Sketching workshop: Contrast in Nature - free community event

Join artist Amanda Beck for an inspiring sketching workshop at Broughton Sanctuary on Saturday 8 August. Come along and take part in easy-to-learn sketching activities which focus on catching the light in nature - celebrating the light and hope that rewilding brings to restore our landscapes. 

If we want to create light in a sketch we need contrast. Light shines brightly against the dark. This 2 hour sketching session starts with a, short demonstration on how to use soft pencils and a putty rubber to create a tonal sketch.

You'll be encouraged to experiment with mark making and be given time to complete a sketch inspired by the diverse trees and foliage in Broughton Sanctuary.  Broughton has planted over 330,000 native trees and shrubs which includes 400 hectares of rich biodiverse woodland. So there's plenty to choose from!

Saturday 8 August

There are two sessions available:

Morning Session 10am – 12pm

Afternoon Session 1.30pm – 3.30pm

Please only book one session as the afternoon is a repeat of the morning session.

Suitable for all levels, including beginners. Children aged 12 and up are welcome but must be accompanied by an adult. 

What to bring

• An A5 sketchbook
• A few pencils (2B, 4B & 6B suggested but bring what you have)
• An enclosed pencil sharpener
• A putty rubber if you have one (they'll be some to borrow if not)
• A hard rubber
• A sit mat
• A sun hat and bottled water in hot weather.
• Optional - a small folding stool 

Please note:

There will be some walking to nearby sketching spots. There are toilets.We will be sketching in the shade but bring supplies for a potentially hot day! 

About Amanda Beck

Amanda is an Artist and illustrator using mainly watercolour to capture urban and landscape scenes on location. She loves to sketch from life, capturing the moment and energy of people and places.

All her ideas begin life in her sketchbook. She finds great joy being out in the open air, absorbing the atmosphere and watching the light change, so she paints outdoors whenever she can.

Amanda has over 25 years of teaching experience running courses for museums, community groups and arts organisations. Before relocating back to Yorkshire, she spent 10 years working for the University of Oxford museum’s service based in the Ashmolean Museum facilitating arts events, sketching tours and festivals. She has a keen interest in the link between creativity and well being and enjoys exploring this within her practice.

She now teaches regular workshops in venues across Yorkshire. She is also the founder of ‘Skipton Sketchers’ and takes small groups out into Skipton to sketch from life, under the umbrella of Craven Arts House.

About Broughton Sanctuary

Broughton Sanctuary is rewriting the story of nature recovery through one of the UK’s most ambitious and holistic rewilding projects. Since 2021, we have been transforming this historic 1030 ha (app. 2500 acres) landscape - once intensively managed farmland - into a thriving mosaic of woodlands, meadows, and wetlands.

Across 80% of the land, we have reintroduced beavers, rare breed livestock, and hundreds of thousands of native trees, while continuing to produce food in ways that support soil health, biodiversity, and long-term ecological resilience. As wildlife returns and communities reconnect with the land, we are guided by science, collaboration, and care, building towards our vision where people and nature flourish together.

This event has been funded by the White Rose Forest through their Trees for Climate programme, part of the Government’s Nature for Climate fund. The White Rose Forest is the Community Forest for North and West Yorkshire, and provides support and funding for woodland creation across the region as well as initiatives that bring people and nature closer together.

www.whiteroseforest.org