Realistic Botanical Illustration: Escape to Nature
A course by Katerina Kolberg , Watercolor Artist and Illustrator
Learn to paint detailed botanical illustrations by exploring the versatility of watercolor and experimenting with glazes, color values, and textures
Learn to paint detailed botanical illustrations by exploring the versatility of watercolor and experimenting with glazes, color values, and textures
Even on the grayest day, a botanical illustration can evoke the warm glow of the sun, the intricate veining on a leaf, or the freshness of summer berries. For watercolorist Katerina Kolberg, painting is an escape to the natural world. Turning her passion into a career, she has created award-winning illustrations and packaging designs for brands like Yoplait and Vivi Kola. While watercolor is known for its unpredictability, Katerina has adopted a methodical approach that provides ultimate control, making it possible for anyone to learn to paint with detail.
In this online course, discover Katerina’s techniques to compose realistic botanical illustrations using watercolor. Harness the expressiveness of wet-on-wet and the precision of glazing to capture the vibrant colors and textures found in nature. Retreat to your own oasis inspired by the lush detail around you.
What will you learn in this online course?
25 lessons & 18 downloads
- 99% positive reviews (114)
- 4,490 students
- 25 lessons (5h 58m)
- 18 additional resources (7 files)
- Online and at your own pace
- Available on the app
- Audio: English
- English · Spanish · Portuguese · German · French · Italian · Polish · Dutch
- Level: Beginner
- Unlimited access forever
What is this course's project?
Create a botanical illustration using watercolor. Katerina paints pears on a branch surrounded by bumblebees, but you’re free to choose any subject you like.
Projects by course students
Who is this online course for?
Anyone who wants to use watercolor to create realistic botanical illustrations that immerse the viewer in the richness of nature.
Requirements and materials
No prior knowledge is necessary.
As for materials, you need 100% cotton watercolor paper, watercolor paints, a variety of brushes, masking fluid, and other easy-to-find materials that Katerina specifies in the course.
Reviews
A course by Katerina Kolberg
Katerina Kolberg is an award-winning watercolor artist and illustrator from Ukraine. After exploring the arts early on in life, she pursued a degree in architecture and urban planning. She later took up painting again when she moved to Norway, honing her watercolor technique to achieve realism efficiently. With her delicate and detailed botanical illustrations, she has received numerous commissions for packaging, advertising campaigns, textiles, and stationery.
Katerina’s distinctive style has led to collaborations with brands such as Yoplait, Vivi Kola, Monarte, Roland Foods, Freerange Market, and Fairmont Hotels. Her illustrations have won various awards and have been featured in publications like Feeling Plants and A Fairy Tale about Love: Wedding Graphic Design.
Content
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U1
Introduction
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About Me
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Influences
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U2
The Basics
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The Materials
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Basic Techniques 1
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Basic Techniques 2
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Painting Wet on Wet 1
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Painting Wet on Wet 2
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Painting Wet on Wet 3
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U3
Gaining More Control and Tools for Realistic Painting
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Painting Layers and Glazing
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Values Translated into Colour
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Understanding Texture 1
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Understanding Texture 2
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Understanding Texture 3
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U4
The Illustration: Drawing the Pears
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General Composition
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Photo References
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Tracing and Transferring 1
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Tracing and Transferring 2
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Painting the Whole Pear 1
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Painting the Whole Pear 2
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Painting Half the Pear 1
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Painting Half the Pear 2
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U5
The Illustration: Drawing the Leaves and the Bees
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Painting the Leaves and the Branch 1
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Painting the Leaves and the Branch 2
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Adding Layers and Water Drops
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Painting the Bees
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FP
Final project
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Realistic Botanical Illustration: Escape to Nature
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What to expect from a Domestika course
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Learn at your own pace
Enjoy learning from home without a set schedule and with an easy-to-follow method. You set your own pace.
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Learn from the best professionals
Learn valuable methods and techniques explained by top experts in the creative sector.
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Meet expert teachers
Each expert teaches what they do best, with clear guidelines, true passion, and professional insight in every lesson.
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Certificates
PlusIf you're a Plus member, get a custom certificate signed by your teacher for every course. Share it on your portfolio, social media, or wherever you like.
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Get front-row seats
Videos of the highest quality, so you don't miss a single detail. With unlimited access, you can watch them as many times as you need to perfect your technique.
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Share knowledge and ideas
Ask questions, request feedback, or offer solutions. Share your learning experience with other students in the community who are as passionate about creativity as you are.
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Connect with a global creative community
The community is home to millions of people from around the world who are curious and passionate about exploring and expressing their creativity.
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Watch professionally produced courses
Domestika curates its teacher roster and produces every course in-house to ensure a high-quality online learning experience.
FAQs
Domestika's courses are online classes that provide you with the tools and skills you need to complete a specific project. Every step of the project combines video lessons with complementary instructional material, so you can learn by doing. Domestika's courses also allow you to share your own projects with the teacher and with other students, creating a dynamic course community.
All courses are 100% online, so once they're published, courses start and finish whenever you want. You set the pace of the class. You can go back to review what interests you most and skip what you already know, ask questions, answer questions, share your projects, and more.
The courses are divided into different units. Each one includes lessons, informational text, tasks, and practice exercises to help you carry out your project step by step, with additional complementary resources and downloads. You'll also have access to an exclusive forum where you can interact with the teacher and with other students, as well as share your work and your course project, creating a community around the course.
You can redeem the course you received by accessing the redeeming page and entering your gift code.
hardydonna12
PlusThe structure of this course contains all of the necessary components to further develop my skills. The techniques are just what I needed to advance my watercolor painting to the next level.
zornitza_m
PlusThe course is very comprehensive. I very much enjoyed the solutions she gave for the diferent situations, and dierent resourses for learning.
delphine_walz
Katerina's course is so amazing. She is definitely knowing her medium 'watercolor'. I can feel she loves what she is doing and it transpire through her teaching methods. She shares everything along the way. She is so delicate and concise. I would highly recommend this course to anyone who wishes to do realistic watercolor. Thank you Katerina!
zorobabelflores
Un curso muy completo y totalmente recomendado
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yedra33
De los mejores cursos que he hecho en Domestika. Tiene unas explicaciones y nivel de detalle estupendos. Si te gusta la ilustración botánica, este curso te aportará muchos aprendizajes y te encantará
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