A million leaves! A Plein Air Workshop with 2026 Artist-in-Residence Esteban del Valle
Two-day Workshop: Saturday, June 27th & Sunday, June 28th, 2026, 10:00AM – 4:00PM

Have you ever gotten all set up with your painting tools, stared into the dense foliage of a stunning tree, and said to yourself, “There’s no way I’m going to be able to paint a million leaves?” Well then, this workshop is for you! Come join me in an exploration of mark making and gesture as a way of capturing the rhythm and feel of a beautiful landscape. Our approach will live somewhere between representation and abstraction — less concerned with pictorial representation and more interested in using the landscape and the act of looking as a catalyst for mark making. This two-day workshop begins with black-and-white drawing media on paper, focusing on line and mark making to communicate texture, distance, and mood while working en plein air with tools such as pen, ink, graphite, and marker. On day two, we expand into mixed media drawing tools — including watercolor, ink, gouache, colored pencil, pastel, or conte — using color expressively rather than to render a traditional pictorial landscape. Both days combine outdoor work with classroom time for sharing, discussion, and brief introductions to relevant art historical and contemporary examples.

Costs: $115 Members / $130 Non-members
Enrollment Cap: 10
Level: Open to all painters of any skill level

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Bio: Esteban del Valle is a Brooklyn, NY based interdisciplinary artist originally from Chicago, IL. He received his M.F.A. from RISD and has exhibited his work and produced murals internationally. His work has been featured in various publications, including Hi-Fructose, Boston Globe, and Washington Post. Del Valle has been the recipient of several visual arts residencies and fellowships including Skowhegan, the Fine Arts Work Center, Smack Mellon,and The Daniel F. Breeden Eminent Scholar Chair at Auburn University. Del Valle also has original work in several permanent collections including the Urban Nation in Berlin, Germany, The Zimmerli Art Museum in New Brunswick, NJ, and the Provincetown Art Association and Museum in Provincetown, MA. In 2021, he received the inaugural commission from the Provincetown Public Art Foundation, and in 2024, he served as Artist in Residence at the University of Tennessee School of Art in Knoxville.