Whenever I’m at Tanque Verde Ranch, I cannot stop drawing. I cover page after page in my sketchbook with the giant Saguaro cactus and its many spiky cousins. With horses in their corrals, wranglers in their iconic gear, plus sketches of boots, spurs and a great big anvil. I sketch the ol’ homestead on the hill, the lineup at the pancake breakfast, and much, much more.

That’s what I love best about travel sketching, and what I want to share with you. How the act of putting pencil and paint to paper enriches the total experience, and preserves it forever…until the next time.

So let’s meet at Tanque Verde ranch, where we’ll experience together the wild beauty of the desert and the surrounding mountain vistas, which make this place so unique. I’ve designed this workshop to give you not only confidence sketching desert scenes — but also the confidence to sketch wherever you happen to be. I’ll show you how to keep your watercolor sketches loose, fresh and vibrant. And I’ll share my techniques for capturing the beauty that surrounds us, with special emphasis on color and composition.

At the end of the week, my goal is that you’ll return home with a fat book bursting with fresh, colorful sketches — and memories.