Wednesday, August 10 – Friday, August 12, 10:00 am – 4:00 pm – Botanical Illustration: A Focus on White
This intensive three day Berkshire Botanical Garden workshop, August 10 – 12 from 10 – 4, is geared toward the intermediate illustrator and will focus on drawing nature’s white objects, always so captivating to observe firsthand but so challenging to interpret on paper. A white swan, an alabaster peony, a regal lily, a snowy owl, and a Persian cat all retain a luminous quality in our minds, but for the artist, they present challenges. Find out how to retain those lovely whites while creating tonal shadow and capturing form. Botanical illustrator Carol Ann Morley will gently guide participants through this process and demonstrate effective techniques for capturing elusive white forms. Using simple approaches such as working on dark-toned pastel paper will help perk the brilliance of the white subject, as will the use of some colored pencils in the palette, reserving the white pencil for the drama of the piece. Students should bring a variety of subjects to choose from to class that they would enjoy portraying; both images and actual objects make good references for this study. The subject may be animal, vegetable, or mineral, a purely white subject or one that is white with another color. Along with learning techniques that will bring the subject forth, Carol will also discuss composition that will give the subject presence, elegance, and drama.
Some colored pencil experience is advisable. Bring a bag lunch. For a materials list, visit https://berkshirebotanical.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/FocusOnWhite.Morley.8.2016-1.pdf
Carol Ann Morley is an illustrator and dedicated teacher of botanical illustration working in Dover, NH. She founded the Botanical Art Illustration Certificate Program at the New York Botanical Garden and teaches illustration there and at other botanical gardens. The class is $290 for BBG members, $315 for nonmembers. Register at www.berkshirebotanical.org.
