Botanical Drawing
These drawing sessions differ from botanical illustration in that I encourage participants to compose and render their specimen however they feel inspired to do so. I also emphasize drawing as a vehicle for observation, as opposed to a final product and how focusing our attention on the plant enlivens it, whereby the specimen reveals more of itself to us. I emphasize this aspect; this exchange, this symbiotic relationship allowing us to feel both our separateness as different specices as well as our unity, as a unified expression of the natural world.
These workshops may include a brief overview/history of botanical art, botany basics, a technique for drawing plants (including how to prep and care for a plant specimen), and a reveiw of basic drawing principles. After a series of warm up drawing exercises, participants create a botanical drawing inspired by their specimen.
I typically bring a wide array of plant cuttings and botanical tid bits for participants to draw from, foraged from local green spaces. I devote some time to discussing these plants as well and their role in the landscape and plant communities.
The workshop can be done in a green space, community center, classroom, restaurant, bar, or a home. I’ve led botanical drawing events for Trestle Workshops, Brooklyn Greenway Initiative, Old Stone House Brooklyn, The Gowanus Dredgers, The Human Impacts Institute, Molly Oliver Flowers, as well as for private events.
