Using water based media in the breath-taking St. Ives landscape, learn how to draw and paint the indigenous Cornish Spring flora set against the colours of the sky and ocean. 

Over the course of three days, you will be working outside in several stunning locations, a short walk from our art studios in St. Ives, developing a journal of annotated sketches that capture different species of plants growing in their natural habitats.

Learn how to draw in a sketchbook from direct observation en plein air, using coloured pencils and water-based media as a starting point.  Then, back in the studio, develop your sketches, to create drawings and mixed-media studies using gouache, watercolours, pen and ink.  Using a limited colour palette, explore mixing the various hues and harmonies found in the plants and colours of the sea. 

Watercolour artist, Hilary Jean-Gibson, is a Fellow of the Society of Botanical Artists and brings a wealth of knowledge when it comes to painting and identifying plants.  She will provide you with plenty of references to inspire you, from plant folklore, mythology and symbolism to the artwork of artists such as Winifred Nicholson, Durer, Van Gogh and Stanley Spencer, for which plants have been a central theme in many of their paintings.  She will also help you to identify the plants you come across too!

The approach to the course will cover realism and the expressive.  From observational drawings to a more fluid response and will harness both the power of black and white monochrome and intense exhilarating colour. 

Click here to view an online book of Hilary’s botanical drawings and paintings.

What will I learn?

• Developed powers of observation
• Improved skills and confidence to achieve a realistic drawing
• Techniques to use water-based paints in an expressive way
• How to move from observational drawings to more fluid works
• Tips on mixing various hues and harmonies
• Ways to record observations as a visual diary in a sketchbook

Who would this course suit?

This course would suit students wishing to discover which approach suits them, as it covers both observing detail and a looser working method, realistic and expressive.

Time will be split between learning new techniques, watching demonstrations and developing work in the studio to venturing out for several hours a day to draw along the coastline. Some previous experience with watercolour would be an advantage, but this is not essential.

What to Bring

Timings and Breaks