NEWS about Botanical Art and for Botanical Artists

UPDATED: Guide to Online Botanical Art Instruction & Courses

29/9/2020

I've UPDATED my page which provides a Guide to Online Botanical Art Instruction & Courses - to take account of the many developments since the Pandemic started.

It's clear that face to face workshops and classes are going to be very few and far between for some time to come - and I hope all those that are running them have got adequate insurance!

In the meantime there has been a bit of an explosion of botanical art instruction on Zoom and Facebook Live and other platforms where it is possible to have interactive experiences between tutor and student.

I felt very challenged as to how make it simpler for people to understand the different - and proliferating - options on offer. At one point I thought a separate Zoom page was the answer - and then realised that Zoom is a vehicle and platform rather than a category in its own right.

So the page has now been revised, edited and re-categorised as follows.
Plus I've pushed it up the Education Menu as I think it's going to be used rather more often over the next year or so.

Content

This is what you can find on the page - and I make no apologies for providing a lot of explanation about how it all works at the beginning.

SUMMARIES of:

WHAT Online Botanical Art Instruction is
WHO benefits from online instruction
WHERE you can learn about botanical art online
WHO PROVIDES online botanical art instruction
HOW Botanical Art is taught online

+ FAQS CHECKLIST about Online Learning Options
This is based on Frequently Asked Questions (FAQS) by prospective students (from my Facebook Survey). I recommend students use this as a basis for evaluating alternative options 

OVERVIEW of Online Botanical Art Courses / Videos

This indicates the different types of provision.
While researching "who offers what" in relation to botanical art instruction online, I found that instruction, courses, tutors and fees payable are described in VERY different ways - hence the need to sort and categorise!

DETAIL

I then provide a detailed summary of every provider I know that is providing botanical art instruction online, with:

some detail about the provider
course offering
links to relevant websites
fees or subscriptions payable

Which means that if I've got the categories right, you can compare "like with like".

Who gets on - and stays on - depends on whether I am confident in their abilities and capability in terms of teaching online. That might be the next thing up for review

Keep up to date with Botanical Art Learning Opportunities
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Let me know.....

If you are a teacher
with a developed BOTANICAL ART instruction offering online and you are NOT on the list, then you can contact me.

PLEASE USE MY ADD my ONLINE course (for tutors) FORM - AFTER you have reviewed the information I need from you

If you are a botanical art student
PLEASE COMPLETE the Review of Online Botanical Art Courses form
It would help me greatly if you could:

EITHER Tell me what sort of course you'd ideally like to do online
AND/OR Tell me what you "need to know" before you choose an online course and decide to pay a fee or subscription.
AND/OR Provide feedback about any online courses you have paid for and taken. e.g. Why did you opt for online learning? Who provided the course? Did course delivery meet your expectations - based on information provided? What did you have access to and do? Did you find it helpful? What did you like/not like? Was any aspect disappointing?

PLEASE NOTE COMMENTS ARE NOT PUBLISHED ONLINE - unless you indicate permission to use them for testimonials.

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Guide to Online Botanical Art Instruction & Courses

23/3/2020

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Many of you will be unable to attend botanical art classes, courses and workshops during the Coronavirus Crisis.

However there are a couple of alternatives for learning more techniques about how to draw and paint plants to botanical standards away from a physical face to face class. These are:

online instruction
art instruction books

Guide to Online Botanical Art Instruction & Courses

For those wanting to learn more about botanical art and illustration at home, there was nowhere on the web offering a comparative analysis and evaluation of the available online instruction and tutorials in botanical art and illustration - until I published my Guide to Online Botanical Art Instruction & Courses.

My webpage providing advice and information on how to choose and lists of those providing online instruction in botanical art and illustration

This web page includes:

RECOMMENDED READING

a SUMMARY of what Online Botanical Art Instruction is
a SUMMARY of who benefits from online instruction
OVERVIEW of providers of Online Botanical Art Courses - this indicates the different types and providers, namely
- Recognised Institutions (e.g. Botanic Gardens) - providing distance learning courses using web-based instruction
- Online Instruction via Video Tutorials
- Online Instruction via individual Teachers (written guides and/or ebooks plus typically minor use of videos. Plus some teachers also provide one on one masterclasses, critiques and/or tutorials)
- Corporate Providers of Online Instruction Platforms - where botanical art (and art too) is just one of very many topics taught.
CHECKLIST of questions for prospective students - to be used by students who want to evaluate the alternative options on offer

BOTANICAL ART ONLINE COURSE PROVIDERS

LIST of Online Providers of Botanical Art Instruction - more information
REVIEW of Online Botanical Art Courses - if you'd like to say what you want from online courses or what you think about online course provision there is a form. No comments are published but may inform the future content of this page.

It's essential that BEFORE parting with any money
you are clear about:
- what type of instruction or course you are buying
- what you are paying for i.e. what the instruction comprises
- whether it works on ALL your online devices(desktop/tablet/smartphone etc) i.e. the website must be designed for and accessible by all mobile devices
- how the payment scheme works - whether it is one-off or a subscription scheme and whether any subscription is automated (i.e. payments renew automatically until you stop them)
- whether you can get a refund if you realise you've made a mistake
- whether you are dealing with a tutor who knows about all the Regulatory Requirements of eCommerce which should provide you with protection in the event of a concern (e.g. data privacy) or dispute (e.g. re your consumer contract)

Blog posts are emailed to you when you
Subscribe to Botanical Art & Artists - News by Email
Emails are only sent to you AFTER you have activated the link you will receive.

Providers of Online Botanical art Instruction include:

Recognised Institutions
- providing distance learning courses using web-based instruction

UK: Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh - 3 year Diploma Course and 6 month Certificate Course - with a team of tutors
UK: London Art College - Botanical Painting Online Art Course (D9) (Tutor: Polly O' Leary ) Botanical Coloured Pencil Online (D12) (Tutor: Ida Mitrani)
USA: Cornell University - Online Botanical Illustration series

Online Instruction via Video Tutorials
by Botanical Artists/Tutors

Anna Mason - Learn botanical painting online
Billy Showell - Online Tutorials
Wendy Hollender - Botanical Basics and Draw Botanical's Complete Course
Jarnie Godwin - Online Botanical Watercolour Tutorials

Online Tuition via individual tutors
- using written guides / ebooks and videos + feedback / Private Facebook Groups i.e. it varies

Dianne Sutherland - Botanical Art Online
Elaine Searle - Paint Botanical Online Shorts
Gaynor Dickson - Gaynor's Flora - Online Botanical Art Course
Julia Trickey - Botanical Art Tutorials
Ann Swan - Pencil Potential - Online Tuition Programme
Shevaun Doherty - Botanical Elements
Sarah Morrish - Illustrating Nature's Details - Online Courses

Corporate Instruction Providers - Online Instruction
- the platform is owned by a company which elects to provide teaching as a business. It can change the business model at any time (e.g. as happened with Craftsy).

Udemy - Paint Realistic Watercolours and Botanicals - with Heidi Elliis
Bluprint / Craftsy - Botanical Illustration With Watercolor & Colored Pencils with Adele Rossetti

I do NOT include those are providing video tutorials or other online instruction which is design oriented i.e. not observing the essential characteristics of botanical art and illustration.

I hope you find this Guide useful during the Coronavirus Crisis.

CLICK the image to go to this page on this website

Teach Botanical Art Online

I'm also going to try and provide a Guide to all those thinking about switching their workshop teaching to online instruction - hopefully this week. Although I expect this may be a work in progress for a while.

If you're interested, please use comments below (or contact me) to tell me what you want to know about.

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