This two-day course introduces the idea of keeping a botanical sketchbook, why it’s useful, compares different people’s approach and will allow students the chance to illustrate plants in situ in the Botanic Garden.  We’ll also take a quick look at what botanical details to include and why leaving work as an unfinished sketch can be very liberating.  As it’ll be a primarily outdoor session, it’s more suitable for those who are comfortable working on camp stools or sitting on the ground.  Suitable for all levels, although a bit of experience with watercolour and pencil could be an advantage.  And don’t worry, if it’s wet, we’ll move the session indoors! A suggested materials list will be provided a few weeks before the start of the course.

Lizzie Harper is a freelance natural history and botanical illustrator with a keen love of nature. She works in watercolour, pencil, and pen for publishers, magazines, charities, postage stamps, packaging and design companies, and private individuals. She has illustrated “Life on Our Planet” by David Attenborough, “The Hedgerow Handbook” and “The Garden Forager”, written by Adele Nozedar, has plates in HarperCollins Flower Guide (Streeter) and has completed numerous identification charts for Field Studies Council (FSC). She has exhibited her work widely, both in the UK and abroad.  The only teaching workshops Lizzie takes are at CUBG. She works in her garden studio in Hay-on-Wye where she lives happily with a long-suffering husband and two teenaged children.