Assignment:
Your project is to create your Secret Garden, an introspective representation of your world through nature. Think about what inspires you...What fascinates you the most about the natural world? Maybe you like insects, tropical flowers, jungles,... You can incorporate all of those elements in your garden and if you venture outside, the inspiration is endless.
PS: Don’t forget to use your imagination to add magic!

Materials you’ll need:

Pencil
Eraser
Fineliners
A sheet of paper or your sketchbook
Ruler
Protractor

*If you prefer, you can follow this entire class with an iPad or a tablet.

Class resources:
- Three worksheets you can download to help you get started with drawing patterns and botanical elements. This practice will help you get creative, loosen up and come up with many ideas for creating your Secret Garden.

- A Pexels board with a collection of images from the natural world you can use as a reference!
(Click here to go to the board)

- Books I recommend:
Flora - Inside the Secret World of Plants
Karl Blossfeldt - The Complete Published Work
Plant - Exploring the Botanical World

Getting Started:
My recommendation is to find 20 minutes for watching the first 4 lessons which include: (i) finding inspiration, (ii) drawing patterns part 1, (iii) drawing patterns 2, and (iv) botanical elements.

Then, take your time to work at your own peace on what you’ve just watched. This is going to allow you to absorb all the information, loosen up a little and get to experimenting with drawing patterns.

Next, you can watch the remaining lessons and start creating your Secret Garden.

Sharing your Work:
At the end of this class, you can upload your class project by clicking on the Create Project tab, above the resources list. Feel free to share your drafts and your patterns along with your finished garden. You don’t have to do it all at once… take your time and feel free to share any part of your project.

I can’t wait to see all of your Secret Garden illustrations and give you feedback on your work!

Minouk Damen

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