Earth Day was spent with my former students in San Francisco, for a Sketch & Paint Field Trip at one of the city’s iconic landmarks, The Conservatory of Flowers.
I brought my Winsor&Newton travel watercolor set from @ifexph. It’s so cool—it’s inspired by whiskey painters’ kits, and even has a flask for water!
Just a little trivia: Whiskey Painting originated in Europe hundreds of years ago. Painting kits were made small enough to fit into the artists’ shirt pockets. Small sheets of watercolor paper were used to make miniature paintings. Painters would meet at their local watering holes, and would chat and paint while drinking whiskey, even dipping their brushes into their drinks! 😳 I would have loved to join these drink+paint dates!
Anyway, back to our little field trip. We went to the beautiful Conservatory of Flowers, located in the Golden Gate Park. It’s my new fave spot in the city!
The Conservatory houses an interesting selection of tropical flowers and plants.
One of the participants in my recent workshop at Little Paper Planes, Ali, is a guide at the Conservatory, and she gave us a tour of the greenhouse. I personally loved all the textured leaves!
Look at this crazy monstera and these super tiny orchids!
The Conservatory is divided into three temperature-controlled sections to mimic the climate in the Highlands, Midlands, and Lowlands. It’s interesting how plants in the lowlands section had much larger leaves that the plants in the other sections because since they’re in the lower parts of the forests/jungle because they need to create more surface area for photosynthesis.
After the tour, we found our own little corners and continued to paint our favourite plants. We sketched and painted on Arches Watercolor Postcards (cold-pressed, 300 gsm).
Sap green is one of my favourite colours from this Winsor and Newton artist palette. I mix in a lot of black to deepen the shadows. The set comes with a flask, which is perfect for carrying water for painting, and the cover doubles as a mixing cup. The set also comes with 12 professional grade watercolours (half pans), and has both cool and warm primary colours. 
There are two fold-out mixing palettes attached to the base. It’s my fave Winsor & Newton set so far because it’s so compact and convenient. To order this watercolor set, contact International Fine Paper Exchange on Facebook or Instagram.
Philodendron
Fishtail Palm
So happy that my friends Pepel, Pat and their kids Viviana and Stephan joined us for the day. The kids painted their own faves, too! 
Visit the Workshops Page to join the next Sketch & Paint Session!