Loose but precise: Expressive and simple floral paintings in watercolor – new course

Today I’m excited to announce a new course: I focused a lot on big, loose floral paintings during this spring and summer, an activity with lots of flowing paint and big brush strokes, and I thought this would be a nice addition to my existing botanical sketching course that’s focused a bit more on the drawing aspect.

After going through the original botanical sketching course with a group of lovely students this spring, I wanted to explore the technique I call “loose but precise” a bit further. The result is this new course.

The course is out now on Gumroad (this supports me directly) and on Skillshare (subscription).

For Skillshare students: I’m currently running a giveaway contest for one year of free membership, check out this discussion to learn more.

Here’s the introductory video with a bit of preview:

Loose but Precise Florals (course introduction)

Watch this video on YouTube.

In this course I demonstrate how you can sketch flowers with a combination of detailed line work and textures, and flowing vivid watercolor washes. This “loose but precise“ approach I’ll show adds depth and freshness to floral sketches – it’s playful and expressive, and aims to prevent overworked sketches.

In the course you’ll learn:

• a basic approach to botanical and floral sketching
• new ways to combine linework with watercolor – the loose but precise concept
• how to capture the essence of your flower without drawing for hours
• ways to add expressive watercolor washes to your drawing
• how to achieve vibrancy and freshness in your watercolor sketches
• when to stop and avoid overworking to keep your sketches playful

I’ll publish a demo lesson in the next few days, so you can see how I approach painting these loose floral sketches. As always, there’s plenty of material to practice and paint along with, from warm up lessons to several full-length demonstrations. The course is great for beginner and intermediate artists – if you feel you want some basic practice first, then Introduction to Botanical Sketching will be a great starting point.

Both courses are available for self-study right now, I’ll announce when I will run a live version with feedback.

In any case, I really hope you’ll enjoy this new course as much as I enjoyed putting it together!

Links
Loose but Precise: Expressive and Simple Floral Paintings in Watercolor (Gumroad)
Loose but Precise: Expressive and Simple Floral Paintings in Watercolor (Skillshare)