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BAGSC Masterclass with John Pastoriza-Piñol in November, 2016

by John Pastoriza-Piñol, Jude Wiesenfeld and Deb Shaw


Tulipa x hybrida, watercolor by John Pastoriza-Piñol, © 2016.

Tulipa x hybrida, watercolor by John Pastoriza-Piñol, © 2016.


BAGSC will be offering a Masterclass with Australian botanical artist John Pastoriza-Piñol in November, 2016. Students will learn the intricacies of achieving fine detail with watercolour masking fluid and NEEF ¼ Comb, invaluable tools for contemporary botanical artists. As a result, your paintings will be brought to a new level of realism and detail. Students should have skills in drawing and watercolor. Over three days, John will assist you with painting the chosen class subject. John will show how masking fluid can be used to achieve very fine detail and will instruct students how to use the NEEF ¼ Comb.

November 8, 9 and 10, 2016 9:30 am – 4:00pm each day The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens Cost: BAGSC Members: $300; Non-Members: $330 Maximum Registration: 16 students

To register: Send a check for your $50 non-refundable deposit fee (or payment in full), made out to BAGSC, to BAGSC Education Chair, Jude Wiesenfeld. Please write “JohnPP” on the memo line of the check. Payment in full is due by Monday, October 25, 2016.

Bring your lunch, or purchase lunch at The Huntington Cafes, at The Huntington.

Questions about the Workshop? Contact the BAGSC Education Chair.


Fragaria x ananassa, Strawberry, watercolor by John Pastoriza-Piñol, © 2016.

Fragaria x ananassa, Strawberry, watercolor by John Pastoriza-Piñol, © 2016.


Learning Objectives: Students who enroll in this workshop would have completed some level of introduction to Botanical Art and be at an intermediate to advanced level. The structure of the class involves a three-day painting project and the demonstrator assists each student with composition, painting techniques, colour theory which will be offered in class and assigned for homework.

Download a PDF of the materials list: John Pastoriza Pinol Materials list 2016

About the Instructor: Rich luminous hues and gorgeously exotic and rare botanical specimens epitomize John’s work, however his are much more than mere flower paintings:closer inspection reveals a certain ambiguity of form and intent directing us towards a complex narrative.


John Pastoriza-Piñol, © 2016.

John Pastoriza-Piñol, © 2016.


A master of his medium, his perfectly executed watercolours remain true to the accuracy that is vital to botanical illustration yet they have a fluidity and sensuality that stirs the viewer to experience more than a mere marveling of technique.

The artist suggestively urges us to look beyond the aesthetic and move into slightly more uneasy territory as his work inhabits a territory somewhere between scientific analysis and symbolic realism, prompting a reading that goes beyond the purely representational and literal. The artist intends for literal and subversive elements to coexist uneasily on the same plane, while the aesthetics will remain true to the fundamental principle of objective observation of the natural world.

Location: The workshop will be held at The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens, in the Botanical Education Center. The Huntington is located at: 1151 Oxford Road, San Marino, CA 91108.

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