Flowers in season -
watercolour pencils and colour pencils
Amber Halsall is an award-winning contemporary botanical artist who creates intricately detailed artwork across various media. Drawing inspiration from the surrounding natural world her subjects are often discovered during walks in the picturesque Kent countryside or on her travels. She relishes the challenge of capturing motion through a dynamic blend of loose and detailed styles within her compositions.
After completing a fine art degree at Canterbury Art College, Amber developed a keen interest in botanical art during a visit to Kew Gardens. The experience inspired her to paint subjects from nature that she holds dear, ultimately leading to her career as a full-time artist, which commenced in 1995. Amber has won a number of awards for her work and has sold and exhibited in a variety of countries including Germany, France, USA and China.
Amber submitted her initial artworks to the Society of Botanical Artists (SBA) in 2004, and experienced the joy of being granted full membership in 2009. Furthermore, she was honoured with the Great Art Award at the 2014 Society of Graphic Fine Art Exhibition and she became a full member of SGFA in 2022.
More information: www.amberhalsallart.com
Information about the day
Working from life (flowers in season) you will look at how to draw the flower accurately using measuring techniques for the initial drawing. You will be taught how to use watercolour pencils to produce an underpainting in readiness to add layers of dry pencil on top as an option. Members may use watercolour pencils or non-water-soluble pencils. During the workshop we will cover all the techniques necessary to portray the colours and textures of the flower in an accurate study.
Amongst other things we will use layering and blending to create the appropriate colours and look at how to mix colours to match the subject. You will learn when to use embossing techniques and how to create realistic texture and detail. There will be regular demonstrations throughout the session and plenty of one-to-one help so that you will be able to work at your own pace. By the end of the session, you will have produced a completed study of a flower and leaves or a small composition.
Materials to bring
Participants will need to bring any colour pencils they have, either water-soluble or non (the larger the selection of colours the better).
For water soluble pencils, Hot Pressed watercolour paper will be needed. A4 will be large enough.
For dry pencils a smooth heavyweight cartridge paper will suffice.
Other items to bring:
- HB pencil
- eraser
- pencil sharpener
- putty rubber or blue tack
- an embossing tool or rounded blunt needle
- small jar to put flower in (depending on what flowers can be found at the time)
- drawing board if the paper is not in a pad
Workshop specific instructions – hide or delete if none