My First Certificate in Drawing - A New Step in Botanical Art

I’m excited to share a joyful milestone in my creative journey: I’ve just received my first certificate in drawing from the course “Tone, Perspective, Volume” at the Botanical Watercolour School of Ukrainian artist Nataliia Kupchyk (@natiik.artschool).

The moment I saw Nataliia’s work, I knew I wanted to learn from her. Her ability to combine precision, tenderness, and structure in botanical subjects deeply resonated with me.

This course felt like stepping onto the first stair of professional art practice. It included hours of lectures, training exercises, independent works — all focused on leaves, branches, buds, and the interplay of light and shadow.

I learned how to render volume and texture using only a pencil, and I must say, I’m absolutely in love with graphite drawing now. I never imagined that monochrome drawing from nature could be so rich in technique and so emotionally engaging.

Even before starting the monochrome block, I had already fallen in love with granulating watercolour — a passion I’ve since passed on to a few guests in my atelier :)

A heartfelt thank you to Nataliia and our course curator Liudmyla for their support, clear explanations, and thoughtful corrections along the way.

I’m thrilled to continue learning and have already enrolled in the next course.

This is just the beginning.