Each week we will explore different ways of drawing using a variety of techniques and prompts. Karin will introduce the class to a wide range of artistic approaches and examples to guide us in developing our own unique visual language. The structured course will lead us from observational drawings of botanical specimens to more imaginative ways of representing plants and nature. Drawing through observation is a great way to develop your creativity and mindfulness.

This full day course, led by Garden Landscapes Team Leader Mark Crouch, will guide you through the placement, selection and planting of trees and shrubs for your garden.

Topics covered will include:

• Where and where not to plant
• Different forms and interests
• How to select your plants and the different types available
• Planting and aftercare through to establishment
• A planting demonstration
• A tour of the garden highlighting young tree care
• Question and answer session

Participants may use a ‘live’ subject of their choice (preferably something simple in shape – autumn fruits, leaves, simple flowers or vegetables) or they can work from a colour photograph. Janie will show you how to evaluate the colours before drawing them in black & white. Not as easy as it sounds, but a very valuable lesson for anyone wishing to understand the importance of tone in illustration.

Suitable for beginners and upward

An introduction to the innovative and versatile method of fine art printmaking using sunlight and water. Solarplate printing describes the process of printmaking from light sensitive plates that have been exposed to daylight or an artificial source of UV light. The plates are developed in tap water and can be used for relief and intaglio printing. The main advantage is that the plate is capable of holding much detail and offers versatility in image making – participants will be able to transform hand drawn originals, photographs or collected foliage into unique fine art prints.

We will explore the history of gin and the development of different techniques to produce it. We will then investigate both the traditional and more contemporary botanicals used to create this distinctive beverage, starting with the holy trinity of juniper, coriander and angelica and then moving on to other herbs, spices, fruits and even roots! After sniffing, crushing and grinding, your senses will be ready for a little blending. Each botanical provides a unique flavour, and the range of combinations is endless.

Have you ever wondered how to introduce another element to your garden? On this course Sally will provide tips and inspiration to help you add scent to the Garden. During the morning we will talk about the different methods plants adopt to produce scent, discuss a range of plants which will reliably provide fragrance, and visit our Scented Garden to enable participants to add that little extra to their own gardens.

Are you a botanist who still shies away from the daisy look-alikes? Have you tried and failed to sort out the willows or the docks for instance? Do you find yourself saying “I don’t do crucifers or umbels or sedges”?

John Stevens Henslow, the man who persuaded the University to move its Botanic Garden in 1846 to the site it now occupies, is also remembered as the man who secured for Charles Darwin his berth on the ‘Beagle’ voyage. Perhaps less well known is Henslow’s intense interest in variation and examples, almost certainly chosen by Henslow, survive today in the Garden. Three of the first five chapters in Darwin’s ‘The Origin’ are about variation and his brilliant insight showed how variation provides the raw material on which natural selection operates to drive evolution.

Of all the insect pollinators, butterflies are unquestionably the most attractive. Their wing shapes, colours and intricate patterns make for a fascinating area of study for drawing and design. In this introductory course we will consider their structure and how through the mediums of pencil, pen, watercolour and coloured pencil they might be illustrated. Original artwork from Ian’s own archive will provide examples which demonstrate the various styles of butterfly illustration. These will include formal studies to assist in identification to species set in their natural habitat.

This course is designed to develop your watercolour technique and provide you with tools which will help you to continue to develop as a watercolour painter. Over the session you will be introduced to various approaches and methods to apply your own painterly vision to your practice. We will look at the gardens and how to approach this exciting and vibrant subject for yourself ‘en plein air’. You will be briefly revisiting the basics of watercolour technique and introduced to practical applications of a limited palette technique with professional painter, John Wiltshire.