This course is designed to develop your drawing and perceptual skills through the resource of the trees at the Cambridge University Botanic Gardens. During the two morning sessions using techniques to awaken and sharpen your observational perception, you will begin to draw trees with greater confidence, sophistication and character. Every tree can be seen as an individual but in order to draw, you require both specific and generalised information. This sounds like a contradiction but it is actually all about selection, what to include and what to generalise. How to extract this when faced with a subject as complex as a tree is a perceptual puzzle and the solution is individual to each artist. The aim of this course is to begin apply this attitude to your own drawing and to therefore assist you towards greater ability, confidence and objectivity with drawing in general.

This course is suitable for intermediate level

John is an artist with over 30 years’ experience specialising in observational painting who, as an ex Cambridge resident spent plenty of time in the Botanic Garden.  Twice a winner of the Royal Watercolour Society’s open exhibition his watercolour technique uses a restricted palette of five colours.  John has been teaching painting and drawing skills since 1995 and also has Qualified Teacher Status.