en plein air watercolors

At the beginning of May children had a Pro-D day at school, meaning they had a day off while the teachers went in to prepare of the last weeks of school. A parent asked if I would run a workshop in the morning and with Vancouver's weather being so unusually warm and sunny for this time of year, I offered up a morning of en plein air painting in Lynn Canyon.

I had 9 children come to the workshop and we spent the entire morning painting in the woods.

I decided to take them down to the 30 foot pool, which is a very popular spot on the trails to sit and enjoy the shade and on the hottest days of the summer, take a dip in the cold waters.

I allowed the kids to find a spot amongst the rocks and spend some time sketching in the books I had given them. 

Then when they were ready, I handed them a watercolor palette with the primary colors, brown and black and some watercolor paper I had already taped to a piece of sturdy cardboard. I had taped a piece on each side of the board so they readily had two papers ready to paint.

What a relaxing way to spend the morning and the kids had a wonderful time. We spent over two hours down at the waters edge before it was time to climb up over 250 stairs and make our way back to the studio. By the time we arrived, the kids were famished and ate their snacks while I took the paintings off the cardboards and got some quick photos to share.

There were only a few minutes left of the morning by the time the kids finished eating and some chose to read some of the art books I have on the shelves while others just sketched with pencil or used pen and ink until their parents arrived for pick up.

6 year old

6 year old

6 year old

6 year old

8 year old

9 year old

9 year old

7 year old

8 year old

8 year old

6 year old

6 year old

8 year old, (white pen was added back at studio)

A beautiful day spent making beautiful works of art. 

I'll be heading back into the woods of Lynn Canyon for an entire week of creating art on July 4- July 8 in the "Artistic Nature" summer camp running from 9-12pm. There are two spots left and if you would like your child to experience painting in nature, register at KudzuStudio.com.