Wild Life Drawing Online: Botanical History

Join us to step back through time to discover the fascinating history of the study of plant life. While the word “botany” may conjure up images of fancy Victorians making painstaking studies of roses, our session will in-fact be filled with stories of pirates, smuggling and life-threatening expeditions! For this very special class we will be working from reference materials that date back hundreds of years, generously shared with us by our special guest, John Hunnex. 

John Hunnex is a curator of the British and Irish Herbarium at the Natural History Museum. We first met John when we collaborated with him on a series of classes at the museum, and we were blown away by his knowledge and enthusiasm for plants and the history of botany. 

We will study some of the most important pieces in the NHM’s botanical collection- like their rare facsimile (exact replica) of the 512 Juliana Anica Codex, made around 1440. And the exceptional hand coloured copy of Joris and Jacob Hoefnagel’s Archetypa studiaque patris Georgii Hoefnagel from 1592. We will work our way through the centuries, learning about some of the most important botanists in history- like Maria Sibylla, Everhard Kickius (what a name) and Anna Atkins. 

Artist Jennie Webber will be diving into detail, to help you create some botanical works of your own. We’ll put on our scientist caps, noting the anatomical features of the plants we draw. While we sketch, there will be time for lots of your questions, which John will be happy to answer. 

The class is open to all abilities, so whether you're drawing skills are still in bud, or are fully blooming, we're sure you'll come away with some great sketches and lots of new found knowledge. After the session we will send out a recording of the class to all ticket holders, so you'll be able to rewatch/ catch up as you please. 

50% of profits will be donated to Thrive, a wonderful charity that uses gardening to bring about positive changes in the lives of people living with disabilities or ill health, or who are isolated, disadvantaged or vulnerable.