In order to complete the paintings for the book Plants from the Woods and Forests of Chile, I will be travelling to southern and central Chile to paint up to 12 different species. All the paintings I have produced so far for this publication have been painted from plants growing in UK gardens — mainly at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh in Scotland. I will have two months in Chile to prepare my initial sketches for these 12 species, and during this time I will be teaching two separate botanical illustration classes: one in the small town of Puerto Varas in southern Chile, and the other in Santiago at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile.
September 2011
Işık Güner and Alicia Salazar will lead a masterclass in Santiago!
This botanical illustration workshop is linked to the publication of the book Plants from the Woods and Forests of Chile, coordinated by the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. This book will feature up to 80 high-quality watercolour paintings of plants associated with the forested areas of south-central Chile and is scheduled to be published in 2012/13.
The project is being coordinated by Martin Gardner and Paulina Hechenleitner, who have been working on Chilean plant conservation. They were the main authors of the book Threatened Plants of Central-South Chile, published in 2005.
This course has been designed to further develop your abilities in design, drawing, colour, perspective and tone, in order to produce high-standard botanical illustrations.
October 2011
A second botanical illustration workshop was held at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, from 17 to 21 October 2011, with eighteen talented artists participating. The course was based on the highly successful series of botanical illustration courses developed and run at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. It included fourteen of the artists who had attended the course held in Santiago in 2010, and was co-led by Alicia Salazar, a botanical illustration teacher at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh.
I was delighted to meet such talented artists from another country, and it is truly encouraging to see that some of these artists are continuing their education by attending further courses at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh.
The workshop was sponsored by the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, Centro del Desierto de Atacama, and Chagual, Jardín Botánico de Santiago.
Participants: Andrea Ugarte, Alessandra Merello, Beatrice Weil, Maren Kruuse, Maria Edwards, Geraldine MacKinnon, Carmen Gloria Gomien, Claudia Moreno Pérez, Loreto Rodríguez, Magdalena Pérez de Arce, Francisco Ramos, Consuelo Marín, Monica Carrozza, Verónica Montt, Gail Eckman Tomlin, Janitze Gurusahaikaur, Coca Lyon and Constanza Obach.
September 2012
This course is designed to introduce the basic techniques used in botanical illustration. The programme of study will cover measured drawing from living plant material at natural size; how to make drawings life-like using light and shade; and how to apply watercolour washes and mix colours.
Tutor: Işık Güner
Dates: 29–30 September 2012, 14:00–20:00 1 October 2012, 9:00–14:00
Location: German College, Puerto Varas
