Current and Upcoming Botanical Art Classes by Heeyoung Kim
Special Series for Intermediate and Experienced Beginning Level: How to Improve
3 Workshops: How to improve your watercolor painting skills
Topics requested by students
This new series will cover the selected topics requested by my students from the previous 3 Pre-Studies for Eco-Botanicals. In order to get a good understanding on each topic, I will choose simple subjects for each workshop and focus on learning the foundational theory regarding that selected topic, and practicing techniques to achieve the goals.
All classes in this series will be Saturdays, 10 am - 2 pm, CT. For Registration, Click Here
Suitable for intermediate and advanced beginning level, and anyone who wants to improve painting skills in the selected topic.
Materials List will be emailed after registration. Zoom link and class PDF will be emailed the day before each class. The class will be recorded for review. Time and fee are varied for each workshop. Course details below.
Workshop 1: Value and Form, 2 sessions, June 22 & 29, $168
The most frequently requested topic! Initially I planned all the workshop as one half-day (4 hours) class, but it really needs more than 4 hours to get through from black and white to watercolor, and add some practice time to make this workshop more meaningful.
Week 1: June 22, 2024 (10 am - 2 pm, CT)
How to apply the right value system on the object/subject in general
What you have to know in order to understand the right value system
How to do translate color into value
How to execute graphite pencils to create the right form, transition from light to dark, applying the right value along a curvy stem
Subject: 2 simple subjects: one round berry and a curvy stem)
Week 2: June 29, 2024 (10 am - 2 pm, CT)
How to apply the right value system on the object/subject in general in watercolor
How to maximize 3 D effect by using color temperature and color intensity properly
Practicing various brush strokes to achieve desirable results.
Workshop 2: Painting Green Leaves, 2 sessions, July 27, Aug 3, $168
Green leaves are a challenging painting subject for beginning and experienced botanical watercolorists alike. In this workshop I will show demos with…
Week 1: July 27, 2024 (10 am - 2 pm, CT)
One leaf with bumpy surface such as mint and rosa rugosa.
Mixing colors and painting process to get the bumpy textures effectively
Week 2: August 3, 2024 (10 am - 2 pm, CT)
A twig with multiple leaves
With focus on the perspective, spacial relationship, and color temperature and intensity.
Workshop 3: White Flowers with Leaves, 1 Session, Aug 31, $85
10 am - 2 pm, CT
White flowers can become overworked with too much or dark shadows and outlines.
In this workshop, the focus will be on adding just enough shadows, a variety of shadow colors, and smart composition to define the white flowers effectively. To give the white flower panting a stronger wall impact, green leaf painting will be naturally involved in this workshop, and students will have a chance to reinforce leaf painting skills acquired from the series 2.
Botanical Drawing and Painting for Beginners, 2024
Drawing Fundamentals for Beginners, Zoom
The most sought-after drawing workshop year after year….
An Intensive course with lots of detailed technique demos, meaningful assignments and constructive feedback. Informative PDFs prepared by Kim will help students understand the drawing process naturally and logically. Kim’s deep understanding on the medium helps students experience the whole drawing process from a completely different perspective. Many students from the past workshops told that they went through a breakthrough moment via this course.
PDF and Zoom link will be emailed the day before of each session. All classes will be recorded for students to review. 5 Saturdays, 3 - 6 pm, CT, Fee: $310. For registration, Click Here
Weekly contents and dates:
Week 1: May 4, 3 - 6 pm. Understanding tools, light, Tonal Value (Gradation), light and shadow
Week 2: May 18, 3 - 6 pm. How to draw 3 major flower types. Measuring techniques for free hand drawing
Week 3: May 25, 3 - 6 pm. Perspective and foreshortened form 1 - Flower.
Week 4: June 1, 3 - 6 pm. Perspective and foreshortened form 2 - Leaf.
Week 5: June 8, 3 - 6 pm. Composition and how to create a scientifically informative botanical drawing.
Watercolor for Beginners: 3 Courses - Zoom
You Can and Should Control Everything! Watercolor paintings in general look loose and spontaneous, which is the charm of the medium. When it comes to a traditional botanical art/illustration style, however, it is far from being loose and spontaneous. Perfect renderings including ‘clean-but-not-hard’ edges, soft blending and gradation, accurate descriptions of the plant subject in shape, color and texture, etc are critical to create a botanical artwork of good quality.
In this series of three courses, Heeyoung Kim will guide the students with simple, visual, logical and scientific explanations about watercolor painting process, which will help them internalize the techniques naturally.
Suitable for beginners and those who are still not quite sure about how to handle all the watercolor materials and techniques, even after some experiences.
PDF and Zoom link will be emailed the day before of each session. Classes will be recorded for students to review. 3 Saturdays for each course, 3 pm - 6 pm, CT. Each course: $190. Register for all 3 courses and get 10% discount ($513). For registration, Click Here and select the option.
Course Contents and Dates
Course 1: July 6, 13 & 2. Fundamentals of watercolor painting. Tools and how they interact under the artist’s control, and how to achieve 3 dimensionality
Course 2: August 10, 17 & 24. Focus on flowers. Practice: Achieving translucency, 3 dimensional form building though smart uses of color temperature. Rich and intense color… edge control and more.
Course 3: September 14, 21 & 28. Leaves with linear and net veins. Intuitive green mixing, painting leaves with various venation types
Eco-Botanicals: Intermediate and Experienced Beginners Level
Bees, Birds, Blooms, Trees…. and Habitats. The courses in this section are designed for students who have basic watercolor painting skills and want to move forward to develop more complex compositions with elaborate painting skills. With focuses on watercolor techniques, students will choose the same or similar plant specimens to apply the techniques the instructor demonstrates through the classes. While learning painting techniques, students will also learn methods to study habitats.
Asters and Grasses with bees/Butterflies - Zoom
Sept. 23, 30, Oct. 7 & 21. Saturday mornings, 10 am - 1 pm, CT, $250
Suitable for intermediate and experienced beginners
“Autumn will last as long as I paint asters and grasses, and bees and butterflies swarming around them.” New England Aster or other aster species and grasses will be the plant subject. Student’s choice of bees will be added to the composition, but butterflies are welcome as a continuous faunal element from the previous project. Students will be encouraged to use grasses and bees/butterflies as compositional elements to achieve naturalistic flow and movement.
PDF and Zoom link will be emailed the day before of each session. All classes will be recorded for students to review. For registration, Click Here
Advanced Watercolor: Botanicals in Ecological Context
Continuing Study Group to Develop Independent projects…
The courses in this section are designed for students who want to explore regional naive flora and fauna with broad ecological themes to create their own independent projects with Heeyoung’s instructions.
Who’s eating what? Who needs that? What’s the ecological role of that plant? Most of Heeyoung’s painting subjects for this series are developed from these questions. Students will choose the same or similar native plants and associated faunal elements with advice/recommendations from Kim. Habitats are often included in the context.
Heeyoung’s compositions are usually large and complex, but students adopt the complexity to suit their skill level or time they can devote for painting. Students can participate in this courses regardless of their regions and study their native plants using Kim’s instructions.
Each project: 4 weeks, 10 am - 1 pm, CT. Fee: $250 Click for Registration
Project 1, 2024: Winter Prairie and Birds
Jan. 23, 30, Feb. 13 & 20
The instructor’s demo subjects will be Cup Plant as the strong design element and a few grass/rush/sedge species added to fill in the space, and of course winter birds, Dark-eyed Junco and/or American Tree Sparrow. Students will substitute them with local native plants and birds. Students can use watercolor or watercolor with graphite pencil in a similar manner with the demo example. Registration is open now
If you are interested in joining this ongoing Tuesday Advanced Watercolor Zoom workshop, contact me, please!
Project 2: Life around a Fallen Tree
Featuring spring ephemerals, mushrooms and Northern Flicker
April 2, 9, 23 and May 7
Instructor’s demo subject: Plant: Rue Anemone, Cutleaf Toothwort, Spring Cress, Purple Cress, Blood Roots….. Anything that blooms in your area in early spring can be the subject for this project. Mushroom: Hairy Bracket, Turkey Tail, and others. Bird: Northern Flicker. There will be two breaks between the sessions in order to give enough time for students to catch up with the drawing and painting. Mock-up composition will be sent out after registration. Register Here (choose Project 2)
One-On-One Critique And Mentorship
Monday Open Workshop: In-Person
Guest Artist Workshop With Other venues, 2024- Contact Kim for request
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2 Fridays, 1/13 & 1/27 and Saturday, 1,28, 2023. Registration at NYBG websiteDescription text goes here
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March 24 - 26, 2023, Registration at the arboretum website
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Mobil, Alabama, Oct. 13, 2023
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Mobil, Alabama, Oct 12, 2023
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