As always, sketchbook work is the first step in completing a piece like this. Its in the sketchbook that you document the composition of the plant, accurate measurements, and colour matches…

I knew before starting this piece that I wanted to give the impression of looking through a meadow into the flowers, rather than a traditional bunch of flowers…

The first piece that I painted for the Diploma Portfolio was of a beetroot. I was first struck by the colours in the leaves when I was at a local farmers market…

A short post about Assignment 11 - ‘Mixed Floral’…

Assignment 10 was entitled ‘Working from Photographs’. We were supposed to take our own photographs, and create a design in the form of a greetings card or poster…

For this assignment we were asked to find a location we liked, any natural habitat, and study, record and illustrate the species that were present…

I was really excited about this assignment. Botanical illustration, what the course is all about… When you sign up for a 27 month course, life is bound to throw changes and challenges your way during that time…

Assignment 7 involved painting a vegetable. I wanted to paint something a bit obscure and interesting… In the end, I settled for something really simple. Onions…

Assignment 6 of the Society of Botanical Artist’s Distance Learning Diploma involved painting a fruit of our choosing…

I loved this assignment. I feel like I have improved since the last assignment, and each element (the drawing, planning composition, painting) all came much more naturally…

Assignment 4 was a fun assignment, the first opportunity to use a lot of colour after the first two graphite assignments and then all the greens in Assignment 3…

I was really excited for Assignment 3, but for various reasons (including finishing my 4th year at University, moving house and county, and welcoming into the world 7 jackapoo puppies) I only had 2 weeks to paint, rather than 2 months…

I really struggled with what to draw for my second assignment… If I sit at home and try and decide from scratch what my next subject will be I get absolutely nowhere. I need to be in a garden, or in a nursery, or just in nature to get inspiration…

This afternoon I went to the post office and dropped off my first assignment of the Society of Botanical Artists Distance Learning Diploma. For Assignment 1 there are 3 components: a simple line drawing, a stippled drawing, and a full tonal pencil piece…

I feel like I have a lot of news to share and catch up on. I’ve been accepted onto the Society of Botanical Artists Distance Learning Diploma: a big decision for me that has led me to take a year out of my medical studies…