Fridays, May 2 – June 27, 2025
10:00 – 12:30pm
9-week Art Clinic with J. Jordan Bruns
A sketchbook is the perfect travel companion—lightweight, flexible, and ideal for capturing inspiration on the go. But deciding what to fill those pages with, or even which mediums to use, can be challenging. In this Experimental Drawing class, we’ll explore a variety of portable, travel-friendly tools like alcohol-based markers, watercolor pens, ballpoint pens, and more. You’ll discover techniques and approaches that make it easy to create art between sightseeing adventures, helping you make the most of your creative time on your next adventure.
Schedule of Classes
Class 1) May 2- Ball Point Pen- We’ll start our class off with one of the most easily accessible mediums. The ball point pen. This tool, with a little elbow grease, can be used to create a lot of space and texture with a built-up line and mark making.
Meeting Location – Glen Echo Park
Class 2) May 9 – Felt Tip Pen- Not too far off from the Ball Point Pen is the felt tip pen. One of the most common tools of draftspersons and illustrators, you can find Micron Pens in any art store, and they have a consistent and beautiful mark.
Meeting Location – Clara Barton House, Glen Echo Town
Class 3 May 16 – Grey Scale Copic Markers (or similar) – These markers are my absolute favorite medium to travel with. I just use three markers (the Ciao size) and the white of the paper but find that they give me all the range I need to capture the value and look of a location. They are thicker than a Micron pen and have a brush side and a chisel side.
Meeting Location – Brookside Gardens – 1800 Glenallan Ave, Wheaton, MD 20902
Class 4) May 23 – Grey Scale Copic Markers (or similar)
Meeting Location – Brookside Gardens – 1800 Glenallan Ave, Wheaton, MD 20902
Class 5) May 30 – Derwent Intense Pencils – These are another favorite of mine. I typically use them in the studio, but rather than bring a drawing tool and a watercolor set into the field, the Inktense pencils can fill all the rolls.
Meeting Location – Glen Echo Park
Class 6) June 6 – Derwent Intense Pencils
Meeting Location – McCrillis Gardens, 6910 Greentree Road, Bethesda, Maryland 20817
Class 7) June 13 – Derwent Intense Pencils
Meeting Location – McCrillis Gardens, 6910 Greentree Road, Bethesda, Maryland 20817
Class 8) June 20 – Any media
Meeting Location – Garrett Park (Near Black Market Bistro – 4600 Waverly Ave, Garrett Park, MD 20896)
Class 9) June 27 – Any media
Meeting Location – Garrett Park (Near Black Market Bistro – 4600 Waverly Ave, Garrett Park, MD 20896)
Supply List
4H Pencil and eraser
Copic Markers – C3, C5, C7 – I like the “Ciao” size but any size will do. The “C” stands for cool, but if you want warm greys, you can get them instead.
Micron Pens – 05 and BR
Ball Point Pen- Any true ball point pen. Bic will do fine
Sketchbook – This is a personal thing and I suggest looking at a lot of different sizes, paper qualities and styles. I really like Daler and Rowney spiral bound.
Derwent Inktense Pencils – Set of 24 or 36
Watercolor Brushes – Flat for washes and a round for drawing
Water container
Water brush (optional)