August 3-4-5-6-7

9-4 pm

Beginner/Intermediate

Price: $950

Location: Salt Spring Island, BC

Daily lunch, tea, coffee, and snacks included (Gluten Free and Sugar Free Options)

A supply list is provided at registration.

Supplies available to purchase through the studio if needed.

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This five-day intensive is a live, in-studio botanical coloured pencil drawing course using fresh florals, fruits, and vegetables as your subjects. Working directly from specimens in a working artist's studio on Salt Spring Island, you will build real skills in accurate botanical observation and composition, learning to render what you see with coloured pencils - layering, blending, and mixing colour, capturing light, value, and texture as they actually appear in living plants.

The studio is open and bright, with generous individual drawing space and the kind of natural light that makes colour work possible. Step outside and you are in a lush planted courtyard full of grasses, ferns, flowering plants, and climbing vines - specimen material in every direction. Gravel paths wind past raised beds and potted gardens through a striking red gate and you'll have access to the deck, where summer ocean breezes come up from Trincomali Channel opens up and the islands come into view. Draw inside, draw in the courtyard, draw on the deck. The whole property is your subject.

The course moves through a clear progression. Foundational observation and techniques with coloured pencils come first, then colour theory specific to botanical subjects, then the particular challenges of rendering transparency, light through petals, waxy and matte surfaces, and layered colour relationships. Accuracy of drawing, shading and values, and discussions on traditional and non traditional botanical layout and composition. Every session includes demonstration, hands-on practice, and individual feedback. Group critique runs throughout the week.

August on Salt Spring means dahlias, lavender, sweet peas, heritage roses, and whatever the season is offering. Fruits and vegetables come in throughout the week. Bring something of your own if you have a specimen that matters to you.

By Friday you will leave with finished pieces, a solid technical foundation, and the understanding to keep working independently.

Your instructor, Jeannette Sirois, is an award-winning artist with years of botanical drawing experience and an active exhibition practice. She brings to the studio a high level of skill in colour and materials, a deep knowledge of composition that works, and the kind of practical technical understanding that only comes from making and showing work at a serious level.

Designed for beginners and intermediate artists. No previous coloured pencil experience required.

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A note on accommodation: August is peak season on Salt Spring Island. I recommend booking your accommodation as soon as possible after registering. A list of recommended B&Bs and vacation rentals close to the studio will be provided upon registration.