Botanical Illustration Weekend Field Workshops

Spring 2005-2012

(Click on the photos to see a larger version.)

In order to help nature enthusiasts and artists alike to better appreciate the ever changing blooming periods in the Mojave Desert, Donald Davidson started to teach in 2005 what has now become an annual event, Botanical Illustration Weekend Field Workshops at the Desert Studies Center at Soda Springs (Zzyzx, California). These college level field courses have been made possible through the cooperation of the Extension Offices of California State University, San Bernardino and the University of California, Riverside.

2012 SCHEDULE:

BOTANICAL ILLUSTRATION OF DESERT FLORA
Friday, March 30, 8pm, through Sunday, April 1, 4pm, Desert Studies Center, Mojave National Preserve, Zzyzx, CA. This workshop will be as much a course in "art for botanists" as it will be "botany for artists." It will take place during the height of the desert blooming period, so participants can look forward some very exciting plein-aire drawing and watercolor painting! In addition, the basics of line control, proportion, color, focusing/perception skills and plant identification will be reinforced with detailed dissection work in a well equipped lab.

Learn how to draw artistic and realistic flowering plants in a manner designed to understand the form, function, and identification of native plants. Practice in pencil, pen, and watercolor. Prepare to:

Focus on comprehensive line drawing stressing contour, volume and perspective.

Make drawings of minute structures to full-scale renditions of plants.

Understand how artistic and scientific skills work together.
Note: This field study is based at the Desert Studies Center (of California State University) located within the Preserve at Soda Springs (Zzyzx), about a three-hour drive from Riverside. The course fee includes two nights' lodging at the Center (dormitory rooms & some couples rooms), and meals starting with breakfast Saturday through lunch on Sunday. Participants will be sent information via email about the Center and what to bring with them. High clearance or 4WD vehicles are desirable but not required. Visitors not permitted.

Art X454.5 (1 unit), Fee: $325 / $305 each for couples and family members / $295 each with PINE discount, REG #114-CPF-F61, (credit & non-credit).
To see more information about the class and to register, visit https://www.extension.ucr.edu/enroll/catalog/olr_course_details.php?crsid=245 or call 800-442-4990.

Beavertail by Anthony Gavin III	Encelia farinosa by Sandra	Francy drawing cactus on a ridge	Encelia farinosa by Anthony Gavin III
Heliotrope and Yerba Mansa	Yerba Mansa by Julie Draper	Dissection of Desert Mistletoe	2006 class in the lab
Mistletoe by Hira Walker	Dissection of Oenothera deltoides	Dissection detail of Oenothera deltoides	2006 Class Photo
Field sketching	Cleomella dissection	Bigelow's Monkeyflower - Mimulus bigelovi	Kennedy Mariposa detail
Claret cup	Painting rock daisy	Big Bend National Park 2007	2006 students in the field

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Last updated: 13-Mar-2012