Drawing and Painting Moths and Butterflies in Watercolour and Gouache

Dawn Wright studied Botanical Illustration for 3 years at Leicester College and has been teaching botanical art and natural history for a number of years, including at Nottingham Trent University and Wildlife Trusts. She is a Fellow of the Society of Botanical Artists and a member of several UK and international botanical art societies. Dawn enjoys introducing students to drawing and painting the natural world and is enthusiastic about raising the profile of this genre. She holds a small collection of (predominantly) British moths and butterflies, and enjoys recreating the colours and delicate textures.

Resident participants are requested to arrive for registration by 17.00 on arrival day.

The course will begin after supper.

Non-residents can arrive 10/15 mins before the evening meal or for the introduction talk.

There will be an introductory talk at 17.00.

Supper is usually at 18.30.

A non-resident booking also includes dinner during your course as teaching does progress into the evening.

Breakfast, for resident participants, will be from 08:00.

The course will end at 15.00. On the final day please vacate your room by 09:00, storage is provided for your luggage

• 
  Expert Tuition
• 
  Free Wi-Fi
• 
  Full Board Accommodation
• 
  Hot and Cold Drinks
• 
  In Course Transport

What to Bring

Watercolour Paints 
Artists’ quality preferred, recommend Winsor & Newton as can be purchased easily from high street stores or on-line art retailers such as Jackson’s, Ken Bromley, SAA, Cass Art.

Transparent Yellow
Indian Yellow
Transparent Orange
Permanent Alizarin Crimson or Permanent Carmine
Permanent Rose
Quinacridone Red
Winsor Violet Dioxazine
Winsor Blue Red Shade or Pthalo (Pthalocyanine) Blue Red Shade
Winsor Blue Green Shade Or Pthalo (Pthalocyanine) Blue Green Shade
Burnt Umber
White Gouache

Brushes 
I use sable ‘pointed round’ brushes. My favourite brand is Raphael Series 8408. These can be purchased from Jackson’s Art or Hobby Heaven (Avoid purchasing these fromGreat Art as there have been delays recently with deliveries)
Sizes 4, 2 and 0.
I use 2 brushes of the same size at the same time, one to hold water and one to hold paint – by doing this I am not diluting my paint.
Whether you choose sable, sable/synthetic or synthetic, your brushes should go into a lovely sharp point. Please do not bring rigger brushes.
A small synthetic ‘flat’ brush is useful for sharpening edges

Paper 
Good quality, hot press paper, white, minimum weight 140lb (300gsm). Paper can be bought by single sheet or in pads or gummed blocks. A couple of full sheets would be sufficient as they can be cut down to fit your final composition. The paper should be kept flat, not rolled. Please do not bring ‘rough’ paper, as fine detail is not achievable
I use Arches Hot Pressed and Fluid 100, both 140lbs
An alternative would be Daler Rowney The Langton Prestige smooth paper, or your preferred paper which you enjoy working on.

Other Equipment

• sketchbook: smooth, white paper. I can recommend Daler Rowney Ebony Spiral sketchbook. Min size A4,
• white palettes or white plates – ceramic
• pencils – 2H, HB
• cotton rag/kitchen roll
• kneadable/putty rubber AND a plastic eraser
• tracing paper
• hand-held magnifying lens, if you have one
• travel lamp/daylight lamp – bring with you if you have one, but don’t buy specifically for this course
• craft knife
• a piece of fine grade sand paper
• notebook – for all the tips and knowledge you’re going to acquire