Birding and Art at Tucson Bird Alliance’s Mason Center with Donito Burgess and Russell Kahn

Thursday, October 29, 2026, 8am-10am

$60 per person

Instruction/Outing begins at 8am, ends at 10am

Trip Difficulty: Easy. Will involve a short walk on well packed, flat paths. Bathroom on-site.

The Mason Center is located in NW Tucson in the middle of pristine saguaro-ironwood habitat which is visited by 132 species of birds as well as many iconic desert mammals and reptiles. Feeding and water stations, as well as pollinator and habitat gardens surrounding the facilities support seasonal and year-round populations of wildlife. Coffee and pastries will be available while we enjoy the birds and art instruction. Loaner binoculars are available upon request. Limited to 12 participants.

Participants will learn how to capture what they see on paper from nature. They will focus on the flora and/or fauna around the center and do sketches in black and white, and do a longer work in oil pastel.  The instructor will cover demos on how to use line, value and composition as well as color with layering and creating color wheel and monochromatic scales. I will do a demo on how to capture a plein air scene from nature.

• Supplies:

  • Drawing paper or sketch book approx. (9 x 12)

  • Drawing Pencils (4B-6B)

  • Kneaded eraser

  • Oil Pastel (Cray Pas Expressionist ) at least 16 colors , Cray Pas Junior. Set , at least 16 colors

  • Canson Mi-Teintes – Black Paper, or a variety pack of different neutral colors (9 x 12)

  • Baby Wipes (to clean hands)

  • Folding chair

  • hat/water

  • Drawing board

Limited to 12 participants.

Leader: Donito Burgess (dburgess@tucsonbirds.org) and Russell Kahn

Header Image: Hummingbird by Laura Milkins

Body Image: Cactus Wren by Laura Milkins