Zoom Workshop hosted by Coastal Maine Botanical Garden

Two days - April 27 and 29, 9:30 - 3:30

Explore the fascinating textures and patterns of magnified seeds or cross-sections of flowers or buds in this zoom workshop, painting seeds you’ve collected, sprouted seeds or acorns, or flower buds cut in half, in watercolor on vellum. After a brief discussion of the properties and types of vellum, we’ll lay out drawings of this rarely depicted aspect of plants and transfer them to vellum. Through a series of discussions and live demonstrations by the instructor, participants will learn to build up multiple layers of drybrush watercolor, gradually increasing color intensity, detail, and form. By the end of the workshop, artists will have completed small magnified seed paintings or floral cross-sections on vellum. 

 NOTES: Artists will need either a standard microscope or handheld digital microscope to magnify your subjects. Handheld digital microscopes can be used with their included stand, are under $100, and the image is viewed on a computer or digital notebook. If you are going to be painting enlarged floral dissections, or a sprouted acorn, then a microscope isn’t necessary - a 4 - 6X magnifier will probably be fine!

Examples: https://www.celestron.com/products/deluxe-handheld-digital-microscope-44302-c

or https://www.celestron.com/products/infiniview-lcd-digital-microscope

Collect a variety of seeds and look at them in advance under the microscope, so you know which ones you'd like to include in your painting on vellum. If you can sprout some of them these are also welcome subjects, including sprouting acorns or other nuts. If you can’t find any seeds, you can cut some daffodils or tulips in bud or flower and dissect the flower and ovary to show what’s going on inside. For these you would probably only need a magnifying glass.