Field Sketching

We are in week 2 of my online class Field Sketching for Landscape Painters. The idea for this class came from two of my students who expressed concerns about their drawing skills and the challenges of working outdoors. One of the things I have noticed over the many years I have painted plein air and taught plein air painting is that most students are not really ready to take on the rigors of outdoor work. Most do not have the drawing skills, but those who do, fair much better. That combined with my interest in 19th century landscape painters and their working methods, led me to design a course which would give students some basic skills in drawing the landscape as an important prerequisite to painting it.

Our text for the class is John Ruskin's The Elements of Drawing which was so influential for American landscape painters in the 19th century. Combining Ruskin's drawing exercises with other assignments, students are building drawing skills for creating form, understanding value, and learning to slow down to appreciate and understand Nature as artist/naturalists. Here is some of their work.

Caroline Simmill, Moray, Scotland

Ash tree- Ruskin exercise
Caroline Simmill

Brian McGurgan, Astoria, NY

Ruskin exercise
Bea Lancton, Fredericksburg, TX

Ruskin exercise
Jamie Kirkland, Santa Fe, NM

Ruskin exercise
Jamie Kirkland

Jan Delipsey, Dallas, TX

copy of Wm. Trost Ruchards drawing
Phoebe Chidester, Clearwater, FL

Ruskin exercise
Phoebe Chidester

Kathie Wheeler
Viroqua, WI


Sara Lubinski
Brownsville, MN

Student Drawings

My online class Drawing & Painting Trees started last Friday. I am so pleased with the work the group is doing, so I wanted to share some of it with blog readers. In the first week, we are studying the concept of taper-the diminution in size from trunk to limb to branch to twig, as well as using Ruskin's Elements of Drawing to do some drawing exercises. Although students are encouraged to work from life, I have also posted many examples of 19th century drawings so that students can also make copies, a time honored way of learning. Students are using pencils and charcoal. This is just a small sample of the many drawings the group has produced over the last six days.

Judy Warner, Harvard, MA

Judy Warner, Harvard, MA
A Ruskin exercise

Tom Peterson, Canton CT

Deb Mason, Fredericksburg, TX
copy of a Jervis McEntee drawing


Sandra Daunt, New Ross, Ireland

Jamie Kirkland, Santa Fe, NM
Ruskin exercise

Jan DeLipsey
Dallas, TX

Julie Davis, Austin, TX
Ruskin exercise

Chris Chisholm, Tyngboro, MA
Copy of William Trost Richards drawing

Phoebe Chidester
Clearwater, FL

Rose Tanner, Banff, Canada



Anne Marie Propst, NC
Concord, NC