Instructor: Doug Pifer

PVMN Re-Cert Eligible

Registration is required. Please register below.

On Sunday, March 10, 2019, Doug PIfer will lead a workshop “Drawn from Nature by J. J. Audubon.” The workshop will be held in the upstairs classroom at Cool Spring Preserve from 9-11 am.

A professional artist, writer and naturalist for over 40 years, Doug Pifer will dress in period clothing such as J. J. Audubon would wear, and will bring two of his own life-size bid paintings, done using the same methods Audubon used. Then, using an artificial bird instead of a dead one, Doug will demonstrate how Audubon created his drawings by pinning the bird to a grid, arranging it in a life-like pose, and then drawing the bird on another piece of paper using the same size grid.

Participants will then have a chance to try Audubon’s technique for themselves. They will be able to play with the same artificial bird until a consensus is reached on how it should look on the grid. Then using their own materials they can draw their own interpretation of the artificial bird.

Drawing skills and styles will naturally vary. There is no right or wrong way to do this. The point of the workshop is to understand the painstaking way Audubon worked in the field, often under unfavorable weather and lighting conditions, to create all 435 original drawings that appeared in his masterpiece, The Birds of America.

Registration is required for this one-of-a-kind workshop.

Please contact Krista Hawley at adultprograms@potomacaudubon.org or 681-252-1387 with any questions you may have.

All fees are non-refundable.