High-Desert Light & Monumental Form

Dates Apr 26, 2027 – Apr 30, 2027
Location Sedona Arts Center & off-site locations
Tuition $805.00 Register Now

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About this class

Overview

High-Desert Light & Monumental Form A 5-Day Intensive Plein Air Workshop with Carol L. Douglas
April 26 – 30, 2027 | Monday – Friday

Times and Locations to be announced

There is a reason Sedona is on every landscape painter’s bucket list: the glowing sandstone, deep canyon shadows, and high-altitude light are unmatched. But capturing that extraordinary environment requires more than squeezing bright paint out of a tube—it demands a smart strategy for high-desert light and scale.

Instead of painting a “postcard cliché,” you will master a step-by-step framework to interpret intense sunlight, mix luminous earth tones, and translate colossal geology into strong composition. You’ll leave Sedona not just with finished paintings, but with a repeatable protocol you can apply to any landscape in the world.

What You Will Learn:
• The Color of Desert Light: Most artists who travel to Sedona encounter a specific technical wall: shadow areas turn into flat, muddy, dark holes, while sunlit rock faces turn garish or oversaturated. This is the perfect place to master the color of light.
• Taming the Red Rocks Palette: Mix nuanced earth tones and clean landscape greens using deliberate temperature shifts.
• Simplifying Massive Geology: Translate complex rock formations into powerful compositions, and master the brushwork skills to bring them to life
Who Should Attend:
• Level: Intermediate and advanced painters seeking clear structure, fresh confidence, and elevated mark-making. Basic painting experience is required.
• Mediums: All painting mediums are welcome.
• Class size is strictly capped to guarantee individualized instruction

About the Instructor: Carol has decades of experience as an artist and teacher. Her students range from early beginners to seasoned pros, and many have gone on to great success as artists, both professionally and personally. Beyond just painting skills, she shares with her students a broad knowledge of art history, color theory, the science of painting, the business of art, and much more. Learn more at her website or painting blog.

Ready to join?

Register Now

$805.00

Available

Carol Douglas

Carol L. Douglas is a painter and teacher from Rockport, ME.

A native of Buffalo, NY, she studied painting with her father and then at the Art Students League in New York. She lived and worked in Rochester, NY for 25 years before moving to Maine in 2016. She is an experienced plein air painter and teacher, and also has an extensive background teaching and painting figure.

She teaches a popular week-long workshop in Acadia National Park every August and workshops elsewhere in the US, including at Sedona Arts Center in March. She has a gallery at 394 Commercial Street, Rockport, ME.

Douglas has participated in Sedona Plein Air Festival for several years. Her painting blog, https://www.watch-me-paint.com/blog/, is one of the top-rated painting blogs by Google metrics.

Here’s a clothing packing list for a week of onsite painting. Many of you are familiar with Sedona and prepared for all eventualities, but for those of you who aren’t local, expect to be warm during the day and cool at night. Obviously, you should watch the weather and adjust to match:

Click on the links below:

Clothing List

If you have room in your kit, feel free to bring more than one medium. I’m happy to instruct in any of them.

Here’s a supply list for oils

Supply list for watercolors

Supply list for pastels

Supply list for acrylics

Questions? Contact Carol at malerincd@gmail.com

Cancellation Policy

Registration

Each student must enroll individually
Students may register online or by calling the Sedona Arts Center’s Administrative Offices in the Art Barn, toll-free at 888-954-4442 or locally at 928-282-3809
Visa, MasterCard, Discover, or American Express are accepted or student may pay with cash or check by registering in person during office hours at the Art Barn

In-Person and Online Workshops

Payment in full is due upon registration, or a payment plan can be put in place by the student upon check-out through Sezzle.
There is a $125 Cancellation Fee for any cancellations made before March 26, 2027. Remaining balance will be refunded.
There are no refunds after March 26, 2027.
If Sedona Arts Center cancels the workshop for any reason, all payments made will be refunded in full.

Note: If traveling to Sedona, we strongly urge students to purchase refundable airline tickets or travel insurance in case of workshop cancellation due to insufficient enrollment or other unforeseen changes. Sedona Arts Center is not responsible for non-refundable ticket purchases or lodging fees.

Important Message

The Sedona Arts Center is not responsible for providing make-up sessions or issuing refunds, credits, or transfers for courses cancelled or missed as a result of illness, emergencies, or other events beyond our control. There are absolutely no refunds after the cut-off date for any reason, unless the Sedona Arts Center has to cancel the workshop, then all fees paid will be refunded in full.

Jody Augustadt, Gorham, ME

“What a magnificent experience this has been to meet everyone, be a part of a week of learning, living, creating, with like-minded artists and a teacher with significant range… I loved our week together and would do it again in a heartbeat. I learned so much from Carol, which was the icing.”

Rebecca Phillips, Roslindale, MA

“The week started as an exercise in frustration, for all the varied reasons that make watercolor challenging. But Carol, with a sprinkling of her magic dust, managed to turn it into a high by Friday afternoon.”

Matthew Menzies, New York, NY

“When I arrived and met my classmates and began in foundations year, I realized that very few of the incoming students had had an opportunity to receive this traditional type of art training that I had with Carol. That early school work demonstrated that my drawing and color theory skills were far ahead of the curve, and I was very well equipped to deliver quality projects and work, and receive strong grades and professor reviews. Whenever anyone asks me about why and how I became a professional painter, and so successful at a young age, in the New York City art world I always tell them the incredible story of a master painter named Carol Douglas, who showed me a thing or two and then cut me loose with a paint brush and palette.”

Carol Durkee, Waterville, ME

“I have found many new and needed ways of working in watercolors, specifically the prep work… I never had lessons that included these steps, only workshops that were demos, then you were on your own, then a time of critique. Found out ideas that should have been done before I painted. So now I feel I’m on a good new track.”

Mark Gale, Austin, TX

“As I was prepping paintings for a pop-up market, I found myself including a couple from a painting series I took with Carol Douglas. Then I realized I have sold paintings from in-person workshops and other Zoom series with Carol. Yes, she will make you a better painter. She also has an uncanny ability to deliver intangible extras. Students from across the country meet, form relationships and stay in touch. Carol alums have an enduring community. And sometimes, that piece you thought was just a class exercise, ends up in the hands of a happy customer.”

Beth Carr, Avon, NY

“A big part of the attraction of Carol’s classes and workshops are the super cool people I have met. The other part is Carol’s tenacious preparation, taking the teaching seriously and pushing her curriculum through new levels by listening to students’ needs and by Carol’s own insatiable quest for knowledge. The enthusiasm is contagious." “The only reason I have any knowledge about art is because of Carol; I didn’t learn jack in art school.”