Octobers always seem so busy and often filled with great plans that interfere with all the wonderful things we'd like to do! If that statement describes you and why you are not able to join me for a week-long workshop on Jekyll Island this October, worry not!

Announcing "An Imaginary Trip To Jekyll Island Online Class!" Registration is now open!

Imagine wading in the lapping waters of the Atlantic Ocean or sitting and sketching the otherworldly shapes of driftwood. Maybe you like the shore-life of wading birds and fiddler crabs.

There's something for everyone!

If you are not able to join me for the workshop the week of October 21st, I hope you'll be able to join me online. Class starts on Thursday, October 31st and will have four assignments to show you the gorgeous beauty of this barrier island.

I hope to see you on the island!

While drawing round ornaments is very fun and satisfying, especially when we add in all the gorgeous details with a little bit of gold and glitter, after a while it can be great fun to explore other shapes and sizes. Using a little creativity and imagination, we can expand on the basic circle to make more exotic shapes!

To do this tutorial, you'll need:

• a circle template OR assorted bottle caps and jar lids in a variety of sizes
• pencil
• tracing paper
• permanent black pen
• watercolors
• eraser

Optional:

• gold gel pen
• white gel pen
• Other metallic or pearlescent pens and markers

Steps:
Draw a straight line on your tracing paper. This is your base line.
Choose a circle on the template or bottle cap. Resting the bottom of the circle on the straight line, draw a circle.
Then move either to the left or right and draw a second circle the same size. See example.
The further apart the circles, the more of an "oval shape" you'll get. Experiment with the width of the combined circles to see what you like best. Add a small rectangle and a circle for the top and you have your first ornament.

In the next example, choose a large circle or lid and again, using a straight line as your base, draw one half of the circle. The circle will be divided in half vertically.
Now move the template or cap and draw the other half so that it overlaps the first half as seen in the image below. Another way to do this is to draw one large circle on the tracing paper and then cut it in half. Overlay the edges until you are pleased with the shape. Tape the edges of the paper to hold the shape.


Make sure to use the straight line as your base to keep the sides even in length.  Add a rectangle, circle and string at the top and you have your second ornament!

One variation on this is to deliberately offset the second half so the "circle" is wider at the top than on the bottom. Play around by moving the template or cap around to get different shapes and lengths.







Moving to a more complex image, let's try stacking the circles to make a longer ornament:
After starting with the double circles like we did in the first example, I added a second row of three circles (second image). I then added a long spike. The second row of circles and spike are the same height as the large circle. This helps to keep things in balance, but it would be easy enough to go much longer with the spiked shape if you wanted to play.

In the last example, I used a row of three circles to get an extra wide ornament. I then added a second row of circles and the long spike shape. Last, I added another circle as a "dome" over the first row of large circles.

There are any number of combinations of shapes you can come up with with a little experimentation!

Let's Add A Little Paint

Since the ornaments are all drawn on tracing paper, turn the paper over and trace the outline of your ornaments onto the watercolor paper. Experiment with different arrangements by drawing thumbnails to quickly see what you like. Avoid drawing all the ornaments the same size and at the same level on the paper. I opted to split my ornaments into two groups to balance my page. Overlap the ornaments for more interest:
Next, paint around the ornaments with clear water and drop in some green watercolor paint. Keep an eye on the edges to keep them soft, as if they're fading away. While the paper is still wet, drop in other colors if you like.

Study a real bulb for ideas on where the shadows fall and where the highlights and lowlights are:

Notice how the lights are different on the frosted red ornament and harder on the shiny bobbles but they all have soft and hard lights in the shapes.

Playing around with color is half the reason I like painting ornaments so I dropped in red orange and pink. I used a granulating violet in the shadowed areas and left white skips for my highlights.

The way the image looks at the moment, it looks like the long ornament is in front of the smaller one. It takes a few tricks to move it to the front of the red ornament!

On the right side, I used cobalt teal blue and violet to paint in the ornament. I left the strip and smaller circles bare until the painted dried and then went back and added orange. I again used violet as my shadow color.

To make the two ornaments on the left look like they were overlapping, I painted the smaller ornament over the large one as if it were not there. After it dried, I added in the details in white pen on the larger ornament with a permanent ink. Once the ink dried, I washed over it with same watercolors we can see in the small ornament.


Technically speaking, there should be swirls on the backside of the smaller ornament, but I found out the hard way the ink in the metallic gel pen was not permanent and there was no way to add the swirls without lifting paint so I opted to leave them out.

If you've enjoyed this tutorial, I invite you to check out the free tutorial, "How To Sketch and Paint The Eiffel Tower," as well as "'Tis The Season Holiday Class" (just click the class title for more info!). We'll be creating awesome holiday art all year long and you can do as little or as much as you want based on the class option you choose.

And once again, I'd like to take this moment to send my wishes for the season's best to you. I hope your holidays are fun, happy, healthy and full of those you love!

From Paint A Festive Poinsettia Online Class

I'm always amazed at how fast the last three months of the year go whizzing by. I start September with the highest of hopes, believing I'm going to get oh, so much done. The next thing I know, I'm staring at the middle of December in the blink of an eye (or so it seems).

Then the pressure starts getting intense...do I have enough time to create a greeting card? What about some hostess gifts? Maybe a few pieces for my Etsy shop?

And then reality intrudes and I realize that once again, I've waited too late in the year to get started. The holiday card becomes a New Year's greeting card, the majority of gifts are store bought and Etsy gets ignored.

Ah, but not this year...or next, I should say!

Paint A Festive Poinsettia Online Class is now open! This class is also part of 'Tis The Season - Year Long Holiday Class over at the Imaginary Realm where you get to choose whether you take one class, three classes, or all of them!! 

Concept art for 'Tis The Season Holiday Class

Poinsettias have been nearly synonymous with the holidays since the early 1900s and because they're such a highly recognized plant, the artist can play with colors, shapes, sizes and it still reads as a poinsettia.

One of my favorite things about this particular plant is the complementary colors of red and green or pink and light green. These colors add a distinctive zing to the artwork that's hard to create any other way! Using an analogous color scheme is another way to jazz up the brilliant jewel tone colors of the leaves.

The Festive Poinsettia class covers drawing your plant on the page, making decisions on what to include and leave out, painting the plant, using your handwriting as fancy lettering and last, how to share your art by making a fun greeting card with a specialty cut and fold to make the edges of the poinsettia really stand out!

So if you're feeling a bit frazzled as you try to come up with an idea for the holidays, come on over and join me at The Imaginary Realm. Just think, this time next year, we'll have created 13 separate pieces of art without the usual stress and strain!

As always, please let me know if I can answer any questions!

It's entirely possible, maybe even probable, that I have all things Paris on the brain these days since I'll be going to teach a Travel and Art Workshop there in October 2018! And what could be more Parisian than the Eiffel Tower?

Along with having Paris on the brain, it seems I have the holidays on my mind as well and what could be more fun than rendering the tower as a gingerbread cookie?!

French tradition calls for placing special treats into a shoe or shoes left by the fireplace. However, I couldn't make up my mind on what kind of shoe to have, so I went back to the traditional stocking instead. Once I chose the stocking, it seemed only fitting to fill it with delectable treats, art supplies and useful things for a trip to Paris (maps, passport and boarding passes)!

Then I decided you all needed to share in the fun and joy with me. So I created a FREE TUTORIAL over at The Imaginary Realm!


The Tutorial also serves as a free preview of the holiday class, 'Tis The Season, where we'll be exploring a holiday theme each month through 2018. If this sounds like fun, you can find more info HERE.

I hope you will come and join the fun, both in Paris and the holiday class!

Concept Art for 'Tis The Season

Have you ever noticed that the less time you have, the more inspired you are or is that just me?

Every year, when the temperatures begin to drop, the leaves begin to change, and the decorations start to show up and I find myself ridiculously inspired—I cannot wait to get into the studio to start creating. I have all kinds of art ideas dancing in my head!

Except...the hours in which to create are usual nowhere to be found.

With all the extra activities going on in November and December, finding or making time to create can get tricky. I find myself up at some absurd hour in the morning or burning too much midnight oil in the hopes of getting something finished in time to use it for this year's holiday season. Sound familiar?

And every year as I scramble to get together an idea for a card to send to family and friends, I vow this is the last time I'm going to do this. Instead, I set a goal that I'll create a piece of holiday art every month so I won't be scrambling in December. Inevitably, or so it seems, as the year steams into the last few months of the year I realize that once again, I've not followed through on my plan and I'm scrambling to come up with some holiday art.

However...this year is going to be very different! Because you and I are going to be making holiday art ALL YEAR LONG! 

Introducing 'Tis The Season, An Online Holiday Class!

Here's the super cool thing about this class—the lessons will come out once a month for the year and there are three different class options that allow you to choose what works best with you. You'll also have a minimum of a year with the materials and depending on the class option, up to two years! If you're traveling when the lesson drops, don't worry. It will be there waiting on you when you're reading to start creating.

In addition, these classes are all about the studio and taking our time. There will be an art element as well as a lettering element to each class. The classes will be posted on the first Wednesday of each month and there's even a bonus class available! There will also be email reminders to let you know when the next lesson is available and to help keep you on track.

Come this time next year, you'll have a year's worth of artwork to choose from for your holiday card and gifts! Sound like a plan? Then come sign up!

You can get the details here. 

I look forward to creating with you all year long!

Blue skies, blue water, and green gardens with every possible color under the rainbow! Sound like a great sketching opportunity to you?

Then come and join me at Selby Gardens! Florida has had an extremely mild winter and everything is bloom in wild abandon. There are so many wonderful features at Selby besides just what's blooming—statues, topiaries, special garden areas, green houses, and a Marc Chagall exhibit!

The koi pond, the bay just beyond the gardens, and the lavender garden are not to missed either. It won't take long to fill our sketchbooks in a place like this!

If you're in the area, I hope you will join me for a one-day class on April 21st, Painting Postcards In The Gardens! (They called it Advanced but it's not. It was just a way to differentiate between the first workshop and this class.) We'll be splitting our time between the classroom and the gardens and hopefully, most of it will be outside! To register for this class, please click this link.

If you're not in the area, you can still join me in the gardens! Introducing "An Imaginary Trip To Selby Gardens!" I'm doing an online class with lots of demos that will focus on using color harmonies, suggesting detail and texture by using broken color washes as well as how to focus in on what really matters to you most so you can get it on the page.

There are now three different class formats that offer something for everyone! To learn more about the class and the new formats, please click here.

Have questions? Shoot me a message via the Blogger contact form over in the righthand sidebar.

I hope you can join me and help me to usher in Spring in all her glorious color!

Wow, it's been a busy week! I hope you can join me for one of the following treats:

Painting A Fabulous Flamingo
These gangly creatures are so much fun to capture on the page! It may seem like a lot of work, but by using broken color washes, it's actually not so hard at all. In this class, we learn to suggest texture as well as work with contrast to give our bird that gorgeous and warm, sunlit look.

If you struggle with developing your drawing skills, this may just be the class for you. I introduce using a simplified grid system that gives you a support system to develop your drawing skills, and also helps you to develop your skills more quickly than tracing an image.

If you'd like to get your pink on and be a fabulous flamingo, come and join the fun here in The Imaginary Realm! 

I will also be teaching this class live at Keeton's Office and Art Supply on Saturday, March 11th! I hope you'll join me if you're going to be in the area! Click here to get the details.

Painting Postcards In The Garden
While much of the country has been dealing with crazy up-and-down temperatures with the occasional snow dump the day after wearing shorts, Florida has already ushered in spring! The flowers are blooming, trees are busting out with new leaves and everything is that bright, brilliant green!

I can hardly wait to go to Selby Gardens on March 10th and 11th for the two-day workshop, Painting Postcards in the Garden! This workshop will cover making friends with your palette, working on location, how to create a more finished postcard (or page) and basic drawing skills. This workshop combines time in the garden with plenty of classroom time.

It's also a wonderful opportunity to soak up some sun, enjoy being outside, enjoying the gardens and spend time with other artists. Interested? Click this link for more info and to register!

Using A Glue Resist With Hand-Lettering - A Free Tutorial!
As promised, I have created a tutorial showing how I used a Tombow® Glue Pen to create a fun resist with hand-lettering. I'm the first to admit I'm not a letter artist as that takes way more hours and patience than I can imagine, but I LOVE to play with letters as an art form.

This tutorial will take you through the steps of setting up a drawing a word and using both water-soluble markers along with the glue resist to get some great effects. There's even an ombre technique in there!

It's FREE and it's available here! (I have no affiliation with Tombow or their products.)


I hope to see you—online or in person—and I hope you enjoy these learning opportunities!

What is it about sunsets that we are compelled to capture their beauty in our sketchbooks or on canvas? Is it the colors, the brilliant light, the fleeting moment that will never be again or is it capturing the memory of the moment?

I think for me, it's a bit of all of the above. There is something poignant about a sunset as it marks the close of a day and all the possibilities it held whether they were capitalized on or not.

The photo reference for this image was taking on the last evening I spent at St. Pete Beach with eight artists back in January of 2015. To say the evening was bittersweet would be an understatement—I so did not want our time to end and yet, it had to.

And while this was not painted that evening, it could have been! You may think capturing something so complex on location would be impossible, but it's not.

It takes some prep work to get the page ready and it takes knowing the steps of breaking down a complex image so that it can be tackled quickly and easily. The other keys are working in a small format along with using select pigments and suggesting detail.

I will be teaching how to "Paint A Fiery Sunset" at Keeton's in Bradenton, FL, this Saturday, February 11th and I hope you can join me! (Please call them to register. Just click on Keeton's to see all the info and the phone number to call.)

But if you're not able to jet into Florida for a three-hour class, you can still learn how...

Introducing "Painting A Fiery Sunset" online e-course at The Imaginary Realm! This class is an Independent Learning Class which means you can start any time and you can keep the video demonstration for one year. The instructions handout is a pdf yours to download and keep forever. You can watch the video as many times as you would like until you get the hang of painting sunsets!

You can sign up for the class by clicking this link. After a few practice runs, you'll be painting Fiery Sunsets in no time and hopefully, some of them will be there in the brilliant light!

Come and join in the fun!

I don't know about you, but every once in a while, life gets obnoxiously tedious with lots of little "events" that I could do without. Things that cause small amounts of stress and worry. By themselves, they're no big deal.

Unfinished Daffs from 2009

But together, it's like being ganged up on and pecked by a bunch of ducks until I'm a bundle of raw nerves. Together, all those events feel huge. Overwhelming.

And that's when I turn to art as an escape.

Back in 2007, when my job was outsourced to another country, I spent 18 months trying to find another. Unfortunately, the economy was in a nosedive and there wasn't much out there. During those months, art became my way of maintaining my sanity.

From 2008

I started sharing my work on this blog and people stopped by to say hello. I found myself with a new community of friends and before I knew it, I was launching Imaginary Trips!

Before I started the trips, I would frequently "run away" to the garden or the kitchen or a coffee shop so I could escape into my sketchbook and away from the worry of trying to find a job in a lousy economy.

What I realized early on, was that I really liked traveling via my imagination! Who knew it would be so much fun. I could go where I wanted, when I wanted and I didn't have to pack a thing!

Imaginary Trips, from the very beginning has been about escape. Sure, the classes are about growing our skills and preparing for a big trip. It's also about going to places we've not been before or are not likely to get to any time soon.

Sometimes, we're not physically able to travel or we can't break from from our obligations and other times, it's not financially feasible.  There are a host of reasons why it makes sense to travel via our imagination rather than in reality.

By going on an imaginary trip, it's possible to control the weather, how long it takes to get somewhere, the circumstances upon which we travel and where we go. We can travel solo or with friends and we don't have to worry about anyone standing around tapping their toe wishing we'd hurry up. There's no rush to get home and we get to sleep in our own beds each night! We don't have to wait for the seasons to change—you can see them all if you want to—on the same trip.

It's also a fabulous way to keep our skills sharp or to continue to grow our skills when we "go on a trip." Especially if I'm preparing for a real trip I have coming up in the future. I find it so much easier to be creative all along rather than to try to get creative right before or during a big trip.

But for me, I think the most important thing about going on an imaginary adventure is that while it lifts me out of my current circumstances, it also allows me control over those circumstances. It allows me to forget about the struggles and worries for those few precious moments I'm in the zone and creating a memory on my sketchbook pages. Stress goes away. Worry melts. Joy comes and infuses the minutes and a sense of balance is restored.

Sounds pretty good, doesn't it?

If you'd like to join in on an imaginary adventure, please join me for "An Imaginary Visit to Yellowstone and Grand Tetons National Park" starting on May 12th. We'll explore the rugged mountains, hot springs, abundant wildlife and delicate wildflowers without having to camp or sleep on the ground! Click the class title for more info.

If you're not able to join in an interactive class, take a look over at The Imaginary Realm for independent learning classes. They're the same as the interactive classes without the time constraints. You work at your own pace and you have access to the materials for a year. Click on the link for more information.

Detail shot of the front cover

If classes are not for you, strike out on your own. Pick a location and decide when you're going to go, how you'll travel and who will be traveling with you. Look for information on the internet about where you'd like to go along with photos in the public domain to paint from and build an adventure in your sketchbook.

In my "spare" time, I've started a journal to chronicle a trip to the Lavender Festivals. I've only just started it and I work on it in starts and stops, but the time I spend playing in that journal are so very important to my wellbeing. It's a relief to "be away" from the daily grind.


Your imagination is the limit!

The Imaginary Realm is live!! The Independent Learning Classes are ready and waiting and I could not be more excited to share this milestone with you! It has been a dream of mine for years  and it's happening now!

Independent Learning Classes are just what they sound like, you learn independently, on your own schedule when it's convenient for you and at your own pace. The classes have the same class materials of the interactive, online classes over at ImaginaryTrips.com. The only that's changed is the format (so you can go at your own pace) and the price! You'll have access to all of the course materials for 365 days!

The classes also have different participation options. If want just the class, you're good to go, but if you're looking for input on your developing your skills and would like to have feedback directly from Laure to help, there is an option for that. If you would like to be able to discuss that feedback in a live situation with Laure, there's an option for that as well.

So far, there are four classes available with more on their way!

Artful Journaling: Foundations
This class helps the beginning journalist to get started and start building the skills needed to successfully create journal pages that are fun and playful.

The class has over 12 assignments and covers everything from tearing paper to building your watercolor skills! Please click on the class title for more information.



Artful Journaling: Explorations
The Explorations class continues to build your skills as we explore various design elements and principles as well as creating word art and textures in on our pages.

Twelve more assignments along with lots of video demonstrations! For more information, please click on the class title.




An Imaginary Trip To New Orleans has to be one of my most favorite trips I've created because NOLA is a super fun place to visit! There's so much to see and do...and eat!

By the time you've explored all six seven(!) assignments, you'll be anxious to stroll through the French Quarter yourself! For now, you can click on the title for more info on the class.



And last but certainly not least, a brand new class, Artful Journaling: Watercolor Beginnings, will be launching on October 30th, and is currently available at a special prelaunch price (50% OFF!).
I am so excited about this class! I've had requests for a class like this for years and I finally the place to host it and the time to pull it together. It's gonna be a blast!

This class is directed towards those of you who wants to get into watercolor and have no idea where to begin! We'll learn about pigments, paper and brushes, how to set up a palette, the differences between mixing color on the palette and the paper as well as working in layers...and that's just getting started!

There will be more than a dozen videos with pages upon pages of information to help get you started on your very own watercolor journey! To learn more, please click on the class title.

Come on over and check out the classes—you can see a the full curriculum of the things we'll cover and or the places we'll visit in each class. I'd love to hear what you think!

All future classes will be announced through the newsletter. To find out about them as soon as they launch, I hope you'll consider joining up here.