Floral Fusion + Intro to Nature Journaling Snapshots

“Eighty percent of success is showing up.”

~ Woody Allen

April was very busy seeing me conduct two workshops, with one being a full day workshop.

Floral Fusion One Day Workshop

The first workshop, ‘Floral Fusion’ was my first one day workshop which was an expansion of my Spring Flowers workshop, held late last year. And that workshop focused more on art and drawing skills, rather than journaling (of course any drawing skills can help our journaling). I did pack a lot in those few hours and a number of participants requested another workshop. We did cover a lot of ground in the initial, shorter workshop, and I felt that I needed more time to get across some of the more complex skills. And so Floral Fusion: Nature Journaling Workshop for Beginners was born, allowing me to get across successfully those more complex drawing techniques and skills across to all participants.

With the one day workshop, I created a ten-page workbook for participants to follow along during the workshop and to allow them to be able to take it home and practice those techniques and skills after completing the workshop.

We covered a number of topics encompassing a wide range of techniques. The workshop started off with our warm-up and basic drawing exercises, and then went to a process for drawing a single flower, and finally onto multiple flowers with an introduction to ‘foreshortening’. Foreshortening is when flowers are seen from different angles, like from the side or tilted. And it can be quite tricky to master drawing flowers when they are like this. We also covered quite a number of different shading techniques with pencil, coloured pencil and pen techniques like hatching, etc.

Lastly, we covered shading and blending using watercolour pencils without water and also blending using a refillable water brush. This is a simple way to introduce watercolour medium into your journaling without the overwhelm of having to learn to use brushes and watercolour paint. Using watercolour pencils coupled with a refillable water brush is also quick and versatile for nature journaling.

I delivered the workshop over five hours with a lunch break in-between. Again, it was a day jam-packed with information and a pretty full room too. The atmosphere was so much fun and everyone was so friendly, supportive and encouraging to each other, which made a huge difference and set a really wonderful vibe and atmosphere conducive to learning.

Below you’ll find a few snaps and some kind words about the day. Needless to say, I think after hosting this workshop, I’m looking to create some shorter, more focused workshops to hone in on specific areas that participants could do with some extra practice in. as there just wasn’t the time to go too much into depth on any one technique.

I was once again blown away by the level of enthusiasm and how well everyone was able to grasp and apply so much in such a short time. The results again were amazing and I know that some have already taken those skills and practiced and have already seen improvement in their drawing and journaling skills.

Logan Arts, Introductory Nature Journaling Workshop

This three-hour introductory workshop was a collaboration with the Logan Arts and the Logan City Council, as part of the Slow Arts and Crafts Saturdays program. The workshop was held outdoors at the Kingston Butter Factory, as part of the KBF Precinct.

Participants were treated to a spectacular morning of clear, blue skies and situated under magnificent towering eucalypts, next to Scrubby Creek tributaries.

Once again, all participants were so enthusiastic, friendly and encouraged each other. Considering it was a beginner workshop, the standard of drawing and journal entries was high and everyone was pleased with their results, reflected in the great feedback I received. Another successful workshop and happy participants!

Photos by Reeves and Kerry Warnholtz

So thank you to all participants who came along to these workshops! I am appreciative that you took the time to come and learn, and that you showed great enthusiasm with a spirit of learning. And mostly, that you slowed down, became present and had fun.

A Lesson on Consistent Practice

Lastly, I just wanted to finish by sharing a little about one of the participants who came to both workshops, as well as my Spring Flowers workshop last year. The reason I wanted to share this (and have done so with her permission), is that this participant, Caren, has made wonderful progress, which started at the Spring Flowers workshop.

At the end of the introductory workshop, Caren showed me the work she had been doing and how she’s progressed. She was genuinely elated at how far she’s come and what she’s creating. And it felt so good to see her joy!

Of course I was absolutely thrilled. And as a teacher, this is what is the most satisfying. To see participants not only actively take part in workshops, but also to take that learning home and continue to practice, hone their skills and then see the results of their efforts.

The lesson is, regardless of your skill level or wherever you start, consistent and persistent practice is the only way that you will improve your skills. It doesn’t matter how many courses or workshops you do – it’s about how you apply what you’ve learned on a consistent basis. We’ve all been there and done that, myself included, i.e. taken a myriad of courses and not applied what we’ve learned.

So if there’s anything I can impart, is to keep going back over material from your workshops, regardless of who you’ve taken them with, and practice those skills and take them into the next workshop or learning and keep building on those skills. What you will find is that different teachers will show you different techniques and skills, and the practice of these varied skills all help to improve your drawing, art and journaling. They all intersect.

Lastly, I will be holding more workshops and am in the planning phase of what workshops to hold and when. So if there’s any area in particular you would like spend more time, or any particular technique and/or skill you would like to try, shoot me an email at hello@kerrywarnholtz.com and let me know.

Until next time, please enjoy…

…good things.

**P.S. Want to know when the next Nature Journaling workshop is happening? JOIN MY MAILING LIST

**P.S.S. Want some regular encouragement and support with your nature journaling? JOIN MY NATURE JOURNALING FB GROUP