The Art and Science of Drawing Plants: Lab Study

with Carson Ellis and Erin Ellis

Wednesday, April 15 | 10am – 4pm

BRN - Elective

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

In this hands-on, classroom-based workshop, students learn botanical terminology and practice using a dichotomous key to differentiate between Rhododendron species. Using this knowledge of plant features, students will work from live cuttings to produce a labeled botanical illustration 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:

• Watercolor paper, Hot Press (smooth), 11x14" size recommended
• Pencils (HB, H, 2B) and sharpener, Erasers (Tombow mono zero eraser pen 2.3mm and/or Tombow mono Knock 3.8 recommended)
• Watercolor pan set (recommended: Koi, Winsor and Newton, Daniel Smith)
• Brushes: Size 2, 4, 6 rounds
• Optional: artist or washi tape, small filbert brush, masking fluid and quill pen, hand lens or jeweler’s loupe, other favorite sketching materials

This class is designed for intermediate and advanced art students that have some experience in botanical drawing, but prior plant identifications skills are not required. Session 1 (Field Studies) of this class series can serve as this prior experience.

This class takes place in the classroom and students should bring a lunch or be prepared to purchase lunch from the Arbor Eatery on site during the 1 hour lunch break.

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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