Beyond Bloom: Solving Floral Complexity (Online Workshop) Winter 2027 w/ Yelena Lamm

March 8 to March 22 (Mondays), 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM, Eastern Time

**All sessions are live and will be recorded, students do not have to be present. All recordings will be available to students for 3 months after the final session, after 3 months the recording will be deleted.

Please check your email spam/junk folder for your Zoom invite. Our business hours are 10:00 AM through 5:00 PM. All course information and email correspondence will be sent during business hours. If students purchase a course, workshop, demo or recording outside business hours or during the weekend the course information or recording will be sent the following business day.

Workshop Description

In her new floral oil painting workshop, Yelena Lamm explores the challenges and rewards of painting complex floral arrangements. Students will learn strategies for simplifying intricate, multi-petal flowers such as hydrangeas, peonies, and roses, capturing their character and abundance without becoming lost in detail.

The workshop will focus on seeing flowers as interconnected shapes and rhythms rather than as isolated blooms. Topics will include creating volume and atmosphere within a bouquet, using leaves and greens to support composition and movement, organizing values, developing harmonious color relationships, and designing dynamic, compelling floral paintings.

Through demonstrations and guided painting exercises, students will strengthen their understanding of composition, edge control, and expressive alla prima brushwork while learning to balance complexity with clarity. The goal is to create floral paintings that feel unified, lively, and painterly, capturing not only the beauty of individual flowers but also the energy and presence of the bouquet as a whole.

Workshop Outline

Week 1: Simplifying Complex Flowers

Learn to paint intricate blooms such as hydrangeas, peonies, and roses by organizing shapes, values, and color masses.

Week 2: Leaves, Greens, and Harmony

Discover how foliage, neutrals, and color relationships create movement, rhythm, and cohesion within a floral arrangement.

Week 3: Painting the Whole Bouquet

Bring everything together to create floral arrangements with convincing volume, depth, atmosphere, and dynamic design.

Workshop Materials

Three stretched canvas, boards or panels, recommended size between 10”x8˝ and 16˝x12˝. I use Centurion Deluxe Professional Oil Primed Linen.

Sketching or drawing paper for thumbnails, soft graphite pencil

Brushes:

I use Rosemary and Co. Evergreen Short Flat sizes 10, 6, 4, 2. Other brands flat brushes also acceptable. Small soft round brush for details.

Palette:

Glass or wood, disposable paper palette acceptable.

Medium:

I highly recommend Michael Harding Miracle Medium MM0 (replaces Gamsol) and MM1 (replaces linseed oil), if not, Gamsol and linseed oil.

Oil paints:

My LIMITED FLORAL PALETTE:

Quinacridone Rose

Phthalo Turquoise

Cadmium Yellow Lemon

Transparent Oxide Red

Cobalt Blue

Titanium White

Additional colors, optional:

Cadmium red light or Vermilion

Chinese Orange (Sennelier) — my favorite!!

Viridian

Radiant Turquoise (Gamblin)

Radiant Green (Gamblin)

Other items: containers for medium, paper towels or rags, easel, gloves, brush cleaning soap (I like The Masters Brush Cleaner & Preserver.)