Join me and botanical artist Patricia Larenas on May 7 in Atherton, California for a daylong immersive workshop on drawing trees for nature journalers and field sketchers.

Our location is a historic estate, Holbrook Palmer Park, now a popular tree-filled community park, between South San Francisco and Palo Alto off El Camino Real. Our host is the Atherton Arts Foundation, which operates an art classroom in one of the historical buildings in the park.

We will begin in the morning learning the key components of drawing trees realistically by their species and character in a field setting. You will learn:

• Not to be intimidated by their complexity;

• To train your eye to study the major branches and the structure of the tree and one really important “rule” that will set you free;

• Important clues on how to capture trunks, branches, and twigs, and how to shade them correctly; and

• Tips on capturing trees and their features quickly in the field.

After these classroom practice sessions, we’ll enjoy lunch (BYO), and then sinceit’s always best to draw trees from life to understand them—photos don’t capture them accurately—we’ll spend the afternoon in the beautiful grounds of the park putting our new skills to use.

Each participant will receive an accordion book handmade by Patricia, which you can use to begin capturing your trees.

Cost: $75 per person, including handmade accordion book & morning tea / coffee; scholarship applications will be accepted. Please email with your request.

Location: Holbrook Palmer Park, Atherton, CA

Time: Sunday, May 7 — 9 am to 3 pm Pacific time

What’s Included: Instruction with Roseann and Patricia; handmade accordion book; tea and coffee and snacks mid-morning break.

What to Bring: Your journaling kit; sun hat; lunch in a small container (for the fridge). Optional: portable chair if you have one (the park has some benches and tables, and folding chairs in classroom may be available to move outside).