One Day Botanic Art workshops - January 2011

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January the 23th: "Botanic Art in Charcoal".

A fun and challenging day for students to get a taste of Botanic Art using Charcoal. Great for beginners to be introduced to Botanic Art and for

the more experienced students to try out a new medium.

The focus will be on developing good observational drawing skills by exploring and studying your Botanic Art subject. Students will learn to interpret and represent what they observe in front of them, and to build confidence in their ability to use charcoal on paper.

The intention of this workshop is to introduce students to use charcoal to create Botanic works of Art. Learn how to use charcoal in various way’s, rendering, surface techniques, charcoal pencils, charcoal dust, lifting off, dark backgrounds, etc.

Materials and subjects for the day will be supplied.

Bring your own lunch and tee/coffee cup.

Bring your water colour brushes if you do have.

Venue: Yarraville Community centre, 56 Frances Street, Yarraville.

Price: $110.00 ($50 dollar non refundable deposit required to book your place, Balance to be paid strictly one week prior to Workshop.

Date: Sunday 23th of January, 2011

Time: 10am -4.30pm

Enrolment deadline: 13th of January 2011

Please fill in registration form below to book your place.

Course Outline

10am - 12pm: Charcoal techniques, create charcoal dust, tonal values.

12pm - 12.30pm: Lunch break.

12.30pm - 4.30pm: Drawing your Botanic Art subject with charcoal.

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January the 16th: "Introduction to Botanic Art".

A fun and challenging day for beginners to have a taste of Botanic Art using pencil and water colours. The focus will be on developing good observational drawing skills by exploring and studying your Botanic Art subject. Students will learn to interpret and represent what they observe in front of them, and to build confidence in their ability.

The intention of this workshop is to introduce students to Botanic Art and learn the basic skills of using watercolour. At the end of the workshop each student should go home with a small painting and the confidence to start painting independently.

No experience needed and materials will be supplied. The offer is there to purchase a starters pack after the course for $50.00. Paper, palette, paint, pencils, eraser, brushes.

Materials for the day will be supplied. (Please bring your own if you have)

Bring your own lunch,

Venue: Yarraville Community centre, 56 Frances Street, Yarraville.

Price: $145.00 ($50 dollar non refundable deposit required to book your place, Balance to be paid strictly one week prior to Workshop)

Date: Sunday 16th of January, 2011

Time:10am -4.30pm

Enrolment deadline: 7th of January 2011

Please fill in registration form below to book your place.

Course Outline

10am - 12pm: Using pencil to sketch your subject, composition and shading.

12pm-1pm: Lunch break.

1pm -2pm: Practising basic water colour skills.

2pm - 4.30pm: Painting a Botanic Art subject with watercolour.

Works for Sale

With Christmas around corner, I thought, why not putting up some water colours for sale. If you are interested in the following pieces, please contact me via email: info@bigbluedesign.com.au

m. 0431 828 402

King Parrot

Size 20x25 cm (Framed 50x50cm)

Price: $550.00

Black Cockatoo Study

Size 20x25 cm (Framed 50x50cm)

Price: $450.00

Dried Eucalyptus leaf

(unframed)

Size: 10x20cm

Price: $220.00

Mango Steen Study

Size 10x10 cm (Framed 22x22cm)

Price: $220.00

Radish

Size 12x17 cm unframed

Price: $220.00

Some more images

November 2010

We are nearing the end of our term and posted are some images of artworks made in the previous weeks. For those students who are interested to show and perhaps sell some work,the Louis Joel Centre in Altona offers students to exhibited their works over December - January. Please send me message if you would like to know more about this.

Also don't forget to see Jenny Phillips Exhibition at The Mornington Peninsula Gallery. Until 6th of February 2011. www.mprg.mornpen.vic.gov.au

The 10th Art of Botanical Illustration Exhibition

Don't forget to visit The 10th Art of Botanical Illustration Exhibition which will be held from 6 - 21 November 2010

This is a great opportunity to view works of Proffesional Botanic Illustrators and not to be missed. Visit the Friends of The Botanical Gardens website for more information.

www.rbg.vic.gov.au

Williamstown Botanic Gardens 2010

Last Sunday we were part of the "Garden Party" at the Williamstown Botanic Gardens.A fantastic day with a large number of visitors. The council supplied us with a marquee in which we could demonstrate our skills to the public. Easels were displaying Artworks and there was space for interested visitors to have a try at water colours themselves.

Not expecting a rush of 20 children at the time it did not take long before the students were slowly pushed of the table and helped the children with their Botanic Art attempts. Brushes, paper and paints were used to their limits I can say.

A great day and the interest in Botanic Art under children was amazing.

Term 4 October 2010

Term 4 Botanic Art Classes will start next week from October 12th. If you are interested to enroll or would like more information, please call Stefan on 0431 828402 or email info@bigbluedesign.com.au

Term 3 last week

This week is our last class for term 3. It has been a cold winter but spring is coming our way finally. Term 4 will start from the 12th of October and if you wish to re enrol, you can do so now by filling in the form and return this week or mail before the start of next term.

Included is a selection of images by this terms students.

New Work from our Term 3 students

It has been a little while but here is some new work from our term 3 students.We are now midway our 3rd Term. I also went to the Melbourne Artfair any it was good to see that botanic Art has made it into the Fair.

Also for those that are interested, the new term will start from October the 11th. Information regarding the Term 4 will go out in September but if you would like you can put your name down right now as there is a bit of a waiting list.

State Library Visit

On The 2nd of July 10 of us met at The State Library of Victoria. Janet McDonald from the Rare Book department had selected a number original rare botanic Art books.

Some of which were to be opened only every 5 years. So it was a real privilege to be able to view them. Over 200 years old hand painted botanic illustration prints. Janet showed us the difference between Botanic Illustration and Botanic Art and was excellent in giving us a clear overview of the first explorers and the way they had to go about their work.

Anyone really can go the State Library and request to view rare books. I will organise another visit later in the year for those that have missed out.

Australian King Parrot

Australian King Parrot (Alisterus scapularis)

watercolour, 250 x 150mm

This watercolour was a challenge in terms of recreating those magnificent colours on paper.

Last Class for the Term

This week was our last week for Term 2. Term 3 will start in the week of the 12th of July.

It's great to see that some take on a great challenge with an outcome that is really beautiful and increases the students confidence. Stepping outside your comfort zone can be really rewarding!

On the other hand there are also students that go trough a rough patch. This is normal though and every artist, writer, etc will have to go trough this at some stage. The challenge is to find way's to get trough them, to recognise them. Keeping a visual diary is a great way to achieve this.

Exhibition Work

We are nearly at the end of our 2nd term and some beautiful works have been produced. There is certainly paintings that can be hung for the exhibition planned later in the year. Look after them well and perhaps you can start thinking about framing your favourite ones.

Also keep studying the masters and even by copying them, you can learn lots.

Again some beautiful works produced in the previous 2 weeks. Painted in class and at home.

I am really starting to see the progress of those students that have been part of the course for more than 6 months. Personal styles are being developed, and the confidence being shown at the moment compared to starting the course is huge. It is great as a teacher to see this happening and is making teaching even more enjoyable.

Included are images of work made over the last 2 to 3 weeks.

Mirror of the World: Books & Ideas

This exhibition showcases many of the rare, beautiful and historically significant books held in the Library’s collections. Located in the galleries overlooking the magnificent La Trobe Reading Room, this exhibition celebrates the unique place of books in our hearts and minds.

Mirror of the World: Books & Ideas provides an overview of the history of book production, design and illustration, with a display of fine examples from the Library's collections dating from the Middle Ages to the present day. The title of the exhibition is taken from William Caxton’sMyrrour of the Worlde (1490), one of the first illustrated books published in England.

The exhibition is divided into five major themes:

• Books and ideas - outlines the early history of books and printing.
• The book and the imagination - looks at the way books and texts have been created out of the imagination, while at the same time acting imaginatively upon us.
• Exploring the world - investigates how books have been used to explore and document the world, its landscape and topography, its inhabitants and its flora and fauna.
• Art and nature - looks at how botanical illustration unites two worlds - the scientific and the artistic.
• The artist and the book - highlights the art of the book and the role of the artist in its production.

Helen's eucalyptus leaf painting tip 7

For those students that like a more spontaneous approach to painting with watercolours I have posted this video. I think it's a great way of showing how to work wet in wet and produce a painting within a reasonable time.

Botanical Art Greeting Cards

Although I don't ask my students to do any home work, some do and come up with great results as you can see from the images.

It's great to see the students try out different techniques to create Botanical Art. Stepping outside their boundaries and just having a go at it.

The Greeting Card project went excellent with some beautiful results. It's fun to do and and certainly will make most recipients of the cards happy.