How the courses work
Recorded lessons, drawn along with.
Every course is a set of recorded video lessons, filmed overhead in real time at a drawing desk and streamed to you. Watch on a laptop, tablet or phone, pause whenever you like, and draw the same plant on your own paper.
- Recorded video lessons, streamed
- 24 months of access
- Any device with a browser
Inside one lesson
Five parts, always in the same order
Lessons run from about twenty minutes to just under an hour. Each one follows the same strip, so you always know where you are.
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1
Kit check
The first minute: what is on the table for this lesson, laid out so you can match it before you press play again.
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2
Demonstration
The drawing or painting made in front of you, filmed from directly above, at the speed it really takes.
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3
Draw-along pauses
Marked points where the video tells you to stop and do the same step on your own paper before going on.
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4
Worksheet
A printable PDF: the stages of the lesson, measurements, colour notes and a practice exercise.
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5
Reference photo set
Photographs of the plant from several sides, for when yours has wilted or is out of season.
Why recorded works here
The plant does not move
Botanical drawing is slow, close work. A live class moves at the speed of the room; a recording moves at yours. You can stop on the exact frame where the brush lifts off a petal, watch the stroke three times, and only then try it.
Filming from directly above means you see the page the way you see your own: the same angle, the same scale, the hand and the mark together.
Honest limits
What the courses do, and what they do not
Does
- Recorded video lessons, filmed overhead in real time
- Streamed: nothing to install, works on any device with a browser
- Pause, rewind and rewatch any lesson as often as you like
- A printable PDF worksheet with every lesson
- A reference photo set of the plant for every lesson
- A kit list for every course, so you know what you need first
- 24 months of access from the day we send your access e-mail
Does not
- No live classes or scheduled sessions
- No marking of, or feedback on, your drawings
- No certificate or qualification at the end
- No downloads of the video files themselves
- No art materials: you buy those wherever you like
If you want someone to look at your work, a local art society or class is the right place for that. These courses are for the practice in between.
Pace planner
One lesson a week is a course a season
A season in the garden is roughly thirteen weeks. Most of our courses have between twelve and twenty lessons, so one lesson a week fits a course into the season it was made for. One a fortnight is gentler and still leaves plenty of room inside your 24 months (about 104 weeks).
These are suggestions, not deadlines. The lessons do not unlock on a timer.
| Course | Lessons | One a week | One a fortnight |
|---|---|---|---|
| First Marks: Learning to See a PlantAny time · Beginner | 14 | 14 weeksabout 3 months | 28 weeksabout 6 months |
| Spring Bulbs in Coloured PencilSpring · Improver | 18 | 18 weeksabout 4 months | 36 weeksabout 8 months |
| The English Rose in WatercolourSummer · Advanced | 20 | 20 weeksabout 5 months | 40 weeksabout 9 months |
After you pay
How you get into the lessons
You place the order
Pay at checkout by card, Apple Pay or Google Pay. You get an order page with your order reference.
We e-mail your login
Our team sets up your access by hand and e-mails a login, usually within one working day.
Your 24 months begin
Access runs for 24 months from the date of that access e-mail. Start whenever the plant is ready.