Join Heather to discover the joy of building a consistent, deeply personal creative practice from the ground up!

Whether you’ve never picked up a sketchbook before, paint purely for your own pleasure, or want to sharpen your artistic skills, this class is for you. A sketchbook is so much more than a book of sketches—it’s a private sanctuary to feed your creative soul, play with new materials without pressure, and gently draw out your own unique style. Over time, it becomes a beautiful living record where you can chart your growth and celebrate your progress as an artist.

In this six-session series, she’ll share low-pressure methods to help you approach the blank page without fear, using your sketchbook as a tangible tool for mindfulness and everyday discovery. To set you up for success, she’ll be providing clear, short tutorials on how to mix and paint with watercolors alongside other incredibly useful sketching tools like ink. 

Both absolute beginners and experienced makers are welcome! Come prepared to create, learn, and discover how a sketchbook can transform the way that you see the world around you.

How to Join: Each session is intentionally designed to build seamlessly upon the last, guiding you toward a sustained studio practice. However, every class is also fully self-contained as a standalone workshop. Feel free to immerse yourself in the full six-week journey or drop in for individual sessions as your schedule permits.

Session Syllabus:

Session 1 (November 2): Sketchbook Creation

We begin at the very beginning: the vessel itself. In this first session, you will learn how to design and bind your own custom, lay-flat sketchbook using watercolor paper and foundational bookbinding techniques. Creating a custom book from scratch is a deeply rewarding, grounding skill that allows you to endlessly tailor your creative space to your own tactile preferences for the remaining sessions and your future practice.

Session 2 (November 6): Bypassing the Blank Page

We’ve all been there: you finally carve out a quiet moment, your supplies are laid out, and suddenly your inspiration vanishes—leaving you staring at a daunting, empty white page. In this session, we will quiet the inner critic and learn how to bypass the pressure of perfection. You’ll be guided through gentle, practical sketchbook exercises designed to kickstart your creative flow, whether you’re returning from a long artistic break or just feeling stuck after a busy week. Using simple prompt-based mark-making, intuitive watercolor washes, and quick-start drawing games, you’ll transform blank-page fear into pure, low-stakes creative joy.

Session 3 (November 9): Tiny Worlds & Pockets of Time

You don’t need hours of uninterrupted free time or large, imposing page spreads to make meaningful art. In this session, we’ll explore the liberating power of working small. Dividing your sketchbook page into tiny, playful grids and thumbnail boxes eliminates the overwhelm of blank paper. Using a simple grid-based approach, you’ll learn how to turn open pages into inviting spaces for mindful, five-minute creative pauses. We’ll experiment with warm-up sketches, intuitive color studies, repetitive pattern ideas, and tiny watercolor landscapes—perfect for building a sustainable, daily sketching habit.

Session 4 (November 13): Fearless Color: Mixing with Joy and Intention

If you’ve ever stared at your palette and felt unsure of which colors to combine or how to start, you’re definitely not alone! This session takes the mystery out of color theory by emphasizing practical, joyful experimentation. Through hands-on sketchbook exercises, you’ll learn the fundamentals of building color harmony and mixing hues with confidence. We’ll play with watercolor washes to create personal palette guides, explore how to fix various issues that arise with color, and discover how to capture the vibrancy of the world around us. You’ll leave with pages of rich color explorations and the freedom to fill your sketchbook without overthinking.

Session 5 (November 16): Intuitive Collage: Letting Go of the Plan

Sketchbooks are meant for raw ideas, messy notes, and pure play—not pristine collections of finished masterpieces. In this session, we’ll fully let loose by using collage and mixed media to help us break free from perfectionism and train ourselves to think differently. We’ll practice  various challenges designed to train ourselves to think differently—such as adding elements one piece at a time under a gentle time limit to prevent overthinking. You’ll learn how to begin a page intuitively, gathering a diverse collection of paper scraps and letting colors and textures guide your hand rather than a rigid plan. 

Session 6 (November 20): The Reflective Sketchbook: Problem-Solving & Layouts

Taking on new concepts in your art can feel challenging, but your sketchbook can be the ultimate tool for navigating those hurdles. This final, inquiry-based session will give you strategies for transforming your pages into dynamic problem-solving hubs. We’ll explore how to design diverse page layouts that combine quick thumbnails with written notes to break down complex ideas and improve your technical skills. You’ll learn how to apply this reflective method to daily warmups, composition planning, and value studies. By mastering this mindful practice, you’ll leave this sketchbook series equipped to explore independently, solve creative problems with confidence, and make more authentic artwork over time.

Sign up here!