I’m teaching a workshop with my independent art school Berlin Drawing Room!

Spring Botanical Watercolor Workshop

with Berlin Drawing Room

Learn botanical watercolor techniques from your home and tune in to the explosion of spring all around us. Even if you live in an urban environment, spring buds and tender greens are bursting from the cracks in the pavement and the hedgerow at the playground. If you are lucky enough to have a garden, you are already aware of the flourish of wanted and unwanted growth. But what exactly are those plants we call weeds? During this workshop we will pay special attention to oft overlooked subjects, such as weeds, and learn about their medicinal properties and historical importance. You will leave this workshop with new watercolor skills and a fresh appreciation for the details of nature right outside your door.

While instruction will take place through an interactive livestreaming format (Zoom), care will be taken to emphasize the individual sensual experience of drawing from living specimens and working with watercolors.

Specimen Collection: Each class will include instructions for specimen collection, so that we can all work from direct observation. Simple instructions provided days in advance will direct you to pick up a green leaf from the sidewalk, grab a weed sprouting out from a crevice, purchase a piece of seasonal produce, and other actions intended to call attention to oft overlooked instances of nature. For anyone who is not able to go outside at all, photographic references will be available.

Watercolor Painting: The livestreaming classes will introduce watercolor techniques through live demos and interactive instruction. Techniques will include line drawing with watercolor tea wash, building up layers with washes, adding detail with special watercolor effects, mixing colors and more. All levels are welcome.

The painting made in this workshop are inspired by the figure of the Naturalist, who was both artist and scientist. These recordings are just as much about the subjective process of observation as they are about the recording of scientific data.

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