Botanical Drawing & Etching Workshops. Next Date to be Confirmed

See Below for more details.

Drawing

Meet & greet with a coffee & a chat. We will work through a range of warming-up sketching exercises followed by an approach to drawing flowers. You are then given time to explore floral compositions or the beautiful gardens & create more sketches ready for etching & printing in the afternoon.

Etching & Printing

The etching workshop will give you an introduction to etching techniques, equipment & approaches. You will then produce your own drypoint etching, ink up and then print your etching onto quality printing paper.

Further details

Lunch will be be around midday, please bring a pack lunch with you.

Risk Assessment

Gov.uk Coronavirus Guidelines Bookings

Customer Feedback

I booked into my second workshop to learn dry-point etching, which was held at the Common Ground in Little Clarendon St. in Oxford And was led by Helen Edwards. My reasons for attending a second time were to learn further skills and progress from what I had previously been taught. Ihad enjoyed the day with Helen so much that I was eager to learn more. Fortunately (for the students), the group was small which allowed for more teacher support and enabled us all to achieve four prints using different techniques. Helen was excellent at taking us through the initial warm up exercises to prepare us for creating our final sketch which was to become our print plate. We drew botanical sketches from plants and trees in a nearby park. I found this extremely helpful, even though I had practiced some previously. We did 5 minute continuous line drawings, sketched looking only at our subject and learnt about negative spaces. Back in the workshop, we etched our sketch onto a plate then began the inky process after lunch. Helen was very accommodating in her teaching. She was a constant source of knowledge and support. I think I can speak for the others by saying that we were all amazed by our achievements after the first print and eagerly worked on through the afternoon producing a variety of prints using; Chine Collé, layering colours and a technique to create some very beautiful background effects byworking into the inked plate, lifting and wiping. Every one of us was pleased with our results at the end. Even when I had thought that I had messed up my fiddly Chine-Collé, Helen reassured me that it would be okay and so I continued to print. It turned out to be the best of all my work!I have enjoyed this the etching class and I would recommend it to anyone interested in art printing. The variety of effects and the potential for experimentation is endless and so much fun. I didn’t know until I had a go! P Shelly Aug 2024

“I did Helen’s botanical drawing and etching workshop last month and it was really fantastic, even for a total novice like me - such a lovely afternoon!” Nicola 17th May 2024

Thank you so much for the drypoint botanical workshop today. I had a lovely, relaxing day of drawing and learning about drypoint. It is a beautiful, quiet place to practice and the classroom had everything needed for the workshop. We were instructed on how to make drypoint etchings and given plenty of opportunity to print. As it was a small, friendly group, we had the opportunity to ask lots of questions and learn about how we could develop the artwork in the future, too. I would recommend it to anyone and would love to hear about future courses using different techniques. L McClue 06th April 2024

I had a very enjoyable and informative day at Helen’s Drypoint etching workshop. We were given a variety of drawing exercises, followed by some free drawing which gave us the opportunity to develop our drawing skills and produce some images to use in our etchings. The afternoon session was a delight; both Ali and Helen are excellent teachers and expertly demonstrated how to etch and print our designs. With support and encouragement, everyone in the group was able to produce some beautiful and individual etchings. We were encouraged to experiment, try different amounts of ink, various colours and use our imagination. Overall an excellent course- I just cannot wait for the next one! S Blackwell Oct 2023

"‘I had an excellent day with Helen on the etching workshop. There was such a lovely, supportive atmosphere throughout the day and I really learnt a lot whilst having the freedom to follow my own interests. The opportunity to start the day drawing in the Botanic gardens in Oxford was a real bonus and provided great inspiration. Helen and Ali are both excellent teachers - I am very much looking forward to attending another workshop in the future! S Coleman Oct 2023

I really enjoyed the botanical printmaking course. It was well structured and provided the time and methods for each stage to be done comfortably. The session leaders were knowledgeable and friendly, and they helped me and others to develop their own different ideas and techniques based on personal style and experience with printmaking. I think the course was a really fun and experimental day for beginners or people with printmaking experience who want to try drypoint or practice more with botanical illustrations as a basis for art. Good value for money.
A Mitchell Oct 2023