Botanical Art

Pen and ink is a versatile drawing medium offering a rich black-and-white expressive language for illustration. In this one-day class you will find out how to hold the pens to make different strokes and tips and strategies to control ink flow, prevent ink blobs, and correct mistakes. We will work with the crow-quill metal dip pen with India ink and the Pigma micron pen. Instructed by Carol Ann Morley

Length: 1 day
Dates: August 25, 2025
Time: 9:30 am - 3:30 pm ET 

Begin with pencil studies of your chosen specimen and get familiar with the angles, gestures, and details of form. Practice some pen and ink techniques and have fun testing different shading strokes to build the tones and textures of your flowers and leaves. Working with both the crow-quill pen and pigma micron, explore the unique repertoire of each pen and make some ink trials on vellum paper to find the best solutions for your rendering. Transfer your pencil sketch to Bristol paper in a pleasing arrangement then start inking and watch your flowers emerge as a beautiful black and white pen and ink illustration. Instructed by Carol Ann Morley

Length: 3 days
Dates: August 25 - 29, 2025
Time: 9:30 am - 3:30 pm ET 

Guided by Alice Rosa, a Fellow of the Society of Botanical Artists in London, learn the art of colored pencil for botanical art. First, we will start with foundational techniques such as observing, measuring, and drawing all the components of the plant. Then move on to color studies, learning how to layer colored pencils to achieve vibrant and deep hues. We will also explore tools to render textures and fine details.

Length: 3 days
Dates: September 8, 9, 12, 2025
Time: 10 am - 2 pm ET 

We’ll draw and paint birds & bugs with botanical subjects using ink and colorful washes of watercolor. We’ll focus on gathering and using different references, drawing techniques, as well as composition methods for using various references to incorporate flowers, branches and other botanical elements into our illustrations. Class lessons will also include different ways to use ink with watercolor, painting and color mixing techniques, and inspiration for creating beautiful ink and wash illustrations that are full of life.

Length: 2 days
Dates: September 16 & 18, 2025
Time: 9:30 am - 1:30 pm ET 

Refine those watercolor techniques in a no-sweat class designed to improve the way you paint in watercolor. Susan Fisher will take you through a series of basic exercises designed to increase existing skills, gain confidence in handling the brush, deal effectively with color pigments, and control varying amounts of water. Discussions, demonstrations, and practical workouts will get you in great shape for that next botanical painting.

Length: 5 days
Dates: September 22 - 26, 2025
Time: 10 am - 1 pm ET 

This class is our introduction series for botanical art beginners. 
In this six-week class, Sarah Roche introduces you to the traditional art and science of botanical drawing and painting. Focus includes observational skills, drawing, composition, design, and watercolor techniques. Sarah provides plenty of demonstrations, individual attention, and detailed feedback to make this a perfect beginner class. Fall topic: Orchids in watercolor. In fall, we will be studying the Phalaenopsis orchid. With a limited palette and simple techniques, we will work together, step by step, to capture their exotic and vibrant beauty.

Length: 6 Days
Dates: Mondays, September 29 - November 3, 2025
Time: 10 am - 1 pm ET 

This class is our introduction series for botanical art beginners. 
In this four-week class, Sarah Roche introduces you to the traditional art and science of botanical drawing and painting. Focus includes observational skills, drawing, composition, design, and watercolor techniques. Sarah provides plenty of demonstrations and detailed feedback to make this a perfect beginner class. Fall topic: Orchids in watercolor. In fall, we will be studying the Phalaenopsis orchid. With a limited palette and simple techniques, we will work together, step by step, to capture their exotic and vibrant beauty.

Length: 4 Days
Dates: Wednesdays, October 1 - 22, 2025
Time: 9:30 am - 1:30 pm ET 

In this six-week class, refine your drawing and watercolor techniques with Sarah Roche as you focus on achieving the accurate representation of botanical subjects. 
Fall topic: Painting a plant portrait. Taking our artistic and botanical cues from the historic masters of botanical art, we will depict our chosen plant subject in their tradition, including drawings of details of the plant as well as a watercolor portrait as part of our composition. This class will focus on watercolor and graphite, combining them to produce a piece that is both artistically beautiful and informative.

Length: 6 Days
Dates: Tuesdays, September 30 - November 4, 2025
Time: 10 am - 1 pm ET 

Let’s dive into the dark side of the botanical palette and embrace the rich, moody tones of Fall. In this workshop, you will explore how to mix and layer transparent watercolors to create depth, vibrancy, and subtlety in shadowed foliage, berries, and late-season blooms. Through guided exercises and demonstrations, you’ll build luminous darks without using black, capturing the complexity of autumn’s palette with confidence and control. This workshop is perfect for artists who want to deepen their understanding of color mixing, refine their technique, and bring a bold, expressive edge to their botanical painting.

Length: 3 days
Dates: October 10 - 12, 2025
Time: 10 am - 4 pm OR 1 pm ET 

This one-day workshop aims to inspire and guide participants in drawing the varied forms and details found in the botanical world, specifically focused on fall fruits, seeds, and pods. Join botanist and artist Lauren Meier for a guided exploration of the shapes, textures, and structures that support plant reproduction and dispersal. Through a combination of lecture, observation, and drawing exercises, you’ll gain new insight into the fascinating world of botanical form and function. We will work in graphite pencil, but more experienced artists can also use watercolor, sepia or colored pencil. This class is suitable for beginners, botanical artists, and others interested in the beauty and complexity of plant life.

Length: 1 day
Dates: November 1, 2025
Time: 10 am - 4 pm ET 

Keeping a sketchbook is a great way to explore, experiment, and develop your drawing and painting skills. In this three-day class with Tara Connaughton, we’ll foster this practice and create studies of a variety of Fall subjects using ink and watercolor washes of subtle fall colors using a limited palette. Classes will focus on observation and drawing techniques, color mixing and watercolor painting concepts, and using fineliner ink pens with watercolor. We will discuss different ways to use sketchbooks as part of your artistic process and gather inspiration that will help you fill those blank pages! Suitable for all experience levels.

Length: 3 days
Dates: Wednesdays, November 5, 12, 19, 2025
Time: 10 am - 2 pm ET 

 Calligrapher & botanical artist, Jan Boyd, designed this course to introduce the basic building blocks necessary to get started. Jan begins the two-day course with instruction in the basic tools of classic Calligraphy – types of pens, nibs, inks, papers, etc., and then moves into a series of fun and challenging exercises. You will be introduced to two distinct lettering styles (one each day) that will require two different types of pen nibs – one for broad-edge lettering and one for pointed pen copperplate styles. Using traditional metal nibs and bottled inks will strengthen the skills needed to create crisp, classic Calligraphy. Examples will be shown of how Calligraphy can be combined with Botanical Art.
 Suitable for all experience levels.

Length: 2 days
Dates: Fridays, November 7, 14, 2025
Time: 10 am - 3 pm ET 

In this relaxed and informative workshop, you'll enjoy plenty of helpful demonstrations as you develop your drawing and painting skills.  Explore botanical forms through line drawing and learn how to represent them accurately. Then, dive into watercolor painting with a series of engaging exercises designed to build both technique and enjoyment. Lead Instructor Sarah Roche will guide you in sharpening your observational abilities while encouraging creativity and confidence.

This class is perfect for beginners—no prior experience needed. All skill levels and anxiety levels are warmly welcomed.

Length: 2 days
Dates: Saturdays, November 8, 15, 2025
Time: 9:30 am - 1:30 pm ET 

Using inspiration from the rich textures and colors of holiday fruits, berries, and evergreens, you’ll create a festive botanical painting using pen, ink, and watercolor.  Through a series of guided demonstrations and hands-on practice, Sarah Roche will walk you through the steps—from sketching and composition to inking, painting, and preparing your piece for high-quality reproduction. By the end of the workshop, you’ll be ready to create pieces that are perfect for turning into custom holiday cards, gift tags, or notepaper.

Prerequisite: Completion of at least one “Foundations of Botanical Drawing & Painting” class, or equivalent.

Length: 1 day
Dates: Saturday, November 22, 2025
Time: 10 am - 3 pm ET 

Discover the timeless techniques of painting on vellum in this immersive three-session workshop with instructor Sarah Roche. Calfskin vellum—treasured for its luminous surface and durability—has been used by artists for centuries, and this course offers the perfect entry point into this archival medium.

Learn essential dry brush techniques tailored specifically for working on vellum. Explore how to build delicate layers and fine detail with the rich jewel tones and sculptural forms of seasonal fruits as your subject

Length: 3 days
Dates:  December 1, 3, &  5,  2025
Time: 10 am - 2 pm ET 

Botanical art has always informed and promoted botany and the plant world. Fueled by centuries of plant exploration and advances in printing techniques, botanical art has gained a wide audience and flourished as both an art form and a means to document plant species. Join Sarah Roche as she reviews the significant roles and styles of botanical art from early times to the present. At the second session of this class, you will view rare botanical books & prints from Massachusetts Horticultural Society’s extraordinary collection.

Length: 2 days
Dates:  December 2 & 4,  2025
Time: 10 am - 12:30 pm ET 

Get into the holiday spirit with an unconventional December workshop. You'll create a one-of-a-kind holiday arrangement that breaks the rules—in the best way! Think unexpected elements, bold textures, playful color palettes, and maybe even a few sparkles tucked among your blooms. Using techniques like dynamic asymmetry, creative use of negative space, and a mix of fresh and novelty materials, you'll build a design that's as joyful and unique as the season itself. Perfect for anyone ready to shake up tradition!

Length: 1 day
Date: Saturday, December 6, 2025
Time: 10am - 11:30am ET

Drawing plants isn’t always easy, especially when you’re faced with foreshortened petals, tricky tonal values, or overlapping shapes. In this four-session class, Carol Ann Morley will explore numerous ways to approach these visual problems and how to solve them with confidence. Learn how to build spatial depth and show space using techniques like atmospheric perspective.  With step-by-step guidance, you’ll gain skills to simplify what you see and conquer the curves of a curled leaf, the surface pattern of a gourd, or the layered shapes of a flower..

Length: 4 days
Dates:  January 5, 7, 9, & 12,  2026
Time: 10 am - 4 pm ET 

In this class with Tara Connaughton, we’ll take the artistic opportunity to study the beautiful and unique succulents and/or cacti available in our local greenhouses. Students will be guided through creating a botanical illustration of their chosen plant, with lessons focused on observation, drawing, painting process, and capturing unique characteristics these plants have - such as powdery bloom and silvery greens. We’ll learn methods for accurate color mixing, how to layer watercolor to build value, and detail in our illustrations.

Length: 3 days
Dates:  Wednesdays,  January 14, 21, & 28, 2026
Time: 9:30 am - 1:30 pm ET 

This class is our introduction series for botanical art beginners. 

In this six-week class, Sarah Roche introduces you to the traditional art and science of botanical drawing and painting. Focus includes observational skills, drawing, composition, design, and watercolor techniques. Sarah provides plenty of demonstrations, individual attention, and detailed feedback to make this a perfect beginner class.
Winter Topic: TBD.

Length: 6 Days
Dates: Varied, starting on February 2, 2026
Time: 10 am - 1 pm ET 

In this six-week class, refine your drawing and watercolor techniques with Sarah Roche as you focus on achieving the accurate representation of botanical subjects. 

Winter topic: TBD.

Prerequisite: Artists enrolling in this class should have successfully completed at least two Foundations courses and have the permission of the instructor.

Length: 6 Days
Dates: Tuesdays, February 3, 10, 17, 24 & March 3, 10, 2026 
Time: 10 am - 1 pm ET 

Get color confidence. Susan T. Fisher teaches you a system for combining colors consistently so you won't have to settle for the ones you end up with through trial and error. Lots of exercises, discussions, individual attention, and demonstrations will show you how to achieve the broadest possible spectrum. You'll get answers to many of your questions as we discuss the various properties of paint. Familiarize yourself with the codes to quality paint and choose pigments that will endure. 

Length: 5 days
Dates: Daily, March 16 –20, 2026
Time: 10 am - 1 pm ET