Plant and Flower Painting Course in Montreal

Quick Watercolour Sketch Inside the Greenhouse, 8.5" x 5"

Before your make a face like my friend Louise did upon seeing this, let me point out that it was supposed to be a quick sketch done directly in watercolour without a previous pencil drawing -- just an impression of the inside of the greenhouse.

Each class of this Plant and Flower Painting Course (which was given over four Sundays in August by the Visual Arts Centre, and taught by Lorna Mulligan), met at the Westmount greenhouse, which is just a few blocks from the school.

Strangely enough, most of my flower pictures were produced as part of the Essential Sketchbook class, which was also taught by Ms. Mulligan. The two classes just got intertwined in my mind, but that's okay.

The last class took place on the Sunday of Hurricane Irene, so I skipped it. This reduced the course by 25% but that's life. I was already kind of disappointed with it: I expected more of an emphasis on how to paint individual flowers, or "flower portraits", as they are sometimes called. Instead, we were pretty well left on our own to create our own project in the greenhouse, with some demos and critiques in the classroom after the greenhouse visits.

Lorna is an excellent artist and a very good teacher, and I picked up enough good advice from the Sketchbook class to have made the trip worthwhile.

Here are some of my other flower and plant pictures. Click on them to enlarge if you wish.

Anthurium. Watercolour, 8.5" x 5"

Fushchias. Water-soluble pen, 8.5" x 5"

Ground Cherries. Watercolour and gouache, 8.5" x 5"

Very Old Jade Plant. Water-soluble pen, 8.5" x 5"

Watergrass. Water-soluble pen.