New Mexico: A Cinematic Sketchbook

Santa Fe, New Mexico has an unmistakable aesthetic found nowhere else–warm, earthy colors of adobe architecture; dramatic mountains with layers of red, gold and purple, high-desert skies of impossible blue, weathered storefronts that seem to belong to a Western movie. Numerous Hollywood masterpieces have been filmed here from Westerns like “3:10 to Yuma” to historical dramas like “Oppenheimer.”

In this immersive five-day sketching workshop, we’ll draw Santa Fe and its movie set locations, inspired directly from some of the landscapes, towns and buildings that have been featured in classic films. We’ll look at what makes these places so visually compelling—and learn how to capture that cinematic atmosphere in our own drawings.

From our home base at Santa Fe’s historic La Fonda hotel, we’ll sketch adobe architecture and the lively streets around the Plaza, wander through ghost towns filled with nostalgic roadside Americana, and paint dramatic landscapes and limestone cliffs that have provided the backdrop for generations of movies.

Through the week we’ll develop strategies for simplifying architecture without losing its essence, composing scenes with a cinematic sense of framing, and mixing the distinctive colors of the Southwest—from deep terracotta adobe and dusty sagebrush to pale limestone and the intense blue of the desert sky. We’ll explore how drawing on location can make us look at familiar landscapes with the creative eye of a movie director. 

Daily Schedule (*subject to change*)

Day 1 Monday: Intro into a Cinematic Sketchbook & Core Drawing Skills

• Theme: Cinematic Framing & Composition
• Learning Focus: How to select and simplify what you see (Values and Perspective basics)
• Morning: Welcome circle in the studio. Late-morning warm-up exercises at the Santa Fe Plaza.
• Afternoon: Guided sketch walk through downtown Santa Fe. Stops include La Fonda on the Plaza and the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi, focusing on dramatic lighting and architectural scale.

Day 2 Tuesday: History, Wide Open Mesas & True Colors

• Theme: The Landscape of Epic Film
• Learning Focus: Using watercolor to communicate light, mood, and place (Color mixing, water brushes, wet-on-wet, and wet-on-dry techniques)
• Full-Day Excursion: Travel by shuttle to Ghost Ranch—the rugged backdrop for Oppenheimer and classic Hollywood Westerns—to sketch the massive mesas, canyon depths, and open desert skies.

Day 3 Wednesday: Santa Fe’s Cultural Layers & Architectural Sketching

• Theme: Historic Sets & Intimate Spaces
• Learning Focus: Playful architectural vignettes, perspective, composition, focal points, and finding intersections
• Booklet: Architectural Vignettes in Perspective
• Morning: Sketch historic landmarks including the Loretto Chapel, The Pink Adobe, and the oldest house in America.
• Afternoon: Sketch the New Mexico Museum of Art and the nearby Bataan Memorial Building (the interior location for Oppenheimer's intense D.C. hearing scenes).
• Evening: Group share session at the hotel.

Day 4 Thursday: Exploring the Turquoise Trail – Small-Town New Mexico

• Theme: The Frontier & Vintage Americana
• Learning Focus: Expressing depth, dimension, and texture
• Morning: Visit Cerrillos, the historic, dirt-road mining village featured prominently in Young Guns and Dark Winds. Focus on weathered wooden storefronts, western facades, and one-point perspective.
• Afternoon: Travel to Madrid, a vibrant artist community featured in Wild Hogs. Focus on eclectic galleries, vintage signs, and colorful, lively street scenes.

Day 5 Friday: Location TBD

• Theme: Character, Action, and Storytelling
• Learning Focus: Sketching people in motion and narrative reportage techniques
• Afternoon: Final sharing circle and reflection session.

Workshop Schedule:
Sunday Night: Welcome Meet and Greet at 6pm
Monday – Thursday: 9am – 4pm
Friday: 9am – 2pm

*Subject to change*