New Watercolor Course

Discover Your Place in Nature:
Drawing and Painting from Mannahatta
at the New York Public Library
Creative Learning Program
2024 classes will be announced soon

Peggy will guide participants through the art of wtercolor painting  over six 2-hour sessions. In this course, participants will explore the natural history of Lenape lands in their own neighborhood by drawing and painting the landscape from early maps and engravings. Participants will explore the earliest visuals of Mannahatta, then create drawings and watercolor paintings of what they see in their mind’s eye. We will also look closely at this islad’s magnificent vistas today, and create imaginary views of the landscape before the arrival of the Dutch in 1609. Art materials are provided. 

• Class Format: Hands on

• Skill prerequisites: No prior experience required. This program is perfect for all skill levels.

• Audience: Adults, 50+

• Assistive listening devices available

• Open for registration HERE

If you’ve tried to master transparent watercolor and you still feel lost, this course is for you!

Note: All artwork on this page is by Peggy Roalf

What others have said:
I am the Chair of the MFA Illustration as Visual Essay program at School Visual Arts and have known Peggy for twenty years. I have worked with her in various capacities in the field of illustration, and have seen her work as an artist develop over the years. Her choice of subject matter for…Drawing and Painting Mannahatta, is inspired by exploring the heritage of the Manhattan and Lenape landscape before the arrival of Dutch settlers. Creating landscapes based on historic maps visualized through the imagination will surely engage her students in a journey of discovery, self-discovery, and unearthing perspectives on an overlooked and fascinating subject close to home. —Riccardo Vecchio

Peggy lives and breathes the work she does; it is a marvel watching her enthusiasm catch fire in a classroom. The students she teaches work longer, harder, and with more vision on their art because she has modeled the artist’s calling in action! I’m so grateful our paths crossed.—Genevieve DeLeon, Former Arts & Education Manager, Lenox Hill Neighborhood House

I drew in Peggy’s Café Nietzsche Drawing Club at the Met last winter, so when she announced The Interaction of Watercolor this fall, I jumped. I’ve never painted before; now I’m hooked.—Paula Alyce Scully, photographer

Peggy’s passion is contagious and she is a wonderful facilitator and teacher. Everyone she works with is benefited in some way – often in more than just one area. She does not hold back with her ideas or her talents, and, in sharing as she does, she inspires others towards their own exploration, evolution and advancement. —Katherine Earle, student

Not only does Peggy demonstrate the lesson, but she will come around to every student and help them. When we worked with pastels, I experienced a love/hate relationship with them. First, they are messy and second, they are an amazing medium for painting. Peggy taught us to how easy it was to let the pastel do the work and we will just guide it to make something wonderful or unusual with shadow and light. —Allison Dent, Student

To join the mailing list for updates please contact peggyroalf@gmail.como

For more about Peggy Roalf, see the ABOUT page
For more abut Peggy’s landscape painting, please go HERE

Peggy Roalf reserves the right to alter the workshop in consideration of the group dynamic.

Thanks to an anonymous collector and to Blick Art Materials who funded the cost of art supplies for Finding Your Place in Nature: Drawing from Mannahatta!