Live Events
Join us for creative courses, workshops, retreats, festivals, and crafting sessions.
Revel in the beauty of autumn leaves! Learn how to realistically render their fleeting fiery colors and crisp textures onto paper. Whether you’re a seasoned artist or just starting to explore botanical drawing, this class offers a joyful, step-by-step approach to capturing fall’s magic.
Explore the graceful curves, unique silhouettes, and intricate vein patterns that make each leaf a tiny work of art. With watercolor washes to lay down luminous seasonal hues and colored pencil techniques to add texture and depth, you’ll learn how to make your leaves leap off the page with lifelike detail.
Draw Botanical Presents:
Fall Foliage: The Art of Autumn Leaves
October 19 & 23, 2025
Draw Botanical Presents:
Botanical Art & Nature Sketching Retreat at the Ashokan Center
October 31-November 3, 2025
Join us at the beautiful Ashokan Center for a weekend of immersive nature drawing.
Vern will teach botanical drawing: Basic Watercolor and Colored Pencil Techniques, Color Theory.
Lichens and mosses turn even the barest winter branch into a miniature ecosystem that invites close observation. Take your time, enjoy this meditative study of tiny botanical worlds, and learn how to create their various textures, patterns, and brilliant colors with a mix of colored pencil and watercolor.
Mosses can be spongy, soft, bristly, feathery, fibrous… Lichens can be crusty, leafy, shrubby, powdery, scaly… Bring any* branches from your backyard, and we’ll walk you through the whole process so you’ll leave this workshop with new textural skills in your botanical illustration toolkit.
Draw Botanical Presents:
Lichen and Moss on Winter Branches
November 16 & 20, 2025
Draw Botanical Presents:
Botanical Illustration Intensive Workshop on Kaua’i, Hawai’i
February 9 - 27, 2026
Draw amidst the serene beauty and endless inspiration of the McBryde Garden at the National Tropical Botanical Garden (NTBG) on Kaua’i. This stunning location provides an ideal backdrop for our gathering of plant enthusiasts, eager to explore their artistic side.
Surrounded by a myriad of captivating plants, we’ll also have access to a team of knowledgeable botanists ready to enrich our experience with their expertise. It’s a rare chance to cultivate our skills, unwind, and enjoy ourselves in this picturesque environment. Which fascinating tropical plants will you draw?
Join Vern and friends for a magical, musical art retreat on the car-free island of Hydra, Greece!
More info coming soon!