See what people like you say!

5 star rating

Wonderful Course

Louise Vrande

I paint a lot of flowers, and I have been looking at Michele's YouTube videos for a couple of years, so I wasn't sure how much I'd learn from this course. Bu...

Read More

I paint a lot of flowers, and I have been looking at Michele's YouTube videos for a couple of years, so I wasn't sure how much I'd learn from this course. But I decided to give it a try, and I'm so glad I did. I will now approach flower painting in a much more structured way, mixing colors, matching colors, focusing on getting a good or even great drawing before I start painting, and trying flowers (such as magnolias) with which I am less familiar. I would recommend this course to anyone at any level of experience with watercolor. Michele always has something to teach us!

Read Less
5 star rating

Fabulous step by step

Candi Cardenas

This watercolor course is a game changer. I have always shied away from painting flowers, but this course gave me new ways of accomplishing issues like peta...

Read More

This watercolor course is a game changer. I have always shied away from painting flowers, but this course gave me new ways of accomplishing issues like petal veins, shadows and backgrounds using gum arabaic. Michele also explains how to draw the flowers so they always face in the correct direction. I very much enjoyed this course and I can go back to revisit any of the lessons.

Read Less

Is this you?

Let Michele help you to gain confidence in these areas!

  • CONTROL

    You want to get a clean, fresh result, but accidentally get hard edges in your petals, so that they just don't look like the delicate, blended flowers in front of you. Sometimes you make a reasonable painting then ruin it with a poor background. What you need is a good grounding in techniques AND an understanding of when and how to apply them. Control of your flower painting starts with understanding the medium, and the techniques that will easily help you to address all of these common issues.

  • COLOR

    You want bright, vibrant colors but struggle to select and mix the right colors. What you don't realise is that it's not your fault. Beginner paint sets often omit some colors that are absolutely vital for flower painting. Getting shadow colors right is especially important. This course will take you through vibrant flower colors, beautiful greens and perfect shadows. It's not about owning dozens of paints, it's about having the confidence to choose and mix them to get amazing, vibrant, colorful results.

  • COMPOSITION

    You want to do everything right but still somehow end up with less than satisfactory results. Composition is the secret sauce, and it's as important for flowers as it is for landscapes. In this course you will learn how to lead the eye into the painting, make use of negative spaces, and create a beautiful result. With quick tips for mistakes beginners should avoid, and an insight into the tricks professionals use, you will soon be making paintings that look cohesive, attractive and engaging.

You CAN paint beautiful flowers:

You just need the right tuition, and the right course:

Meet your tutor! Over 9 million people have viewed Michele's painting and drawing tutorials on YouTube!

Michele has over 25 years experience teaching painting and drawing in the UK and Europe. She has taught thousands of students at hundreds of venues. She is a published commercial illustrator, exhibition curator, and has given lectures and demonstrations to art clubs, societies and on radio. Her tutorials have been published in magazines and seen on Sky TV. Her YouTube channel has over 165K subscribers, with videos viewed over nine million times.

Who is the course for?

  • Beginners who want a comprehensive road map to painting beautiful flowers

  • Intermediate artists who want to get a fresher, more vibrant result

  • Experienced artists who are not confident with this subject or medium and who want specific watercolor flower tuition

Which flowers will the course teach me to paint?

There are thousands of species of flowers, so the aim of the course is to help you approach ANY flower with confidence. Here are some of the details:

  • FLOWERS

    In the petals module you will learn how to get soft blended color and tiny veins on a pink Rose, a crinkled, papery effect on a red Poppy, the exact shade of blue for a Morning Glory, the splotches on a yellow Orchid, color bleed on a peach Hibiscus, pollen dust on a pink Lily, vibrant colors on a purple Iris and delicate shadows on a white Hollyhock. In the bouquet module you will learn to paint multi-colored Chrysanthemums, alongside deep crimson Rose buds. In the end of course paint-along you will create multiple pink and white Magnolia blooms and buds. All of this will be achieved with the knowledge gained from the color mixing and technique modules that precede.

  • LEAVES and SHADOWS

    Building on the Greens and shadows lessons you will approach various types of leaves. Learning to simplify is important, and exercises to paint simple leaves, as well as more complex ones will be covered. Soft colored leaves that recede, simple two color leaves as well as leaves with shine, light veins or dark, and autumn colors will be explored. Shadows will become simple when you follow the master class for which colors to choose and mix. It’s easy to kill a flower painting by adding muddy brown or heavy grey shadows, but you will avoid this by choosing colors and techniques that bring your leaves and flowers to life. Your leaves and shadows will perfectly compliment your flowers.

  • VASES and BACKGROUNDS

    In this part of the course you will learn the basics of painting vases, whether patterned, plain or glass with water in. The secrets of getting shiny surfaces and realistic water will be unlocked. You will learn and practice my easiest most foolproof background techniques, adjusting them to cover any mistakes. You will also learn how to make a white background work for you, as well as wet into wet, salt, and an ingenious masking tape technique to give amazing semi-abstract shapes. You will also learn a clever way to make white flowers show on white paper, without a full background. Going forwards you will never ruin a painting with a bad background again.

Is this you?

You are excited by the life and beauty of flowers, but find your results are missing the freshness, clarity of color and movement of real flowers? This course will give you the tips and tricks you need to capture the light!

Bring your flowers to life!

This comprehensive course takes you easily through every aspect of getting a great botanical result. Right from the initial sketch, through choosing your colors, with clever techniques and background ideas, everything you need for a great result is here.

What you will achieve:

  • Learn to select the right materials, from paper to paints and beyond

  • Understand how mix and choose the right colors for any flower or leaf

  • Learn to draw beautiful, natural flowers, leaves and containers

  • Gain a library of simple but ingenious techniques for effortless flower details

  • Unlock the secrets to composing a painting you are happy with

  • Learn the easiest, most stunning backgrounds to add to your paintings

Who is this for?

Learn to paint stunning flowers with Michele:

  • DRAWING

    You want to paint flowers and understand that drawing them accurately is the first step. But your flowers can lack movement and life, and sometimes you struggle to capture the complexity. This course will teach you some basic techniques that will allow you to draw confident, flowing shapes, facing your flowers in all directions. It also covers vases and containers, as getting these right can be key. Realism starts with accurate drawing, and you will also learn how to keep your drawings clean and crisp, adding just enough detail to inform your paintings.

  • LIGHT

    You want to capture the light, but even when you have got the shapes and colors right, something seems to be missing. Perhaps you go too dark with colors like red, feeling that it will look more vibrant, when in reality they are stopping the paper from shining through. Many flowers are semi-transparent, and leaves and stems may shine, then of course there's the challenge of a glass vase, and water. In reality watercolor has advantages no other medium can claim. By its nature it is transparent and so has a natural affinity to the subject. In this course you will learn how choosing the right pigments is key, and how to add transparency, with soft and hard highlights so you can finally capture the light.

  • LIFE

    Above all you want your flowers to look alive! But sometimes the results seem heavy and almost clumsy. The truth is there's no one technique that brings your flowers to life. It's the combined effect of free, accurate drawing, careful color selection, simple but effective techniques and complimentary backgrounds. This course will guide you carefully through everything you need to learn, building your skills with hand-holding videos and exciting tasks. As you learn each aspect of painting beautiful flowers you will gain in confidence as you finally start to see your paintings come to life!

Course benefits:

  • Lifetime access, view content as many times as you like, plus free upgrades

  • A dedicated Facebook group for students

  • A handy site access guide to help you log in and navigate

  • 9 Modules (lessons) each containing videos that demonstrate every technique

  • 16 Downloadable PDFs with helpful tips to reinforce video lessons, plus photos to work from

  • Additional 5 video complete Magnolia flower painting step-by-step tutorial

  • Bonus materials: Gorgeous copyright free flower photographs, PLUS a curated list of relevant (free) YouTube tutorials to continue your learning journey

  • FULL Curriculum at the bottom of this page plus FAQs

What do students say?

Testimonials!

  • Melanie Baynes, Sheffield, UK

    Michele you are a FANTASTIC teacher, I love how you break the techniques down so that they are easily understood by the most 'beginningest' beginner and you are always on hand with advice and encouragement. I love how you have set up a separate Facebook group for your online course students, and you are always on hand with advice and encouragement. What more can I say?!

  • Janet McMillion, Brentwood, UK

    My feedback: As a true beginner and someone who started the watercolor learning journey during the pandemic, I’ve really grown in both skill and understanding. Michele is a wonderful teacher. I appreciate how thoughtfully she organized the modules and the accompanying support materials.

  • Colleen B McChesney, Etta, Mississipi, USA

    As I finished my course, I felt a variety of emotions. Nervous to begin, confident as I improved, happy & amazed by what I achieved, & a bit sad that I have successfully finished the course now. A great teacher makes you feel all of this. Thanks for sharing your knowledge of art, your courses, videos, time and especially your passion for teaching art to others.

Price includes lifetime access

Complete at your own speed and re-visit modules as often as you like...

FAQ

  • How much is the course in British pounds or other currency?

    The exchange rate changes every day but you can get a rough idea by putting the question into Google. There may be slight variations depending on which conversion metrics the Thinkific site is using but you can certainly get a good idea of the approximate price. Remember to do this on the same day you intend to buy the course. When you buy Thinkific will automatically convert the price to charge you the right amount of money for your local currency.

  • What if I don't have Paypal?

    Paypal is just a method by which the site receives payment, in *most* countries you can pay with your usual credit or debit card, payments are also accepted by Stripe.

  • What support will I get?

    In addition to email access to Michele, there is a dedicated Facebook group, just for students of Michele’s Thinkific courses, where you can compare results and get advice alongside other students. If you have any access or log in issues or trouble understanding how to navigate the site there's a free PDF guide that will make everything clear. If the guide doesn't work just email for tech support.

  • How long will I have access to the course for?

    After you buy the course you have lifetime access, you can take the course at your leisure and re-visit any of the modules you like. Plus you will automatically have access to any additional content or upgrades that are added at a later date.

  • How is the course structured?

    There are 9 modules (lessons), plus introductory tasks, an additional full step by step 5 part flower painting tutorial, conclusion videos and bonus materials. Each module contains a video, and one or two downloadable PDFs. The accompanying PDFs are an illustrated reminder of the techniques and processes taught in the video, they include additional tips and advice to ensure understanding and success, plus tasks to complete. Where appropriate a second PDF gives you copyright free photographs to work from. The bonus materials include extra free learning resources and photos. FULL CURRICULUM can be viewed at the bottom of this page, scroll down.

  • What materials will I need to buy?

    If you already have watercolor paper, paints and brushes you may not need to buy much initially. I will not be insisting you have exact materials and brands. However, there will be a video and downloadable PDF with tons of advice and suggested materials so you can choose what to buy if you don’t have anything. As we go through the videos a few other things are used including masking fluid, gum arabic, embossing/knife tools, salt, paper towel and one or two watercolor pencils. You do not need full sets of these, nor are they vital to your understanding of techniques. It's best to wait until the color mixing module before investing in new paints.

  • What if I want a refund?

    Sometimes people buy in error or have other reasons for wanting a refund. These are entertained whenever possible. Please be aware that we no longer give 100% refunds as there are many costs involved in offering a course for sale and processing refunds, including site hosting fees, admin support and currency conversion/payment fees. Please also be aware that in the 'back end' of the site we can see which modules you have accessed with times watched etc. Therefore you will be offered a refund of up to 80% dependent on how much of the course you have accessed and watched.

Begin your flower painting journey today!

Course curriculum

  • 2

    Thinkific Course Access and Log in Guide

    • Copy of Access and Log in Guide (IMPORTANT! Download and save it to your PC - I get more emails about log in issues than anything else, this will get you back into your course!)

  • 3

    Introduction and First Task

    • Your first task

  • 4

    Module 1 - Materials (and how to use the course)

    • Materials and How to Use the Course

  • 5

    Module 2 - Drawing

    • Drawing

  • 6

    Module 3 - Composition

    • Composition

  • 7

    Module 4 - Color Choices and Mixing

    • Color Choices and Mixing

  • 8

    Module 5 - Techniques

    • Techniques

  • 9

    Module 6 - Petals

    • Petals

  • 10

    Module 7 - Leaves

    • Leaves

  • 11

    Module 8 - Bouquet

    • Bouquet Painting

  • 12

    Module 9 - Vases and Backgrounds

    • Vases and Backgrounds

  • 13

    Course conclusion and Magnolias Tutorial

    • Magnolias Video 1 (Drawing)

    • Magnolias Video 2 (Choosing Colors)

    • Magnolias Video 3 (Petals)

    • Magnolias Video 4 (Foliage and Strong Shadows)

    • Magnolias Video 5 (Gum Arabic Background)

  • 14

    Thank you!

    • Congratulations on finishing the course!

  • 15

    Bonus Materials!

    • Bonus Copyright Free Flower Photos

    • Helpful Links to Free Tutorials

Get started now!