(materials list is soon linked to the title of the class)
REQUIRED COURSES
REQUIRED COURSES
Composition for Botanical Illustration
The arrangement of line, shape and color in artwork is an art form in itself. The difference between a pleasant picture and amazing artwork is often found in composition. This course begins with a study of recognized masters and contemporary illustrators. Learn how to use compositional elements and principles in your botanical illustration. Exercises to create your own thumbnail compositions develop insight and expertise to enhance all of your future illustrations. No prerequisites.
*Wed., Jan.11, 18, 25, Feb.1, 15, 9 a.m. - noon
*Tue., June 5, 12, 19, 26, July 3, 6 – 9 p.m.
Perfecting Perspective
Do you shy away from complicated plants? Even experienced illustrators sometimes struggle with foreshortening and simplify their subjects to eliminate difficult elements. Work with botanical subjects that demonstrate each aspect of perspective and learn techniques for seeing and depicting it accurately. Complete a final piece that shows your new understanding of perspective principles. The class will work entirely in graphite pencil, but the principles apply to all art media. Gain confidence in your drafting skills and improve all of your drawings from this class forward. Prerequisite: Pencil I
*Weekend Workshop
Fri. – Sun., Jan. 27 - 29, 9 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.
*Wed., March 28, April 4, 18, 25, May 2, 9 a.m. - noon
Botanical Illustration in Pen and Ink I
Pen and ink is at the heart of botanical illustration. Expand your drawing repertoire as you learn techniques to create line, form and texture in black and white. “Expressive line” and “stipple” become part of your artistic vocabulary as you practice this traditional medium with modern and versatile technical pens. Step-by-step instruction, demonstration and practice will give you the foundation you need to draw any botanical subject accurately and skillfully.
Prerequisite: Pencil I
*Wed., Jan. 11, 18, 25, Feb. 1, 15, 1 – 4 p.m.
Botanical Illustration in Pen and Ink II
Take your pen and ink skills to a new level of sophistication. Explore the Gardens’ limitless world of color, texture and complex botany to incorporate this information into black and white illustrations. Working with both technical pen and traditional quill, learn advanced techniques to make strokes mimic the fuzz on a fern, the down in a milkweed pod or the mottled colors of a variegated begonia. Learn how to layer and manipulate lines and stipples to develop a full range of value, texture and atmospheric perspective. Pen techniques take on new meaning as you flesh out a final inked illustration of a plant of your choice. Prerequisites: Pencil I, Pen and Ink I
*Tue., Feb. 14, 21, 28, March 6, 13, 6 – 9 p.m.
ELECTIVE COURSES
The Business of Botanical Art
What’s next? Start with a self-assessment of your potential, personal direction and goals as an artist. Learn the skills and create the materials you’ll need to market yourself as a professional. Work step-by-step to organize and build a portfolio from the artwork you have and design an effective business card to present yourself professionally. Train your “left-brain” business manager to work with your “right-brain” artist as you gain information about contracts, paperwork, legal issues for artists and archiving your artwork. Visits to a paper store and a printer provide vital information for launching a professional future. You’ll develop the know-how to start out in the art world. Prerequisite: Pencil I.
*Wed., March 28, April 4, 18, 25, May 2, 1 – 4 p.m.
Discover Fibonacci – Patterns in Conifer Cones
0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 14 … we find the Fibonacci sequence in music, economics, geometry, art, human anatomy, snail shells and in the architecture of plants. Learn about these patterns found in nature and science from a local Fibonacci specialist and study the conifer cones which are excellent examples of the sequence. Practice mapping values to create a realistic illusion of light and form, and learn to express the different textures with line and stipple in the complex cone structure. You will advance your pen and ink skills to the professional level while creating a beautiful final plate from your favorite cone. Prerequisites: Pencil I, Pen and Ink I, Pen and Ink II
*Tue., Feb. 21, 28, March 6, 13, 20, 1 – 4 p.m.
Drawing on Tradition: Henry Evans
Henry Evans (1918 – 1990) was a self-taught artist, botanist and printer who added a new dimension to the history of botanical illustration. His beautiful linoleum prints, all drawn from live plants and printed on an 1852 press, conveyed a strength and simplicity unique to the genre. He produced some 1400 subjects in 31 years of active work. Leave your paintbrush at home and bring your computer for this 21st century technique. Become more proficient in the skills acquired in Adobe Illustrator I. Your sketches from the garden are transferred to the computer and serve as template for the final illustrations. After practicing vector-based drawing on the computer and learning to use the Wacom tablet and stylus, you will design and illustrate a 2013 botanical calendar in the style of Henry Evans. Prerequisites: Pencil I, Adobe Illustrator I.
*Weekend Workshop
Fri. – Sun., June 22 - 24, 9 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.
Mixed Media – illumination
Critters in the Garden
Insects, spiders and crawly critters are creepy, but so important for the well being of your garden and the vibrant ecosystem. Expand your understanding of these essential organisms as you learn about garden invertebrates from a museum expert during a visit to Denver Museum of Nature and Science. Back in the classroom learn how other illustrators have tackled this subject matter. Select a living, preserved or pinned specimen, learn to draw it in anatomically correct fashion and place it in its correct environment. Practice new textures and colors which are unusual for plants and improve all of your composition skills as you create a final plate in your choice of color media. If you are a GNSI member your interesting and unusual final plate will be eligible for the juried DBG/GNSI exhibit in 2013. Prerequisites: Pencil I, Color Layering for Colored Pencil, Colored Pencil I OR Color Mixing for Artist and Watercolor I
*Tue., May 1, 8, 15, 22, 29, 1 – 4 p.m.
Art of Bonsai – Miniature Detail Made Easy
Less is more. Traditional Japanese masters developed tray landscapes so a single tree in its miniature landscape could represent the whole universe. In this class you will first learn about the thousand year history of bonsai from a bonsai specialist. You will work from a real bonsai using Coptic sketching pens and learn to use pen and ink as a loose medium. Combining watercolor washes and layered underpainting with pen and ink, you will develop a detailed mixed media illustration. With lots of individual guidance you learn to draw complex miniature 3D forms in a non-traditional way and in your final plate you’ll have captured bonsai details through suggestion. Prerequisites: Pencil I, Pen and Ink I, Color Mixing for Artist and Watercolor I
*Tue., June 5, 12, 19, 26, July 3, 1 – 4 p.m.
Water media
Spring Has Sprung: Daffodils in Living Color
Daffodils boast many colors, shapes and sizes and Karen Genoff-Campbell has them all in her incredible garden, where you can choose your favorites for a colorful spring bouquet. Practice your perspective and composition skills, and study the light and form on the simple, but so complicated subject matter. You will practice atmospheric and linear perspective while drawing the flowers from front, side and angled views and create an accurate skeleton on which to build your composition with correct depth and value. With plenty of individual guidance you’ll create a final plate in your choice of medium with an interesting and unusual composition that will endure. Prerequisites: Pencil I, Color Layering for Colored Pencil, Colored Pencil I OR Color Mixing for Artists, Watercolor I
*Tue., May 1, 8, 15, 22, 29, 9 a.m. - noon
Five Easy Ways to ENROLL
- By telephone: 720-865-3580
- By fax: 720-865-3685 (24 hours)
- In person: Visit the education office at the gardens,
- By mail: Attention: Registrar, 909 York Street, Denver, CO 80206
- Online: www.botanicgardens.org
Refund and Cancellation Policy:
Cancellations more than one week prior to a class are subject to a 15% cancellation fee. Cancellations with less than one week notice are non-refundable.
After Course has Commenced:
Instructors have no authority to grant or promise refunds. In the event of a family emergency or because of inclement weather circumstances, the student can later complete the course by taking the missed classes from the same instructor and notifying the program manager two weeks before the course starts. If 60-80 percent of the course is missed because of the family emergency or the inclement weather circumstances, the course can be re-taken from any instructor in that media if space is available.
These policies apply to all registrations in the Botanical Art and Illustration Program. Selected courses have additional cancellation and refund requirements printed with the course description. Denver Botanic Gardens regrets that it cannot make exceptions.
Certificate credit requirements for individual courses:
Attendance is required at the first class for all courses. In order to receive credit, 80 % of a course must be attended (at least 12 hours of a 15-hour course).
Five Easy Ways to ENROLL
- By telephone: 720-865-3580
- By fax: 720-865-3685 (24 hours)
- In person: Visit the education office at the gardens,
- By mail: Attention: Registrar, 909 York Street, Denver, CO 80206
- Online
Refund and Cancellation Policy:
Cancellations more than one week prior to a class are subject to a 15% cancellation fee. Cancellations with less than one week notice are non-refundable. Please consider your payment a donation to the Gardens.
After Course has Commenced:
Instructors have no authority to grant or promise refunds. In the event of a family emergency or because of inclement weather circumstances, the student can later complete the course by taking the missed classes from the same instructor and notifying the program manager two weeks before the course starts. If 60-80 percent of the course is missed because of the family emergency or the inclement weather circumstances, the course can be re-taken from any instructor in that media if space is available.
These policies apply to all registrations in the Botanical Art and Illustration Program. Selected courses have additional cancellation and refund requirements printed with the course description. Denver Botanic Gardens regrets that it cannot make exceptions.
Certificate credit requirements for individual courses:
Attendance is required at the first class for all courses. In order to receive credit, 80 percent of a course must be attended (at least 12 hours of a 15-hour course).