Painting Expressive Roses in Watercolour - Kew Online Course

Welcome to this online course from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, brought to you in partnership with David and Charles. You are about to embark on a journey into impressionistic watercolour – a loose and flowing form of painting that will help you capture the charm and glow of the most popular of all flowers. In this fine-art course, you will learn how to paint beautiful blooms in watercolour, both from life and from photographs, capturing the humanity of painting over the more technical aspects. Trevor will lead you step-by-step through the process, starting with a guide to planning your composition, then we'll look at the basic formation of the flowers. We’ll have a go at painting from a photo reference and then move on to create our final artwork.

Trevor Waugh is an internationally renowned and highly regarded British fine artist living in Wiltshire, England. Working mainly in watercolour and oils, and occasionally in mixed media, his paintings can be found in many private and royal collections around the world. Trevor works in an impressionistic, loose artistic style that brings light and life to his chosen subjects. His topics are diverse, and in addition to flowers, genres include portrait, landscape, figurative work and street scenes.

Trevor first visited the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew when his favourite grandfather took him as a child. He has returned many times, and fell in love with the rose gardens, where he continues to find inspiration to this day. Trevor always knew he wanted to be an artist and was encouraged by his parents and art teachers. After studying at the Slade School of Fine Art in London, Trevor feels blessed that he more or less drifted into his specialism in flowers, and he was thrilled when asked by Kew to create a guide to painting roses in watercolour. He continues to work with Kew, leading classes and workshops, and enjoys the social aspects of teaching. He feels honoured to be able to pass on what he knows and see the end results from his students.

Career highlights include being invited to the Middle East to paint landscapes, but Trevor is never without his sketchbook wherever he travels.

Please note that the materials required are no longer available to purchase as a kit, so please source the following items before beginning the course:

• 9 x watercolour paints:
  Permanent Rose, Cadmium Red, Ultramarine, Cerulean Blue, Raw Sienna, Gamboge Hue, Cadmium Orange, Burnt Umber, Dioxazine Violet

• 3 x brushes – oval wash ¾ inch (19mm), round synthetic Size 8,  short flat 1 inch (25mm)

• White 300gsm watercolour paper

You will also need: a deep palette, jar of water, board, picture tape, roses

We’re going to jump right in by using observation to paint a single rose, using a half sheet of watercolour paper.

It’s not always possible to paint roses from life, so another option is to paint from photos. Trevor shares his tips for painting from a reference photograph – capturing the essence and working with elements of the image without trying to copy it exactly.

Now let's take everything we’ve learned so far and create our main project. The first step is to create a strong design, fitting your subject into your own composition.