Description
Summer Sketching: Grow your Botanical Drawing Skills
Session 3 of the Zoom Drawing Workshop Series · Botanical Sketchbook for All Seasons
Sunday, July 12, 2026: 1pm – 5pm ET
✏️ Instructors: Pam Thompson, Vern Fannin, &/ Sam McWilliams
✅ Level: All levels
🌱 Botanical Subject(s): Summer-friendly plants you can easily forage near home, including:
•Flowers in different shapes (tubular, cup-shaped, disc-shaped, etc.)
•Fruits and berries (bonus challenge: drawing them on the branch with leaves!)
•Summer fungi
•Leafy greens and summer leaves full of texture and personality
•Revisit plants from winter or spring to see how they’ve transformed
•Any local plant life growing in your area this time of year
Workshop Description
Celebrate the bright colors, bold shapes, and abundant plant life of summer as we continue building our Botanical Sketchbooks of the Seasons. This four-hour online workshop invites you to slow down, look closely, and enjoy the creative energy that summer brings to your sketchbook pages.
🌿 Your Botanical Sketchbook, Your Way
Nature offers endless possibilities for us to draw in summer. Follow a plant that has been with you since winter, document what’s thriving in your garden, sketch trail-side discoveries, or explore different mushroom species. We keep the practice stress-free, time-friendly, and deeply enjoyable.
☀️ Why Summer Is a Dream Season for Botanical Sketching
Summer is bursting with inspiration: vivid blooms, juicy fruits and berries, lush leaves, towering stems, and fungi hiding in shady spots. With so many plant shapes and colors available, summer is the perfect time to stretch your drawing skills, experiment with lively compositions, and explore more complex botanical subjects at your own pace. This workshop encourages curiosity, observation, and joy, inviting you to capture the season’s energy in your botanical sketchbook.
✏️ Skills You’ll Build in This Workshop
- Observational Drawing: Learn techniques for breaking down bold blooms and fruit structures into manageable forms.
- Color Techniques for Vibrant Summer Pages: Practice watercolor and colored pencil methods for saturated hues, gradients, and soft shadows.
- Inking for Structure & Detail: Use thoughtful line work to define edges, textures, and botanical variation across summer plants.
- Designing Lively Sketchbook Layouts: Compose energetic, full-of-life pages that reflect the richness of summer.
- Seasonal Note-Taking & Lettering: Enhance your pages with plant names, dates, color notes, and playful lettering styles.
🍃 Join One Session or the Full Year
This workshop is one part of our four-session Botanical Sketchbook for All Seasons series. Each session is available individually, or you can enroll in all four at a discounted rate to stay motivated and creative throughout the year.
Why Join?
Our workshops are not just about learning but also about community and collaboration. Here’s what makes our Zoom Workshops special:
👩🎨Friendly Instructors: Our experienced and approachable instructors are passionate about botanical art and are dedicated to helping you succeed.
🎨Live Demonstrations: Watch and learn as we demonstrate each technique, making it easy for you to follow along and practice.
🖼️Constructive Feedback: Receive personalized feedback to help you improve and gain confidence in your artistic abilities.
🤝Interactive Environment: Engage with instructors and fellow participants, ask questions, and share your progress in a supportive and encouraging space.
🎥Session Recordings: Miss a session? Want to rewatch a lesson? No worries! After each session, you’ll get the recording delivered to your inbox, available for you to review anytime.
📹Pre-Recorded Videos: Access to pre-recorded videos to supplement your learning and practice at your own pace to help you feel prepared before we begin.
📧Email Support: If you watch the recordings after the live workshop has ended, you can still receive personalized feedback! Just send photos of your progress to info+images@drawbotanical.com, and an instructor will reply with compliments and constructive critiques.
IMPORTANT: Add info@drawbotanical.com to your email contacts! All workshop details will arrive in your inbox, including links to the Zoom meetings, pre-recorded videos, and slideshow.
After purchasing this workshop, you will receive an email with Registration Details. If you don’t see this email in your inbox a few hours after purchasing, search your inbox for our email address and check your spam/junk/quarantine folders. If you still can’t find it, email info@drawbotanical.com, and we will assist you.
Recommended Supplies:
What materials do I need for summer botanical sketching?
In addition to our “Bare Necessities” supplies, you will need:
- Your favorite watercolor or mixed media sketchbook. We recommend a Stillman & Birn Mixed Media (Zeta Series) Sketchbook. Some manageable sizes are: 8.5 x 5.5 inch Landscape, or 7.5 x 7.5 inch.
- Waterproof ink pens like Sakura Pigma Micron Pen – Black 005 (0.2mm) And 05 (0.45mm) (Or other sizes, but one thick and one thin is best).
- Travel water brush like Pentel Aquash Water Brush – Small or your favorite watercolor brush.
Find all of the supplies that we recommend here. Feel free to follow along with any supplies you have (your result may just end up looking a little different). Our lessons are about a combination of fundamental 3D art concepts and colored pencil and watercolor technique, so you can skip the supplies-specific tips and still learn a lot about art basics including perspective, light source, composition, etc. One of the main points we teach is colored pencil and watercolor technique for slow, continuous toning, but as long as you are able to achieve the same blending result with your chosen materials, you can still benefit from our course lessons.
FAQs
Q: Do I need to take the winter or spring sessions before joining the summer workshop?
A: NO, each workshop stands alone. You can begin your Botanical Sketchbook of the Seasons at any point during the year.
Q: Can I receive feedback from instructors after the workshop ends?
A: YES, if you watch the recordings after the live workshop has ended, you can still receive personalized feedback! Just send photos of your progress to info+images@drawbotanical.com, and an instructor will reply with compliments and constructive critiques.
Q: Will there be a recording of the workshop?
A: Yes. All participants receive access to the workshop recording so you can review the demonstrations, pause while sketching, or revisit techniques anytime.
Q: Do I need any experience to join this summer sketchbooking session?
A: NO experience is required! This workshop is beginner-friendly and also great for experienced botanical artists who want to refresh their skills or begin a yearlong nature journaling habit.
Q: What kinds of summer plants will we draw in this workshop?
A: We’ll sketch a range of summer botanicals such as flowers with varied shapes, fruits and berries (both loose and on branches), fungi, leafy greens, and any local plant life you gather. You’re welcome to revisit earlier subjects to document seasonal changes.
Q: What if I can’t find the same plants you use in the demo?
A: No problem—summer offers plenty of options everywhere. You can sketch any locally available plant materials or even indoor houseplants.
Cancellation Policy: Due to the virtual nature of this product, we cannot issue a refund. You will still receive all recordings from the workshop, and you can watch them at your convenience.
By purchasing this workshop, you agree to the following Media Release: I hereby give permission to Draw Botanical LLC to use photographs, videos, and/or audio recordings in which my picture or image appears for all purposes and in all media and formats now known or later created including, without limitation, all promotional materials. I hereby waive any right that I may have to inspect or approve the finished product or products or advertising or printed matter that may be used in connection with this video, audio or photographs or the use to which it may be applied.
I hereby irrevocably release and discharge Draw Botanical LLC and personnel from all claims, demands, and causes of action that I now have or in the future may have relating to the permitted use of my likeness.
I agree that Draw Botanical LLC will be the sole owner of all rights in the above-mentioned recordings. (Note: I maintain all rights to the work I create. Draw Botanical maintains all rights to the recorded content.) This release is governed in accordance with the laws of the State of New York.
