SKETCH-BY-SKETCH HERRING COVE
~ A two day workshop with celebrated author & illustrator Emma Fitzgerald ~
Saturday, August 15 - Sunday, August 16, 2026
9:30am - 4:30pm = 12 total hours
Join acclaimed author/illustrator Emma FitzGerald (Hand Drawn Halifax and Sketch by Sketch Along Nova Scotia's South Shore) for a 2 day immersion in sketching on location in the beautiful village of Herring Cove located in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Learn her strategies for letting go of negative thoughts when drawing, working quickly using pen and watercolours in a non-nonjudgmental setting. Both skilled and beginner levels are welcome.
The workshop will run on Saturday, August 15th and Sunday, August 16th, 2026 from 9:30am to 4:30pm with an hour long lunch break each day. The workshop will be stationed out of the beautiful studio space of artist Christopher Webb located just above PAVIA Gallery - Espresso Bar & Cafe in Herring Cove.
Please note that a significant portion of this workshop takes place outside and on foot, so be prepared to dress for the weather. Supply list (Subject to change - We will email out ahead of workshop with any changes):
- a sketchbook (easy to carry)
- black fine liner pen
- small travelling watercolour paint kit, with at least the three primary colours (red, yellow, blue)
- container for water (small jar with lid)
- a thin (fine tip), medium (flat tip) and large watercolour brush
- small jar for water
- not necessary, but you might find this useful; a brush that also carries water;
- a cloth / some paper towel for cleaning brushes while out and about
When: Saturday, August 15 - Sunday, August 16, 2026
Where: Suite 201 - 995 Herring Cove Road, Herring Cove, Nova Scotia, B3V-1H6
Fee: $250.00 (tax inc.)
Min. Participants: 6 | Max Participants: 14
Registration: to register for the session or for more information, please email Christopher at info@cwebb.ca and he will respond within 1 day.
“Emma FitzGerald is an exceptional artist, author, and illustrator whose work—seen in books like Hand Drawn Halifax and Hand Drawn Victoria—is nothing short of stellar. There is a kindness and thoughtfulness in her way of seeing that comes through in every line she draws. It is a wonderful opportunity to have her offering a workshop here in Halifax.”
Meet your instructor
Emma FitzGerald was born to Irish parents in Lesotho, a small mountainous kingdom in Southern Africa. She moved to Canada at a young age and spent most of her childhood in Vancouver, BC. These early travels have instilled in her a keen interest in people and places.
Emma has followed a career path that is part architecture, part art, receiving a BFA in Visual Art from the University of British Columbia in 2004, and a Masters in Architecture from Dalhousie University in 2008. She has worked in architecture offices across Canada and with Peter Rich Architects in Johannesburg, South Africa. There she worked on the award winning Mapangubwe Interpretive Centre and Alexandra Heritage Centre.
Her art practice is characterised by on-site drawing, place-based research, and a sense of the poetic. This work has taken her from textile factories in her birth country of Lesotho, to the various houses of Canadian American poet Elizabeth Bishop. She has exhibited widely, and participated in several artist residency programmes including Largo das Artes in Rio de Janeiro, and the Santa Fe Art Institute's thematic residency in New Mexico.
She is the author and illustrator of Hand Drawn Halifax, a best-selling book based on her chosen home in Nova Scotia. The Globe & Mail describes it as 'part journal, part sketchbook, Hand Drawn Halifax is a love letter to Atlantic Canada’s largest city.'
Emma has since written and illustrated Sketch by Sketch Along Nova Scotia's South Shore, also with Formac Publishing. She has worked with Nimbus Publishing, illustrating the children's books EveryBody's Different on EveryBody Street (words Sheree Fitch) and A Pocket of Time: The Poetic Childhood of Elizabeth Bishop (words Rita Wilson), was nominated for IBBY Canada's 2020 Cleaver Award.
In Summer 2020 she released Hand Drawn Vancouver with Appetite of Penguin Random House Canada, followed by Hand Drawn Victoria in Spring 2024. Her most recent kid's book is The Man in Motion: How Rick Hansen's World Tour Broke Down Barriers for People with Disabilities written by Lorna Schultz Nicholson with Rick Hansen, to be published by Owl Kids in April 2026.
She currently lives in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia.