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June 9th, 2026

Expressive Skies Sketch & Stroll

Our second Sketch & Stroll of the year opened with perfect cloud-sketching weather and a great turnout!

By The Art Toolkit Team

Various watercolor paintings and sketches are spread across a wooden table. Some pieces depict landscapes and abstract colors, while open sketchbooks showcase additional artwork. A hand is visible pointing at one of the painted pages.

Last Saturday, June 6th, we hosted our second Sketch & Stroll event of the year at Tyler Street Plaza, right by our retail shop in downtown Port Townsend.

Though rain was in the forecast, the sun came out and created the perfect moody clouds for the theme of this Sketch & Stroll. We were thrilled to have upwards of 25 people join us, with art supplies sprawled over the weather-worn picnic tables in the plaza!

A tranquil seascape featuring a calm water surface, a sailboat in the distance, and fluffy clouds scattered across a gray sky. A lone figure stands in shallow water, with distant forested shorelines visible on either side.
Moody sky with perfect clouds for sketching an expressive sky.
A diverse group of people sits at a wooden table in an outdoor setting, engaging in art activities. A woman wearing a colorful striped sweater stands, facing them, gesturing animatedly. Trees and a building are visible in the background, creating a lively atmosphere. Art supplies and coffee cups are scattered on the table.
Sketch & Stroll participants gathered for Maria’s expressive skies sketching demonstration.

Art Tookit Founder and Expeditionary Artist Maria Coryell-Martin led with an introduction to skies, including some of her favorite color mixes and washes—such as mixing Ultramarine Blue and Burnt Umber to create cloud gray.

A woman with curly hair and a rainbow-striped sweater demonstrates a painting technique while holding a palette of paint. She appears engaged and is speaking into a microphone. In the background, there are hints of outdoor scenery and signage.
Maria demos color mixes and washes for skies with a water brush and Folio Palette.
A lively outdoor gathering with a diverse group of people seated around tables, some engaged in an art activity. A woman stands in front, enthusiastically holding a sketchbook and demonstrating techniques. Trees and buildings form the backdrop, while others watch and participate.
Maria shares pages from her sketchbook filled with direct watercolor paintings.

Sketching on Location

After the demo, participants dispersed around the plaza and onto the beach, sketching skies on their own, and creating some truly beautiful paintings!

A person's hand holding a red pen is writing in a sketchbook. The pages feature watercolor wash in shades of blue and gray, along with handwritten notes in blue and red ink. The background shows a hint of outdoor seating.
A person holding a watercolor paintbrush is painting in a small sketchbook filled with blue and gray watercolor landscapes. A palette with various colors sits nearby on a green table.
A person holds a sketchbook, showcasing a light watercolor landscape with soft gray skies and gentle green hills. The scene captures an outdoor setting, with a hint of cloudiness.
A hand holds a paper as it is being painted with watercolor. The scene includes soft colors and abstract shapes, alongside a watercolor palette and a pencil on a bright green table. A cloth bag is also visible in the background.
A person's hand, wearing a ring, holds a waterbrush over a sketchbook. Nearby, a watercolor palette filled with vibrant colors sits on a green table. Other art supplies are scattered around.
Watercolor paintings featuring various cloudy sky scenes, showcasing different shades of blue and gray. One panel includes a distant boat on the water. The artwork is displayed on a wooden surface with a palette visible in the background.
Accordion-style sketchbooks are great for capturing a range of subjects from one vantage point.

We concluded with a sketchbook throwdown, where everyone laid their sketches on a picnic table to admire each other’s work, and then gathered for a group photo. Many of us headed to Maria’s Salish Explorations exhibit afterwards in the Flagship Landing Building next door. The exhibit runs through July 31st, 2026.

A group of diverse individuals poses together outdoors, holding up various artworks, papers, and sketches. They are gathered near a waterfront, with cloudy skies and a modern building in the background. Everyone is smiling and wearing casual attire, some with hats and sunglasses.
Sketch & Stroll participants joined together at the end for a group picture!

This Expressive Skies Sketch & Stroll was a great introduction to painting clouds. For more in-depth learning, or for anyone who couldn’t attend the event, we invite you to check out Maria’s online workshop, Cloudscapes: Paint Expressive Skies in Watercolor, to paint along at your own pace and for recommended supplies for capturing the view above!

A serene watercolor landscape featuring a small sailboat on calm waters under a cloudy sky. Shades of blue and gray dominate the scene, with hints of green from distant trees lining the shore.
Expressive skies direct watercolor painting from the event by Maria Coryell-Martin.

Thank You!

Thank you so much to everyone who came out and painted with us! Stay tuned for more upcoming Art Toolkit events here—our next event is Art in the Park at Chetzemoka Park on Wednesday, August 5th from 1pm–2pm, and we’d love to see you there.
An artist sites on a rock, dipping a paintbrush in a Pocket Palette.

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