An Imaginary Visit Through Autumn - Part 1
Learn to quickly capture the visual awesomeness of Autumn on your sketchbook pages!
Autumn seems to herald a time for slowing down, for the weather to cool off, and for life to begin to settle in before winter’s white mantle is upon us. Whether you are captivated by the brilliant jewel tones, the smell of wood smoke, the cooling temperatures or something else entirely, Autumn brings us gifts that seem to require savoring...before the season is gone all too quickly!
Working in a sketchbook is a wonderful way to capture Autumn’s all-too-brief visit so we may enjoy it time and again simply by revisiting our pages. Working on colorful vistas with the oranges, reds and rusts to the last of the harvest’s bounty of pumpkins and squash, and so much more, there’s plenty to fill the pages.
We’ll work on creating colorful landscapes from a distance as well as close-ups of leaves, pumpkins, mushrooms, and pears. What trip through Autumn would be complete without a visit to the Farmer’s Market to enjoy the last of Summer’s goodies? There might even be a scarecrow or three in there!
We’ll learn how to:
- capture color, detail and texture convincingly but without the huge time investment
- create pages that capture the festival’s beauty
- simplify a scene down to its essence
- eliminate unnecessary detail
Our focus will be a mix of intimate images as well as larger scenes, giving time and attention to creating our “emotional connections.” Our visit through Autumn will have 4 assignments.
Nearly three hours worth of video demos are provided for all of the assignments so that you can “see” the techniques used. The demos are available for the duration of the class and you can watch them as many times as you wish. You can even use the pause button to paint along side of Laure!
PLEASE NOTE: You do not have to take An Imaginary Visit Through Autumn - Part 2. All class assignments are stand-alone with their own materials and each is independent of the others. I may reference another assignment in passing, but it will not inhibit you from completing the lesson.
Your Instructor
Laure Ferlita is an accomplished watercolorist residing in sunny Florida. Watercolors, nature, travel, painting on location, sketching for the joy of it, and most especially, color, are her passions!
Vibrant color can be found in almost any subject and its shadows. It is her joy to bring those colors to life on paper with some paint and a little water. For many years, Laure worked as a graphic designer, so you will most likely see a strong graphic element in her work.
She started sharing her joy and love of sketching on location over at ImaginaryTrips.com in 2009 and has helped many "travelers" to find their artistic voice since then.
“Watercolor, for me, is the perfect sketching medium." Laure says. “It provides ease of use, quick color saturation, and clean up is a snap and really, you don't need much equipment. After you move past the hype of how difficult watercolor can be, you find out how much fun it is to get out there and actually create on location. It's way too much fun!"
To see more of Laure's work, please visit her blog, Painted Thoughts or her Instagram account at @laure.ferlita.