom, replays available 

Payable by Zelle, check 

What color scheme would you choose?
Original watercolor by Michele Cooper (5x7”)

Message me on my Instagram/Facebook or email me (michelec12@gmail.com) with YOUR NAME AND EMAIL to get access to our live interactive watercolor workshop on Zoom.

What’s next?

After I receive your tuition, name and email address, I will send you preliminary instructions and handouts.

I will send you the Zoom link a few days before the workshop

Wednesday, January 3, 2024

6:30pm PST

You will need:

A stable Wi-Fi connection 

A laptop with webcam, tablet or smart phone

Optional: AirPods, headset

About 5 minutes early on Wednesday, you may join the Zoom meeting. I will let you in from the waiting room. Make sure your video is on and your audio is off until you want to speak. Smile and wave to greet your art friends. Text where you’re from in the Chat.

For approximately the next two hours:

1. Enjoy the demonstrations by Michele
2. Paint along (have paper, paint, brushes and water ready)
3. Ask questions about watercolor

If you want to paint along you will need:

Three pieces of 140# CP or 140#Rough watercolor paper

(one 5x7” and one 8x10” and one  9x12”)

Watercolor paints and brushes

(materials list, handouts, references sent upon registration)

Just use what you already have. Here are some options. 

My Instagram 

https://www.instagram.com/michelecooperart

My Facebook page 

https://www.facebook.com/ArtMicheleCooper

Can’t wait to see you soon !

Sketch & Paint Watercolor One Day Workshop-December 13

  This event has finished

Snowy Winter Watercolor Greeting Cards

Join us Dec. 13, 2023 at 6:30pm PST

Ready to have a fun hour or two with other creatives painting watercolor? We had a great time last year so let’s do it again! Live online and interactive.

Join me from the comfort of your own home on Wednesday, Dec 13 at 6:30pm PST

Paint along, ask questions about watercolor materials, methods, etc. Get some unique tips and hacks from experienced artists.

Wednesday, December 13

6:30 PM – 8:30 PM PST

Live from Michele’s NW Studio via Zoom

All levels,  Ages 14 through adult

Tuition: $45 for a 2hr. class on Zoom, replays available 

Payable by Zelle, check 

Message me on my Instagram/Facebook or email me (michelec12@gmail.com) with YOUR NAME AND EMAIL to get access to our live interactive watercolor workshop on Zoom.

Sketching
What’s your favorite water soluble ink?

What’s next?

After I receive your tuition, name and email address, I will send you preliminary instructions and handouts.

I will send you the Zoom link a few days before each Wednesday, 6:30pm PST, (December 13 and/or January 3)

You will need:

A stable Wi-Fi connection 

A laptop with webcam, tablet or smart phone

Optional: AirPods, headset

About 5 minutes early each Wednesday, you may join the Zoom meeting. I will let you in from the waiting room. Make sure your video is on and your audio is off until you want to speak. Smile and wave to greet your art friends. Text where you’re from in the Chat.

For approximately the next two hours:

1. Enjoy the demonstrations by Michele
2. Paint along (have paper, paint, brushes and water ready)
3. Ask questions about watercolor
4. Try using a water brush. Pentel Japan Aquash Water-Brush set of 3 types   https://a.co/d/5NhBF0d

If you want to paint along you will need:

Two pieces of paper, one mixed media and one 140# CP watercolor 

Water soluble  Ink—either a fountain pen, dip pen, or office type pen

Watercolor paints and brushes (see #4 above)

Just use what you already have. Here are some options. 

My Instagram 

https://www.instagram.com/michelecooperart

My Facebook page 

https://www.facebook.com/ArtMicheleCooper

Can’t wait to see you soon !

Winter 2023 Watercolor Mini Series Live and Interactive on Zoom

 A. Michele’s NW Studio Mini Series Live and Interactive on Zoom Starts Feb 1, 2023

2023 Winter Watercolor Mini Series - 4 watercolor classes live and interactive  online - Replays Available 

Wednesdays 6-9pm PST

2/1, 2/8, 2/15, 2/22-2023

Tuition: $160 for 4 classes on Zoom

Payable by Venmo, PayPal, check **

Format and details:

• This is a live online group watercolor class.
• All levels are welcome.
• Live lessons will be recorded and available for replay.
• Among other skills we will be focusing on brushwork, shadows and reflections 
• Each lesson will be approximately 3 hours including a 1 hour offline assignment.
• You will be able to see a close view of the instructor's workspace.
• You will be able to share your work in a private online notice board with other students.
• You will receive a supplemental email each week with a homework assignment.
• All handouts, links and recordings are found in the course portal.

**Enroll now:

Please send $160 for Feb 2023 watercolor mini series (4 weekly classes)

1. Venmo (@Michele-Cooper-49)
2. Paypal (https://www.paypal.me/michelec12)
3. Check to Michele Cooper

Please email me for further assistance michelec12@gmail.com

My Instagram 

https://www.instagram.com/michelecooperart

My Facebook page 

https://www.facebook.com/ArtMicheleCooper

B. Intermediate Watercolor-In person 

A19.23.WI

Michele Cooper

Fridays, January 27 - March 17, 2023 (8 sessions)

10:00 AM – 1:00 PM

Kirkland Arts Center, Skylight Studio

https://www.kirklandartscenter.org

Intermediate, Ages 14 through adult

$375.00 $337.50(members)

This class is full.

Join the waitlist 

 

Free Zoom—Sketch and Paint Watercolors — December 28

 

Join us Dec. 28, 2022 at 6:30pm PST

Ready to have a fun hour with other creatives painting watercolor? We had a great time last month so let’s do it again! Live online and interactive. Free.

Join me as the days get a little bit longer this Wednesday, Dec 28 at 6:30pm PST

Paint along, ask questions about watercolor materials, methods, etc. Get some unique tips and hacks from experienced artists.

Message me on my Instagram/Facebook or email me (michelec12@gmail.com) with YOUR NAME AND EMAIL to get free access to our live interactive watercolor tutorial on Zoom.

You may leave the comment, “Sketch and paint, yes!” if I already have your email address and I will send you the details and links.

What’s your favorite water soluble pen/ink?

What’s next?

After I get your name and email address, I will send you the Zoom link for Wednesday, 6:30pm PST

You will need:

A stable Wi-Fi connection 

A laptop with webcam, tablet or smart phone

Optional: AirPods, headset

About 5 minutes early on Wednesday, you may join the free Zoom meeting. I will let you in from the waiting room. Make sure your video is on and your audio is off until you want to speak. Smile and wave to greet your art friends. Text where you’re from in the Chat.

For approximately the next hour:

1. Enjoy the demonstration by Michele
2. Paint along (have paper, paint, brushes and water ready)
3. Ask questions about watercolor
4. Try using a water brush. Pentel Japan Aquash Water-Brush set of 3 types   https://a.co/d/5NhBF0d

If you want to paint along you will need:

Two pieces of paper, one mixed media and one 140# CP watercolor 

Water soluble  Ink—either a fountain pen, dip pen, or office type pen

Watercolor paints and brushes (see #4 above)

Just use what you already have. Here are some options. 

My Instagram 

https://www.instagram.com/michelecooperart

My Facebook page 

https://www.facebook.com/ArtMicheleCooper

Can’t wait to see you Wednesday!

Fall Schedule for Weekly Watercolor Classes, 2019

After enjoying a summer full of family and art adventures of my own, I am excited to share more new watercolor adventures with students in my weekly classes.

Fall Schedule 2019:

Stanwood/Camano Island: Watercolor, All Levels
A Guilded Gallery
10/24 - 11/21---------5 weeks
Thursdays, 10am - 1:00pm
Register online or Call to register:  (360) 629-2787

Kirkland, WA: Intermediate Watercolor

Kirkland Arts Center
9/27 - 11/15-------8 weeks
Fridays: 10am - 1:00pm
Register online or Call to register: (425) 822-7161
Email: info@kirklandartscenter.org

Kirkland, WA: Introduction to Watercolor Workshop - Beginning Level

Kirkland Arts Center
11/16 - 11/17------2 days
Saturday and Sunday: 10am - 4pm
Register online or Call to register: (425) 822-7161
Email: info@kirklandartscenter.org 

Skagit Valley College - Mt. Vernon, WA

Watercolor Painting - All Levels
9/25 - 11/13 -------8 weeks
Wednesday Evenings: 6pm - 9pm
Register online or Call to register: 360.416.7638
Info:  email Courianne.Williams@skagit.edu

Palette Layout and Colors
(Please email michelec12@gmail.com for current layout and colors)

Materials List

Holy Smoke! Intrepid Sketchers make their First Steps Into VisualJournaling, a 10x10 USK Workshop

Saturday, August 25

Seattle wasn't its usual bustling self with sidewalks and parks full of locals and tourists enjoying the last weekend in August. Unhealthy air quality caused by smoke from wildfires burning in Canada and multiple states has taken its toll on all outdoor activities for the past few weeks. Air quality announcements advise people at risk to stay indoors. How would this work out for beginning students coming to my USK 10x10 First Steps Into Visual Journaling Workshop?

I handed out badges and pencils as my full class arrived. We loaded up on coffee, quiche and breakfast goodies from the Grand Central Bakery and pulled up our seats at the long wooden table in the Arcade. I had planned for everyone to start the day with some quick warm up exercises. We covered materials, lettering, simple figures, how to use watercolor pencils with or without pens, and more!

Warm up exercises and getting to know our materials

Many of my students were healthy enough to brave the unhealthy air for just a 10 minute dash out into the square for some first steps in sketching figures. They were practicing my patented 6-stroke method!

 
In my bag was a packet of handouts with illustrations on brick buildings and alleyways.

I had planned to go out onto the cobbled square with my students around noon for a demonstration and assignment but the air quality app I was using was in the orange zone; hazardous, limit outdoor activity, no strenuous exercise!

I stepped out of the big glass doors onto 1st Ave S. to check on the visibility and smoke factor for myself. As you can see, there was so much haze that things started fading out only a block or two away. There were so few people in this usually busy Seattle tourist area that you would never know that it was a summer weekend in August. Even Occidental Square had few people other than a food line provided by local charities for the homeless.

So it was on to plan "B". Just in case we were smoked out, I had a digital handout ready. I sent step by step instructions to everyone's smart phones illustrating how to take the first steps into drawing and painting cars. I call it Cars: Inside the box. I demonstrated each step. Carefully avoiding the "P" word (perspective) the approach is to draw and connect simple shapes. Everyone amazed themselves with their results. You can see how well they've done when you see the "throw down"  below.

I asked everyone to share their favorite sketches of the day on the old wood bench in he Arcade.

Intrepid new urban sketchers meeting the challenge safe inside the Grand Central Arcade

Thanks to my fantastic students and everyone at the Grand Central Building for accommodating the weather situation. I loved sharing some tips and techniques with this group and can't wait to see you at the next USk Seattle outing! You have what it takes to be an urban sketcher wherever you go! You took off smokin'!

Thanks also to Tina Koyama, who popped in to cover this event for Seattle Urban Sketchers blog.

Cooking up a Surprise in Hip and Historic Columbia City

In a show of solidarity with our fellow sketchers in Porto, Portugal, Usk Seattle met in the Columbia City neighborhood today. We knew that the participants at the Porto Symposium were attending workshops and sketching on the street in Portugal at this very same moment.

The hip and historic Columbia City Neighborhood at Rainier Ave and Ferdinand

A sketchers' party on the street.

Kate made badges and signs for our "Porto Pity Party" and Michele and Kate cooked up a surprise for those who met at "Geraldines" corner this morning. There were fresh baked Portuguese style pasteis de nata and our own Starbucks coffee to start the day. Patrick, USkSeattle friend and baker, came through with the tasty egg custard tarts. Thank you, Patrick! In true urban style, we spread a Portuguese print tablecloth over the Seattle Times newspaper box (Hi, Gabi!) and everyone helped themselves.

The Myers Music Street Clock leaned over in curiosity to get a closer look, much as the Clerigos Tower in Porto curiously peered at what was going on around it. (A nod to Isa Silva for a witty symposium logo)

The clock across the street was once located on 1st Ave

As we walked down Rainier Ave toward the Columbia Branch Library, Kate and I talked about the dramatic changes in the neighborhood since it was built. The branch's landmark 1915 building is the smallest of the libraries built for Seattle with gifts from philanthropist Andrew Carnegie (1835-1919).  The branch itself dates to 1909, two years after Columbia City was annexed into Seattle.

Sketching the Carnegie Library front door and patron

Carnegie would be astounded at how the library is used today.

Not only can you pick up a great book for your summer reading, you can play a game of chess, catch up on your email, research anything online or even engage in a popular art activity.

You can download and print a coloring sheet for your branch. Coloring sheets are available for all 27 Library locations. What a great way to start your urban sketching skills!

Download the coloring sheet

We are also celebrating the 9th Anniversary of the founding of Seattle Urban Sketchers. Kate had signs made of for that, too, which we proudly displayed at our sketchbook throwdown. See Kate's blog post with more photos.

Then we had lunch at Pagliacci.

Free Kickoff Event at Daniel Smith, Inc on March 3–Join Us!

I am honored to be teaching one of the workshops for beginners. 

For the second year, USk Seattle is taking part in 10x10, the worldwide initiative to offer educational workshops wherever sketchers live. Launched in celebration of Urban Sketchers’ 10th anniversary in 2017, the program brings a variety of courses on urban sketching techniques taught by talented local instructors in their home cities.

All workshops are on Saturdays, 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Registration begins Sunday, March 4, 2018, 9 a.m. The cost is $60 each.
UPDATE: My workshop May 19, 2018 (#8 First Steps into Visual Journaling) is FULL
Wait list taken. Please send your request to usk.seattle@gmail.com , and you will get a response regarding your status on the list. 

A free Program Kickoff Event will be held March 3, 4:30 p.m., at Daniel Smith’s Seattle store. (Although the kickoff is free, registration is required.) Meet the instructors, see their sketchbooks, and learn about the workshops before registering. The kickoff will be followed by an unhosted, informal “drink & draw” at a nearby location, which will be another opportunity to talk with instructors who attend this optional event. Hope to see you there!

Street corner sketch by Michele Cooper 

Please see the Seattle blog for workshop details and registration information.