This three hour workshop will take place on Saturday 21st June at 6.30pm UK time. There will be a half hour break at 8pm. Recommendations for drawing materials will be provided prior to the course, including AN EXCLUSIVE 10% DISCOUNT CODE FOR WONDERFUL STATIONERY SHOP PRESENT AND CORRECT.
This is a workshop suitable for complete beginners.
During the workshop you will learn the following:
How to break down the form and outline of birds into a series of simple shapes.
How to use that technique to draw a simple bird outline based on a blackbird
How to apply this technique to particular bird species such as wrens and blue- and coaltits/chickadees
How to add the suggestion of plumage to your bird drawings
How to add shading to your illustrations, giving depth to your birds
Tips for collating your illustrations into a nature diary and I'll demonstrate examples to inspire your future illustration projects
The mental health benefits of combining contact with nature and creative activity - how a period of drawing or indeed any craft alters brain biochemistry and how this is enhanced if . In particular I'll explain how several brief drawing sessions per week of of just 10 minutes or so can decrease your anxiety and improve your mood.
Before the course: I'll message you with recommendations for drawing materials
Emma Mitchell is an author, mental health advocate, naturalist, professional illustrator and designer-maker. She studied Natural Sciences at Cambridge, spent time in academia studying molecular cell biology and was an technology consultant in emerging technologies in Silicon Fen until 2008, when her struggles with depression and anxiety led her to begin writing about the positive impact of both nature and time spent creatively on mental health.
Emma has written and presented films for BBC Springwatch and appeared on BBC Countryfile, Radio 4's Woman's Hour and Ramblings. She is a Guardian Country Diarist and has contributed pieces on nature and mental health for the Times, Big Issue, inews & Psychologies magazine.
Workshops
Emma has been teaching creative workshops with a focus on mental health for more than a decade. She taught Anita Rani to cast yarrow in silver on BBC Countryfile and has taught classes at the Victoria & Albert museum, Cambridge University Botanic Gardens and Highgrove.
In Emma's classes students learn the techniques needed to make and draw beautiful things, but crucially she combines this with teaching the science that explains why and how spending time creatively can shift brain biochemistry to improve mental health.
