From Watching Birds to Sketching and Painting Them: Alex Warnick

Join Alex Warnick, natural history artist and esteemed avian illustrator, as she shows her field sketches and demonstrates and describes her processes of sketching and illustrating birds. Bring a sketchbook and sketch along. The presentation will be of interest to nature journalers, artists, birders who do field sketching but may not consider themselves artists, and birders who are interested in hearing a presentation by an acclaimed avian illustrator. Her works, which have been published widely, are as lively and detailed as famed Roger Tory Peterson and are styled after zoological illustrators Mark Catesby and Jacques Barraband. (See more about Alex below.) She crafts each project around hours of sketching outdoors.

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Artistic processes:

• Demonstration of painting a bird piece
• How to organize a bird piece
• How to observe birds—what to watch for when you are painting
• Depicting birds in the landscape (good for plein air painters)
• The value of documenting birds in sketching and art
• The joy of depicting birds on paper

Technical observations:

• Parts of wings, feet and legs
• Shapes, proportions, and postures
• Special markings
• Flight patterns
• Getting the habitat right
• Equipment needed
• Choosing colors

Conservation concerns:

• The importance and interconnectivity of birds, plants, and insects
• How we can help birds

A special thanks to Sassafras Audubon Society for its sponsorship of this workshop.
Sassafras Audubon is a chapter of the National Audubon Society that serves the Indiana Counties of Monroe, Lawrence, Owen, Greene, Morgan, Jackson, Brown, and Bartholomew.

About Alex Warnick

Alex is based in Columbus, IN. Her paintings have been highlighted in numerous art shows, exhibits, and art websites. Her work has been featured in articles and blogs including a 2017 profile in Audubon.org, “How to Go From Watching Birds to Drawing Them: Sketching while outdoors or even at home will broaden your birding skill set and add a whole new dimension to the hobby.”

Her works have been published widely and exhibited all over the US and overseas. In 2016, she was awarded the Donald and Virginia Eckelberry Endowment from the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University for a six-month trip to the island of Hispaniola to illustrate 31 endemic bird species. A collection of paintings from the trip were published by INICIA in the book Alas & Colores.

Alex grew up in Indiana and began painting and studying birds at young age. She explains, “Birds have always been my mild obsession. In 5th grade, I delivered my career project on ornithology sitting in a giant nest I’d built from willow sticks. I held a pair of binoculars in my sixth grade yearbook picture.” She graduated from Brigham Young University-Idaho with a degree in integrated studio art and an emphasis in scientific illustration.

To register, click the following:

Direct link to register for the Alex Warnick workshop

(Click here if you don’t see the link above)

CURRENT ARTISTS FOR CLIMATE AWARENESS MEMBERS RECEIVE A $20 DISCOUNT on the workshop. To register for the discount, please email art4climate@carolrhodes.net.

Artists for Climate Awareness is pleased to offer this workshop as part of its series to help artists learn how to use art as a way to bring social awareness to conservation efforts in your communities.
As such, a portion of the workshop fee will go toward a Contributors membership in Artists for Climate Awareness. 
Each participant will be automatically considered a member of Artists for Climate Awareness at the Contributor’s level (equivalent to $35) for one year, unless declined. Contributors get workshop and event discounts, news, and enhanced insider participation.