Botanical Art: What Colour is Green?

Tutor in Residence

Barbara Duckworth - Melbourne

There are so many greens in nature. Many greens are readily available in the tube or pan but they are rarely the exact colour or shade you want. 

Do I mix my greens or do I adapt the ready-made greens I have in my paintbox? If I mix, what goes with what?  If I shift, what other colour do I use?

Come explore the ready mixed greens you have in your palette which can be shifted from the base colour and see the range of colours you can achieve.  We will also mix greens from a range of blues and yellows.
Pigments characteristics and properties will be discussed, demonstrated and followed by exercises where experimentation in their application will be observed so that an understanding of why some pigments are suitable and others do not work as well.

Colours observed from the experiments and exercises will then be employed in painting your chosen subject.

Estimated material cost: Negligible-Experienced students should have most materials

Barbara holds a Diploma of Art from Toronto, Canada and studied natural history drawing at the British Museum of Natural History, London.  She worked at the Australian Museum for 14 years in Malacology, Entomology and Mammalogy Departments.  From 1988 -1999 she was the Biological Sciences Artist/Illustrator at Macquarie University and taught scientific illustration courses in both fundamental and advanced techniques.

Barbara has been teaching at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney, and Mount Tomah since 2000.  She also teaches at both the Summer and Winter Schools at Mitchell College, Charles Sturt University, Bathurst.  She has exhibited in Botanica since 2000 and had sell-outs most years. She has held two solo exhibitions and participated in numerous group exhibitions.  Barbara is represented in the Shirley Sherwood Collection, London and private collections in Australia, England, USA, Japan and Canada.