About the Artform

Botanical illustration is the art of depicting the form, color, and details of plant life. This practice can be traced back to a time between 50 and 70 CE, when an illustrated book titled De Materia Medica was created by Greek botanist Pedanius Dioscorides to help readers identify plant species for medicinal purposes.

Floral illustrations are a rich, versatile form to begin with, and can be stepped up a few notches with the use of coloured pencils. If combined masterfully, ink and coloured pencils can create illustrations that are bold, modern, aesthetically pleasing, and that stand out in comparison to a lot of other contemporary floral illustration styles.

About the workshop

In this workshop, you will learn how to visualize, sketch out, and compose floral illustrations. Get a glimpse into line art, and combine said line art with colored pencils using smooth and seamless blending techniques to enhance creative output. Understand how to choose the right colors and shade range, how to blend smoothly using a balance of light, mid, and dark tones to achieve depth, and much more!

Elements you will learn

• Composition and framing
• Sketching florals using simple shapes and lines
• Choosing the right shades and shade range for their subject
• Smooth and seamless blending of colored pencils
• Creating depth in their illustrations

Who is this workshop “just right” for?

• This workshop is perfect for anyone who wants to get better at using colored pencils, but has so far struggled to master shading and blending techniques.
• It is a beginner friendly workshop. (Age 15+)

Materials Required

• White or toned paper (minimum 170 gsm preferred)
• Pencil and eraser
• Ruler
• Fine liners/gel pens
• Colored pencils
• White gel pen (optional)

*In case you do not have paper that is 170 gsm in thickness, you can use printer paper. (However, note that extensive blending may damage the paper, so you would have to exercise caution while working on this step)

*Ballpoint pens work great for line art if the participant does not have access to fine liners or gel pens.

*Watercolor pencils work fine as a substitute for regular colored pencils

The scope of creativity

Further prospects and application of what you will be learning

These skills can be used in future to create bold and unique illustrations that cover a broad range of subjects and that demonstrate the individual's mastery over the medium of colored pencils.