Pen and ink: Stippling workshop

This three-day workshop offers an in-depth exploration of pen and ink drawing, using plants from the Botanic Garden as inspiration. You will begin with exercises in observing shadows and tonal differences, then experiment with stippling – the intricate technique of creating tone and depth through thousands of tiny dots. Although time-intensive, stippling produces striking results. We will also touch on how a light wash of watercolour can add subtle colour to these traditionally monochrome works. Along the way, you will learn how to care for your hands and eyes during long sessions of detailed work. The course provides the chance to focus deeply on this meditative and rewarding art form.

Suitable for all abilities

Lizzie Harper is a free-lance natural history and botanical illustrator who has been teaching botanical illustration at the Garden for the past decade.  She specialises in pencil techniques, composition, fruits, composite flowers, pen and ink techniques and leaf painting masterclasses. She’s the illustrator of “The Hedgerow Handbook” and “Foraging with Kids, and her work is in “The Bumper Book of Nature” and “HarperCollins Flower Guide”.  Lizzie worked on flower identification charts for Field Studies Council, and illustrations for the Welsh Botanic Gardens. She works in her garden studio in Hay on Wye where she lives happily with a long-suffering husband and two lively children.