Botanical Watercolours for Beginners

Course outline

Lesley Alexander will demonstrate basic watercolour techniques after which you will have a go yourself at painting a leaf or simple flower.

Ideal for complete beginners in watercolour or those wanting to try a new medium

You will:

understand what watercolour is and how it differs from other art mediums
learn different watercolour techniques
learn how to mix colours using a limited palette of 3 colours
transfer an outline of a leaf/flower to your watercolour paper
begin your painting using techniques learnt earlier

Date/time

Sunday 15th February 2026

9.30am to 12.30 pm

Where:

The Friends Building, Auckland Botanic Gardens

Cost - $75.00

Max number - 10 each session

What to bring:

Essential materials and equipment will be provided, but please bring

white china dinner plate for mixing your colours on (you can then take your paints home and carry on as you may not complete your painting)
2 x water containers/jamjars/plastic beakers
notebook or sketchbook

Feel free to bring watercolours, watercolour paper (Hot Press) and brushes you may already have - ideally they would consist of these colours or similar.

Magenta - Winsor & Newton,
Phthalo Blue or Winsor Blue Green Shade and
Yellow - either Pure Yellow (Schminke) or Winsor Yellow

website - lesleyalexanderart.com