The Art and Science of Drawing Plants: Field Studies

with Carson Ellis and Erin Ellis

Saturday, April 11 | 10am – 4pm

BRN – Elective

(This is the first class in the series. It and can be taken individually, as a stand-alone class, or together with the Lab Studies class. Each class requires separate registration.)

In this field-based introductory workshop, learn about native plant communities in the Arboretum’s Native Azalea Collection. Focus will be given to different Rhododendron species and students will learn how to identify many of the specimens in the collection. Using this knowledge of the plant features that make a species unique, students will produce a labeled “plant portrait” of a native azalea. Some supplies are provided but students are encouraged to bring their own supplies, see the list below for what to bring.

Supplies needed:

• Hardbound sketchbook with mixed media or watercolor paper OR paper and clipboard
• Pencil (HB, optional F or H), Sharpener, Eraser
• Watercolor pan set (recommended: Angora 14-color set, Winsor and Newton, Daniel Smith)
• Pentel Aquash water brush(es), round OR round watercolor brushes (size 2-4-6) and small water vessel
• Hand lens or jeweler’s loupe
• Optional: tape (painter’s, washi, or scotch), Tombow mono zero eraser pen 2.3mm and/or Tombow mono Knock 3.8, white gel pen, small acrylic art triangle, other favorite sketching materials

This class is designed for beginners, so students do not need any prior plant identification or art skills to attend. Students should bring a lunch or be prepared to purchase lunch at the Arbor Eatery on property during the 1 hour lunch break.

This program will take place outside in the Native Azalea Collection which a notable grade change from the main parking area and follows moderate trails. Dress for the weather and prepare to be outside for the entire program time.

Erin Ellis is a science illustrator, artist, and designer from New Jersey living on the central coast of California. Passionate about art and conservation, Erin uses her dynamic skill set to support organizations and institutions doing work and research in this field. She holds masters’ certificates in typography and science illustration from the Cooper Union and California State University, Monterey Bay where she studied with the staff botanical illustrator at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. As an illustrator and designer, Erin has worked with the Monterey Bay Aquarium, The University of California Santa Cruz, the California Institute of Technology, and her botanical artwork has been published in Harvard Papers in Botany. Erin participates in her local creative communities as an art mentor for the Western Flyer Foundation, a swing dance instructor, and teaches painting in the CSUMB Science Illustration Certificate Program.

Carson Ellis, born and raised in Asheville, NC, is a life-long explorer of Western North Carolina’s mountains. Her love for the natural world inspired her to pursue a career studying and cultivating native plants. Following undergraduate work in environmental science and horticulture, she completed her M.S. Biology at Western Carolina University, where she researched the pollination networks of high-elevation rock outcrop plant communities. As a horticulturist, she has worked with the Highlands Biological Research Station, Memphis Botanic Garden, and Tennessee Plant Conservation Alliance, and recently joined The North Carolina Arboretum as the Curator of the National Native Azalea Collection. A lover of the arts, she enjoys painting, ceramics, and messing around on the mountain dulcimer in her free time. She considers the natural world her biggest source of inspiration and celebrates horticulture as the ideal union of art and science.

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