Drawing and Painting Blooms and Foliage

Having a wealth of subject matter, and numerous styles that can be employed, drawing and painting botanicals is brimming with possibility.

This beginners course will introduce you to some technical tips for understanding botanical structure, for eg. knowing how to get petal formation and proportion right. You’ll learn how perspective will affect your drawing of flowers & leaves, and then you’ll be observing and practising drawing in detail, after all, a well observed subject is key to a good finished piece. We will move on to applying colour in various ways. Looking at technique, brush control and effective mark making. You will learn how to get the most out of some particular brushes, perfect for the subject. A relaxed and experimental approach is encouraged.

The aim of this course is to open this world of botanical possibility to you. How this can be practically applied going forward, and drilling into specific techniques is something we can progress in future development courses. So, if your interest has been fired up the journey can continue... but for this course we’ll experience some guided sketching, and tips on technique. That way, whether you are naturally impressionistic in your approach, or perhaps lean towards a classically drawn and painted image, we will work on bringing vibrancy, depth and composition to your studies. It is also possible that you may want to produce multiple small and stylised pieces, this too is an encouraged route.

This course is suitable for both beginners and those of you with some drawing experience.

All materials are provided. You may wish to bring a photograph or two of your favourite botanicals, and perhaps live examples to your taste, but this will be discussed and decided after the first couple of weeks.