New at Classes Near You > California:
Los Angeles County Arboretum & Botanic Gardens
www.arboretum.org
Courses in introductory botanical drawing, beginning and intermediate watercolor, colored pencil, sketching and Chinese brush painting are taught throughout the year. Go to the Events & Classes for more information. The Arboretum is located in Arcadia, CA. To register, contact Jill Berry or call (626) 821-4624.
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Introduction to Chinese Brush Painting – 4 Thursdays, October 28-November 18, 2010; 1-3PM / Oak Room. In this introductory course, students will learn the difference between Chinese brush painting and other watercolor painting. Students will learn how to use Chinese brushes and ink to create beautiful paintings on rice paper. Students will end the course with a completed painting ready for framing and display. Instructor Gloria Whea-Fun Teng, is a botanical artist who has taught a variety of courses over the years. Cost: $120 members / $130 non-members. Pre-registration required.
Week One: Introduction to Chinese brush painting. Discussion and demonstration will address: how to mix color, brush painting style and techniques, how to use the brush on rice paper, the use of newsprint to practice strokes, and how to paint a bamboo branch. Assignment #1: bamboo branch
Week Two: Bamboo branch with leaf. Discussion and demonstration will address: using black ink, how to paint a bamboo leaf, a single leaf, a double leaf and how to paint a set of leaves. Students will learn how to control water with their brush. Assignment #2: bamboo branch and leaf
Week Three: Flower (Rose). Discussion and demonstration will address: how to paint flower stems and buds; how to start using color, how to include different angles and shapes; how to paint multiple layers of petals and different leaves. Students will also practice painting a single petal flower. Assignment #3: Rose
Week Four: Final Critique of bamboo painting in black ink and colored rose. Students will complete one painting in the class.
Download course syllabus/flyer here
In Realistic Textures, Diane leads readers through a progression of exercises involving mark making and the creation of pencil washes using water-soluble graphite and smudging techniques. Diane’s demonstrations illustrate clearly that a pencil is more than a simple note-taking tool. While it may seem you’re playing around with pencil marks that will never be used on botanical subjects, Diane demonstrates otherwise when she shows artists how to apply tonal values and pencil marks to create form. Eight pages of Realistic Textures are dedicated to the creation of botanical textures. In this section, artists learn how Diane creates…
In this book, Diane provides many helpful tips, exercises, and pencil drawings to demonstrate how digital cameras can assist artists with their drawings. Diane shows artists how to recognize distortion, how to create distortion intentionally in their photographs, and how to correct for distortion in a drawing. She also demonstrates how to set up a value scale and how to identify a subject’s core value. Instruction in composition, lighting, how to work with several photo references, and how to capture details is also provided.
In this book about our favorite subject, Diane explains how botanical illustrators can use different techniques to create texture and values. Botanical artists will learn about graphite powder, graphite washes, and carbon pencil — tools not normally discussed in a botanical art class. Artists will also learn the value of creating a reference collection of flowers, flower heads, stems, leaves, leaf attachments, and reproductive parts for each specimen before combining these elements into a single composition. Eleven projects are presented by Diane, each one bringing attention to a different aspect of drawing. The projects and the key skills learned in each are as follows:
Mary Ann Scott’s Botanical Sketchbook is an open journal in which she describes her experiences as a student in the Distance Learning Diploma Course administered by the Society of Botanical Artists in the UK. Scott presents actual assignments, as well as the marks she earned for each assignment. Readers are given a front row seat to Scott’s insecurities, decisions, mistakes and successes. This book’s format is unique and provides a level of insight into the SBA diploma program that is not available anywhere else.
ArtPlantae Today 