![Butterfly Art](/sites/default/files/styles/node_hero_default/public/2025-01/Inky%20butterfly.jpg?h=7b63a3c7&itok=l0T0ElX5)
Butterfly Art
Event details
About the event
This course is ideal for those who have some drawing and painting experience and enjoy creating detailed depictions.
Do you love drawing and painting, and find butterflies fascinating? On this 2-day course we will give you tips for the accurate depiction of a butterfly using pen and ink, and watercolour paints. Observation and accurate drawing methods will also be covered.
First you will learn how to choose a subject and sketch it loosely and add colour freely with brightly coloured inks using the wet-in-wet technique.
You will then learn how to draw a butterfly more accurately and increase its size to scale in pencil.
The next step will be to explore using ink pens and watercolour paints to add colour, texture and patterns in an accurate and artistic way. Capturing the patterns on a butterfly's wings can be a mesmerising pass time!
Main course content
– How to draw a butterfly to scale
– How to use ink pens and watercolour paints to capture the markings and add colour to your butterfly
– How to use white gouache to add hairs and certain textures as a final step
At the end of the two days you will have created two very different paintings of butterflies.
Materials (provided by the tutor)
Sketch paper, H and HB pencils, sharpeners, erasers, rulers, tracing paper, Micron pens (01 and 03), watercolour paper, synthetic watercolour brushes (size 4), a few watercolour paint colours in tubes (specific to tutor's chosen butterfly species of Common Blue and Orange Tip), watercolour paper, ink pigments and plastic palettes.
You are welcome to bring your own materials if you prefer.
- The tutor will provide photos of butterflies and some pinned specimens, but students are welcome to bring their own reference pictures. If you prefer moths, you can bring a picture of a moth to paint.
Materials (Students to provide)
Please contact the tutor if you need advice on purchasing your own set of watercolours and brushes. Just send your questions to adult.learning@surreywt.org.uk and they will be passed directly to the tutor.
Please bring your own watercolour brushes and paints if you have some and are accustomed to using them. Please bring a set of compass dividers if you have a pair at home.
If you have your own sketch book you may wish to use it instead of the sketch paper provided.
Tutor details:
Hazel Wilks, studied Zoology in South Africa and is a professional botanical artist.
'I’ve always been inquisitive and explored the natural world around me. I love intricate detail and my art focuses on meticulously describing all the beauty I see – be it a magnolia, a butterfly or a pebble on a beach. I aim to produce bespoke pieces that draw the observer in.
I have been a botanical illustrator at the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew since 2002, it’s a wonderful and rewarding combination of art and science. Alongside these technically descriptive works I have always painted and drawn in various media.'
Awards:
- Botanical Accuracy Award, Flora of South East Asia Exhibition 2022
- Silver-gilt medal at RHS London Flower Show, November 2006
- Gold medal at 1820 Foundation Eisteddfod 1990
Published in various peer reviewed journals & books including:
- Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society
- Curtis’s Botanical Magazine
- Kew Bulletin