Botanical Painting with Acrylic
A course by Lucila DominguezPainter, Illustrator, and Muralist
A course by Lucila Dominguez, Painter, Illustrator, and Muralist
Learn to create an illustrated composition of plants and flowers
Painter, illustrator, and muralist Lucila Domínguez looks to nature as a vast source of inspiration, using plants and flowers as her muses to create acrylic paintings of all sizes. She explores species from around the globe to develop unique, colorful compositions.
In this course, Lucila teaches you how to prepare a poster-sized botanical piece using acrylics. With the help of some simple exercises, master the basic drawing, painting, and coloring techniques you can use to recreate your favorite plants and flowers.
What will you learn in this online course?
19 lessons & 19 downloads
Drawing plants
7 minutes, 29 seconds
Drawing flowers
12 minutes, 33 seconds
Movement and grace
4 minutes, 43 seconds
Brushstrokes, textures and plots
16 minutes, 37 seconds
Color tones
6 minutes, 8 seconds
Volume, light and shadow
9 minutes, 20 seconds
What's included in this course?
Meet your teacher for the course, Lucila Domínguez, and hear more about her work and the artists that inspire her.
Prepare a mood board full of inspiration and the plants you want to draw.
Explore different leaf and flower shapes by doing some simple exercises, using your pencil to reflect how they move and fall.
Next, experiment with acrylic paints and brushes to discover the different textures you can incorporate into your work.
Lucila guides you through the ins and outs of color theory and shows you how to add volume to your painting with light and shadow.
Once you've mastered that, you’re ready to prepare your first composition. Lucila explains how to make a grid to help you transfer your design from paper to a larger medium. Complete your piece by adding color.
What is this course's project?
Use acrylics to draw and paint two versions of a botanical composition that combines several types of leaves and flowers: an initial version on paper and a second one on a larger scale.
Projects by course students
Who is this online course for?
Illustrators, designers, drawing artists, art students, and anyone who loves plants and wants to experiment with acrylics.
Requirements and materials
A basic understanding of drawing is recommended but not required.
You need drawing materials, brushes, acrylic paints, a spatula, a palette for mixing colors, acrylic painting paper, a large sheet of kraft paper, a wooden board and painter's tape to hold the paper in place, as well as your favorite flowers and plants to use as models.
Reviews
- 3 months ago
Hermoso, curso, aprendi mucho de luces y sombras.
- 3 months ago
Excelente
- anapaulawurzPLUS5 months ago
Gostei muito de acompanhar as explicações da Lucila, legal entender como a composição dela, com várias camadas, é pensada e passada para o papel/tela.
- 5 months ago
Excellent cours, j'ai beaucoup appris !
- 6 months ago
Aperndi mucho con este curso. Una genia Lu.... Altamente recomendable
She studied fine arts and has worked with different visual artists and art directors to develop sets for film and advertisements. Lucila later specialized in large-format pieces, and murals have become her medium of choice for bringing her botanical compositions to life.
Content
- U1
Introduction
- Presentation
- Influences I
- Influences II
- U2
Drawing plants
- materials
- My botanical collection
- Drawing plants
- Drawing flowers
- Movement and grace
- U3
Paint and color
- Brushstrokes, textures and plots
- Color tones
- Volume, light and shadow
- Palettes
- U4
Creating your work
- Composition
- Background and frame I
- Background and framing II
- Painting the first leaves
- Painting the stem and leaves
- Painting the main flower
- Painting details
- FP
Final project
- Creative botanical illustration
What to expect from a Domestika course
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.
Learn from the best professionals
Learn valuable methods and techniques explained by top experts in the creative sector.
Meet expert teachers
Each expert teaches what they do best, with clear guidelines, true passion, and professional insight in every lesson.
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.
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.
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.
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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FAQs
Acrylic botanical painting is the art of accurately and creatively depicting plants and flowers using acrylics. In this course, you’ll learn observation techniques, drawing, color theory, composition, and practical application across various surfaces.
The course is designed for those with basic drawing or painting skills, but you don’t need to be an expert. If you have prior experience, you’ll be able to dive deeper into advanced composition and color techniques.
You’ll need acrylic paints, a variety of brushes, special acrylic paper, a palette for mixing colors, a palette knife, pencil, eraser, and visual references of plants and flowers. Optional: tracing paper, drawing board, and slow-drying medium.
You’ll learn gestural drawing, grid-based composition, color mixing, texture creation, varied brushstrokes, underpainting, scaling compositions, and botanical details in acrylic.
You’ll discover how to build color palettes, mix natural tones, use complementary colors, and apply highlights and shadows to create volume, depth, and realism in your botanical illustrations.
Yes, the course covers specific techniques for drawing and painting different types of leaves, veins, edges, and flowers from multiple angles and detail levels.
By the end, you’ll be able to create realistic and expressive botanical compositions in acrylic, develop your color palette, apply drawing and painting techniques across formats and surfaces, and handle specialized tools.