Paint with Me: Vintage-Inspired Botanical Illustration Using Mixed Media

Come along with me as I paint one of my favorite flowers, the dahlia in a realistic, vintage-inspired style using mixed media.

Together, we’ll look at inspiration and use it to create a composition. Then, you’ll have a bird’s eye view over my shoulder as I create the piece, and hear me describe my process and the decisions I’m making in detail at every step. I’ll also explain the concepts and techniques behind what I’m doing, so you’ll be able to take those skills on board and apply them to your own projects down the road. 

This class is a good fit for you if: 

• You like lots of demonstration and learning by example
• You’re at an intermediate level, have experience drawing, and feel comfortable working from a reference image on your own (class will not cover drawing basics)
• You understand foundational principles like composition, value (light/dark, shading) and saturation (color, intensity) 
• You want to learn to improve your skills with mixed media techniques
• You want to learn to adapt the look/style of vintage botanical illustration to fit your own process

It’s also good to keep in mind that the piece I created for this class took over 10 hours and was painted across the span of several days. That being said, you don’t have to spend that kind of time to get something worthwhile out of this class.

All styles and approaches are welcome, and experimentation and adaptation of the skills I use to your own process is encouraged!

After completing the course, we’ll review a distilled version of my process so that you can decide what techniques you want to apply to your own botanical illustration in the class project. 

• Intro
• Inspiration & Sketch
• Watercolor -- First layers
• Watercolor -- Detail
• Watercolor -- Greenery
• Colored Pencils -- Large blossom
• Colored Pencils -- Small blossom & Greenery
• Gouache
• Finishing touches
• Wrap Up