Watercolor Workshop in Santa Barbara, California, the American Riviera
Painting Workshops.
When quality matters!
When quality matters!
Painting Tours: USA – Santa Barbara-Shari Blaukopf
With breathtaking coastal mountains to the east and sublime beaches to the west, Santa Barbara is one of the most beautiful places in California. With its perfect Mediterranean climate, Santa Barbara is a little gem with lush gardens and distinctive white-washed, terracotta-tiled Spanish architecture. No doubt that it deserves its name of “American Riviera”.
Day 1: Orientation Meeting and Welcome Dinner
5 pm: Meet your fellow travelers, your teacher and your tour leader at our selected hotel for our orientation meeting followed by a welcome dinner.
Days 2 to 5: Sketching in the heart of Santa Barbara
You will sketch in plein-air some of the emblematic spots of Santa Barbara. Here is a non-exhaustive list of some of them:
The Queen of the Missions
The Santa Barbara Mission is known as “Queen of the Missions” for its exceptional beauty.With its grand double bell towers, lush gardens and the majestic San Ynez mountains as a backdrop, the Mission is one of the city’s most picturesque landmarks.
The Rose Garden
We will enjoy a picnic in the Rose Garden, a wonderland of more than 1,500 rose plants. Spring is the best time to see the roses in their full glory. An exceptional foreground for your sketches with the Mission in the back.
The Court House, one of the most beautiful public buildings in America
With its Spanish-Colonial architectural style, dated from 1929, the court house will be the a perfect subject for your sketches: distinctive red tile roof, four-faced clock tower, verdant grounds and sunken gardens, elegant arches.
Inside, you will admire the amazing architecture, including spiral staircases, thick wooden doors, hand painted murals and subtle touches that reveal the building’s historic Spanish roots. You can even climb to the top of the 18th century clock tower for breathtaking panoramic views of downtown Santa Barbara.
Spanish Colonial Village
Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, this adobe building from 1820’s was an affluent Spanish-Mexican-style home that became the social, political, and cultural center of Santa Barbara.
Santa Barbara Wharf
From the oldest working wharf in California, you can sketch amazing views of the blue Pacific Ocean, breathtaking views of the harbor and beaches backed by the Santa Ynez Mountains, while enjoying salty breezes and soaking up the sunlight.
During the week: Wine Tasting
The ebb and flow of ocean breezes makes the Santa Barbara Wine Country region a jewel in the crown of California viticulture. At the end of a sketching day, we will treat you for a wonderful wine tasting experience of some local wines. We will enjoy different wines accompanied by some finger food, in a private setting just for our group.
End of Day 5: Show and Tell and Farewell Dinner
Afternoon:
It is time to finish up some of the paintings started this week. The sketching workshop will end with a little “Show and Tell”. We will then treat you for the farewell dinner before saying goodbye.
Day 6: Departure
You can leave at your convenience after breakfast or extend your stay to enjoy this wonderful city. If you live close to Santa Barbara, you can leave after the farewell dinner the night before.
Shari Blaukopf – Travel Sketching in Watercolor: USA – Santa Barbara
About the Workshop:
“I’ll teach you techniques for capturing the close-up and colourful in this wonderful town, as well as the distant and scenic on the magical coast of Santa Barbara. In true travel sketching tradition, we’ll pack light — carrying a small bag for art materials and a folding stool (that will be provided).
This workshop is designed to give you confidence sketching wherever you are, gazing at a street scene or the way the light grazes the trunk of a tree. We’ll work spontaneously, and I’ll show you how to keep your watercolour sketches fresh and colourful. Each day will start with a short demo and end with a critique, hopefully while sitting in a shady courtyard with a glass of wine in hand. As part of a small group, you’ll have plenty of individual attention as we work on value studies, composition, simplifying a scene and capturing the essence of a place. We’ll focus on having fun while we sketch, recording as much as we can as we move around town. The aim is to have you return home with a fat book filled with fresh and colourful sketches”.
About Shari Blaukopf:
Shari Blaukopf is a Montreal-based workshop instructor, watercolor painter and sketch blogger. She loves to teach, travel and fill sketchbooks with her observations — skills she’s channeled into creating online sketching courses at Learn.shariblaukopf.com. Shari is also the author of The Urban Sketching Handbook: Working with Color. She’s been active in the Urban Sketchers community since 2012 and has given many watercolor workshops both on her own and internationally through the Urban Sketchers Workshop Program. Her watercolors are in corporate, government and private collections in North America and abroad, and she’s a signature member of the Canadian Society of Painters in Watercolour. You can follow her sketches on her blog at shariblaukopf.com or on Instagram @sharisketcher.
Price and What is included
April 3-8, 2022 with Shari Blaukopf: Travel Sketching Watercolor Workshop – Max 15 Participants–SOLD OUT
April 8-13, 2022 with Shari Blaukopf: Travel Sketching Watercolor Workshop – Max 15 Participants–3 spots left
Price: $1,590 (Hotel is not incl., see below).
Includes
- A welcome reception
- 2 dinners: one welcome dinner on day 1 and one farewell dinner on day 5
- 1 picnic lunch
- Wine tasting
- All art classes (daily demos, one-on-one support and instructions)
- The use of folding chairs
- Complementary snacks and drinks brought to the painting sites
- A tour leader throughout the week
Excludes
- Your hotel. The teacher and the tour leaders will be staying at the www.hotelsantabarbara.com. We have booked a block of rooms for the participants who wish to stay there. If you are interested, call the hotel directly and make sure you tell them you are part of the group French Escapade. Please do not book the hotel online but call Melissa Escalante directly at (805)-957-9303.
- Some meals (the ones not listed as included)
- Painting supplies (but folding chairs will be provided)
How to Book
1To hold your spot, please fill out the reservation form below and send us a $600 deposit.
Note that the deposit is not refundable but is transferrable. See our Cancelation Policy below.
2Once you have submitted your reservation, you will receive a confirmation email with the details on how to submit your deposit via one of these 3 methods:
– by check (if you live in Canada, it needs to be a money order)
– via ZELLE (free instant money transfer offered by all major US banks)
– by credit card
– by bank transfer
3The remaining balance will be due 3 months before departure.
Cancellation Policy
| If you cancel a US workshop: | Cancellation Fee per Person |
|---|---|
| More than 90 days before departure | The $600 deposit is forfeited (however $300 can be transferred to another trip with a departure date within 1 year of cancelation date) |
| 61-90 days before departure | 50% of total cost forfeited |
| 31-60 days before departure | 75% of total cost forfeited |
| 0-30 days before departure | 100% of total cost forfeited |
| If French Escapade cancels | You get a full refund |