The Friends of the Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne host the largest botanical art program in Australia. With daily classes and regular workshops presented by local and internationally awarded tutors, the art program delivers a wide range of skills and opportunities to progress to advanced levels.
Botanical art is a specialised art form of painting and drawing with various mediums, and one in which plant portraits combine finely observed detail with artistic expression.
The Friends deliver botanical art classes seven day a week providing a suitable time for everyone to participate. Classes are delivered both online and in Domain House. Our tutors are high achievers and are keen to welcome you to classes and nurture your skills in botanical illustration.
Specialist art workshops are also held throughout the year and are presented by leading Australian artists including our own tutors, and international visiting artists.
The Friends Botanical Art Program also has a group of accomplished artists who meet weekly to share ideas and support each other without a tutor. This group, the Whirlies, have created individual artworks for collative exhibitions, undertaken a number of botanical illustration projects and also published a botanically illustrated book titled Alphabotanical, featuring the A-Z of Australian flora.
If you are new to botanical art and before you join our classes, it is a requirement of the Friends’ program that you complete an Introduction to Botanical Art Workshop. These workshops are held regularly throughout the year in term breaks usually over four days. They are designed to give a student a well-rounded exposure to various elements of botanic art which are essential to be able to progress to regular art classes. Students registering for an Introduction to Botanical Art Workshop are not required to be a member of the Friends and the materials for the workshop are supplied.