Weekend Workshop – Drawing Plants from Life

Join the library’s window artist, author and illustrator Kristyna Baczynski, for a fun and relaxed drawing workshop....with a twist. Structured like a traditional life drawing class, you will be using plants instead of people as your models.

Participants will delve into the library’s rare collection of historic botanical books, including Flora Londinensis, a complete and rare set of five volumes of 432 species of wild flowering plants, mosses and fungi, published in 1777. As well as referencing Kristyna’s own recent publication The Wild Year, which is an illustrated field guide for discovering seasonal plant life.

Focusing on experimentation, the workshop will include a range of drawing prompts and materials designed to help observe and record natural specimens whilst exploring shape and form to create a series of botanical compositions.

About the Tutor – Kristyna Baczynski is an illustrator, comic book artist and author who lives and works in Leeds. Her work has been recognised a number of times by the Eisner Awards, International Comics Festival and Northern Design Awards. Previous clients have included Penguin Random House, MSCHF, Laurence King Publishing, Carlton Books, Workman Publishing, Chipotle, Etsy, CAA, Twitter, Fantagraphics, Arté.

Kristyna is also the most recent artist to pant the library’s windows. If you haven’t seen them yet, come and pay us a visit! Her most recent book, The Wild Year, is also available to borrow from the library’s collection. Kristyna will discuss the book and her drawing practise and also bring along some of her favourite botanical books to share with attendees taking part in this workshop.

A note about accessibility – Unfortunately, our Grade II* listed building is not currently fully accessible. We have a stair lift from the ground floor foyer to the first floor but are unable to install a through-floor lift due to the building’s historic status. Please email us on [email protected] if you have any questions around access, and we will do everything that we can to accommodate you.

The Leeds Library is committed to making its building and collections accessible to everyone in our current capital building works project The Next Chapter Project. To find out more, please visit the website HERE.

Host or Publisher The Leeds Library