Drawing is the backbone of botanical art—a painting is only as good as the drawing beneath. An important step in developing proficiency in botanical art, this introduction to botanical drawing will focus on the development of skills and techniques necessary to capture the essence of flowers, fruits, pods, and leaves. Form, scale, depth and perspective will be emphasized. Each participant will produce a detailed botanical study in pencil.

Instructor Lee D’Zmura is an award-winning botanical artist whose experience as a landscape architect enriches her watercolors. With a focus on historic landscape preservation, her professional projects include the Jefferson Memorial and Dumbarton Oaks in Washington, DC, and Ann-Marie Sculpture Garden in Solomons, MD. The transition from landscape documentation and design to botanical painting was a natural extension of her knowledge and love of plants. Her watercolors are an attempt to capture the beauty and delicacy of the individual specimen with botanical accuracy. The fine detail in her paintings is in part the result of years of technical drawing.

D’Zmura received her certificate in Botanical Art from the Brookside Gardens School of Botanical Art and Illustration, where she now teaches advanced watercolor classes. She has also studied with several master botanical artists and is a member of the American Society of Botanical Artists, the Botanical Art Society of the National Capital Region, the Working Artists Forum, and the St. Michaels Art League. Her work is in collections throughout the country. She maintains a studio in St. Michaels, MD, where she draws inspiration from her neighbors’ gardens and from the native wildflowers of Maryland’s Eastern Shore.

This five-session program meets June 26 and July 3, 10, 17, and 24

Fee: $115 members, $140 non-members

Registration for this program is full. Call 410.634.2847, ext. 0 to be added to a waiting list.