Online Class: Nature Drawing | Pinecones & More

Inspired by Georgia O’Keeffe’s collection of natural objects, join us for a focused practice of observational drawing that will highlight seasonal items such as pine cones, rocks, feathers, dry leaves, and seed pods. 

Through hands-on demonstrations of various tools and techniques, teaching artist Sudeshna Sengupta will guide you step-by-step through the process of capturing the complexity and textural details of natural forms like pine cones, dry seed pods, and more using watercolor pencils, charcoal, brush pens, and other various sketching and color-drawing tools. 

Participants are welcome to gather seasonal objects ahead of time to work from, or they can follow along with the demonstration set up by the instructor.

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This class is suitable for youth ages 12 and up. Children are welcome to participate alongside their adults.

Space is limited, reservations required. Please email contact@gokm.org or call 505-946-1000 for assistance with event registration.

Weather permitting. Registrants will be notified 24 hours in advance if the lesson is to be canceled.

Supplies needed for the class: 

• Strathmore 400 series Mixed-media drawing pad or any other brand of drawing pad in any size between 9” x 12” and 12” x 17”. Thicker paper (140 lb or higher) is better.
• A set of 2B, 4B, & 6B graphite pencils and an eraser
• Charcoal Pencils: Medium (2B) and Soft/Dark (4B or 6B),
• Blending stumps (AKA Tortillons, often comes with drawing pencil sets) and or Qtips and tissues or cotton rags (clean pieces of old t-shirts work well).
• Masking tape to keep the paper flat especially is the pad is larger.
• Optional: Newsprint pad for practice drawing, water-brush pens & watercolor pencils, color pencils or conte if anyone wants to add a hint of color, tombow Dual-tip Brush pens in neutral grays and tans, sakura Micron or any other waterproof fine point ink pens for drawing details.

The items above should be available locally or online from Amazon as individual items in the U.S. and in Europe. They can also be purchased online as individual items or as a set from Sudeshna Sengupta’s class-list. (U.S. domestic shipping only).

About the Instructor:

Sudeshna Sengupta’s career as a teaching artist spans multiple decades, continents, and cultures that inform her pedagogy for decolonizing studio art. She received her Master of Fine Arts degree in 1985 from Visva-Bharati, an international university founded in India, by the humanist poet Tagore, the first non-European Nobel Laureate (1913). After teaching art and design at the college level in New Delhi, Seattle, and California, she taught at NMSU-Alamogordo, where she established its first intaglio printmaking studio in 1995. Since moving to Santa Fe a few years ago, she has taught credit courses in online studio art at the Santa Fe Community College. Her etching prints are in the permanent collection of the National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi; Association Musée d’Art Contemporain, France; Kala Institute, Berkeley; Artists Trust, Seattle, Chandigarh Govt. Art Museum, India, Gerald Champion Memorial Hospital, NM, and more. Her etchings and lithographs from the permanent collection of the NGMA have been featured in a major exhibition on Women Printmakers of India in 2024 at NGMA, New Delhi. She also conducts workshops and short courses and presents lectures and community-based art events for various age groups with civic, cultural, and community organizations in the U.S. and in India, often with a focus on multicultural and intercultural experiences that emphasize human, cultural, and environmental connectedness through creativity. To see her art please visit notes-and-doodles.com and Instagram.

This class is being offered on a sliding scale.

$10 minimal fee.

$20 covers the cost of the class.

$30 covers the cost of the class, plus a contribution to support educational programs.

Photo by Sudeshna Sengupta