€107
Explore Florals 3B
(This is a rerun of 3A)
Three-week course, next starting Mon, 3rd Feb, 2025.
Registration opens Thu, 16th Jan, 2025
Use code BLUEBELL for early-bird discount
(€90 instead of €107) valid until 24th Jan, 2025
Access for 180 days from the course start date.
But every time you sit down to design, you know exactly what you’re going to end up with and it leaves you feeling less than inspired.
When it comes to presenting this best-selling subject matter to art directors, you need to make sure that your floral portfolio is well-rounded, original, and varied enough to stand out among the thousands of submissions that cross their desks.
Millions of products feature floral art.
Florals have been around forever—in every period of history.
There are limitless ways to depict a flower. I know—I’ve tried quite a few!
The demand for florals is inexhaustible. Every art director is on the lookout for them.
INTRODUCING
Combine historical references, exciting techniques, and your unique style to create stunning artwork for a floral portfolio that stands out from the crowd.
Weekly design briefs that keep students coming back time after time.
Expert insider knowledge on how to create unique yet commercial floral artwork
A beautiful mood board, full of inspiring imagery.
A unique, commercial colour palette.
A cohort of talented artists to share resources and encouragement with.
The kind, encouraging advice of a surface design professional.
New floral designs for your portfolio that you can be proud of.
This is where experienced and beginner designers share insights, discoveries, feedback, and encouragement.
It’s a live course and I’ll be in the group daily giving feedback and encouragement during the 3-weeks.
Victoria’s florals class was a game-changer for me! I thoroughly enjoyed it and learned so much. The supporting information was so informative and interesting and there was a lot of it, very inspiring! Victoria is an amazing teacher, kind, supportive and very knowledgeable. I will be first in line to sign up for the next Explore Florals - such good value for money. Excited for the next class!”
I felt the most valuable part was being encouraged to explore your own style within the framework. The floral art I produced was really quite extraordinary and I’m very thankful to Victoria for sharing her knowledge. I licensed one of my floral designs to BorderLeap for their games app, Patterned, available on Apple Arcade and I’m so excited to see it on such a unique platform.”
(click the arrows to see them all)
“The briefs were amazing - well researched, informative, inspiring, challenging, and “on-trend”. Having the essence of the style distilled and articulated so clearly was VERY helpful! I haven’t ever done the exercise of defining style like that (never even occurred to me) and it was very clarifying.
The group dynamic was supportive and open. Victoria and the other class members all volunteered great suggestions and ideas. Probably the most fun was seeing everyone’s different interpretations of the brief - that in itself really broadened my perceptions and pushed me to try new things. I would definitely recommend the class to any artist - from “newbies” to seasoned illustrators!”
“I was used to painting florals but Victoria's course pushed me in new ways. The briefs guided and inspired me, they were so informative! The course is not only about florals but also about creativity. The community is very supportive and friendly. Can't wait for the next courses, thank you for the challenges Victoria!”
“I’m often painting flowers, but the Explore Florals course helped me approach painting them in a fresh way - I came up with 3 new patterns that pushed me to try methods totally different than my usual! One of them even inspired my next fabric collection.”
“I have learned so much from the Explore Florals class with Victoria. The briefs are so in-depth and challenging. The mood boards are just stunning and so inspirational. Thanks Victoria for helping me to build my portfolio and create some fun fresh florals!”
“I feel re-charged and excited to use what I've learned going forward. Thank you, Victoria!
Another wonderful inspiring course. I do a lot of florals, but Victoria’s detailed briefs have made me look at the subject in new ways. I will definitely be applying what I have learned to my future work. And of course, it was lots of fun too!
It was another amazing class! Both explore florals classes have challenged me creatively and brought my work to a new level. I can't wait for another. I will take them ALL!”
“With Explore Florals Victoria has created an exceptional class.
The weekly brief provides not only a mood board but also background info, which also entails the relevance of the subject matter in history. This is very useful if you have the desire to dig deeper. Then you will find loads of information and suggestions on how to approach a theme (way more than you have time in those three weeks! So you can go on and on and... ;0) ).
I found it most inspiring how Victoria manages it to give suggestions that will drive every single participant to his/her very own solution. Strongly recommended!”
“Victoria knows her stuff - not only does she make beautiful art, she shares her industry knowledge through creative briefs using beautiful colour palettes, encouraging experimentation, and has built a lovely online community. I’ll definitely be taking more classes.”
“I really enjoy Victoria’s classes! The briefs are just excellent, very structured and exciting with a color palette to set you up for success and some great portfolio pieces. I am excited to continue using the briefs to make more collections and improve as an artist and designer, I strongly recommend her classes.”
“I adored taking Explore Florals and look forward to the next class.
Not only are the briefs interesting and on-trend, but they’re fun and challenging. I really appreciate the trend boards and devour them with interest.
The most valuable part to me is the community and level of work from fellow students. They are top-notch and I learn as much from them as I do from Victoria. They inspire me to up my game!”
Hello! I’m Victoria Johnson.
WITH OVER 24 YEARS OF COMMERCIAL ART INDUSTRY EXPERIENCE, I KNOW FIRST-HAND WHAT IT TAKES TO CREATE STUNNING FLORAL DESIGNS THAT CAPTURE THE ATTENTION OF ART DIRECTORS AROUND THE WORLD.
Inside Explore Florals, I show you the same approach I used as a womenswear textiles designer to create floral artwork featured on products in H&M, Club Monaco, Gap, DKNY and more.
I’m sharing insider knowledge in powerful but bite-sized lessons that have helped nearly 2000 students increase their chances of selling their art by creating strong visual stories, without compromising their unique style.
See you inside.
There are no videos in any of the courses (so far!).
All course material is provided in written form. Create Collections has downloadable PDFs for all the course materials. Explore Florals and Create Christmas have limited downloadable material.
Create Collections offers lifetime access. Create Christmas and Explore Florals are available for a limited time.
Until further notice, yes.
I issue a new brief every Monday and the goal is to complete one finished design/project per week—or more if you find time. I’d imagine an hour or so a day would be enough, depending on your approach.
I’m active in the group and comment frequently. I care a lot about what you’re doing and want to be encouraging and motivating. However, I don't (and can't!) comment on every single post.
If you’re interested in an in-depth discussion with me, please visit my Consultations page.
You definitely don’t need to join the Facebook group to take the course as it’s all provided in written form in an online ‘classroom’ but I highly recommend it as it’s such a supportive community. You’ll enjoy seeing what everyone else is doing and receiving kind, valuable feedback on your own work. I’m in the group commenting often.
By ‘live’, I mean that the course takes place within a set time-frame (the duration of the course) where everyone contributes to an active, private Facebook group - rather than it being an evergreen course that’s self-paced.
There’s always a very engaged and supportive community. You can jump on at any time of the day and students come from all over the world and lots of different time zones.
There are no FB Lives. All course materials are provided in written form.
It’s definitely not necessary to use digital media to take my courses. A lot of designers create art for this industry by hand and I try to structure the courses so that they’re useful to everyone, no matter what materials they like to use. I do a lot of hand-painted art myself. I think it has a lovely quality to it!
In order to sell hand-rendered images, you’ll need a very basic working knowledge of Photoshop in order to clean up your designs and present them as editable, digital files - but it’s easy to acquire those skills via online tutorials and you’ll need to learn less than a tenth of what the software can actually do.
For my courses, it’s enough that you can snap a pic and upload a jpeg so we can admire your work and support you!
On the other hand, lots of my students are brilliant digital artists. If you’re interested in learning more about digital art, you’ll enjoy seeing the fabulous possibilities.
Have a look at the beautiful student art here. I think you’ll be surprised at the variety.
Beginners are very welcome.
Some of the concepts may be completely new to you but a lot of beginners join me and find the courses worthwhile because they learn so much. I try hard to ensure the Facebook Group is kind, supportive and safe and this works well for beginners because the more experienced artists in the group offer lots of help.
I think you’ll find this testimonial helpful. Roberta is talking about a Create Christmas class but I think a lot of artists have this kind of positive experience in all the classes.
“I joined this class on a whim and then regretted it when I started to see the names and work of my classmates because I am just dipping my toes into the world of surface design and illustration. I thought I was going to feel horribly out of place with all the professional designers in the class, but as soon as the first brief was up I was totally inspired and went right to work. The only thing I didn’t like about the class is that it was too short. I had so many ideas of illustrations I wanted to do each week, I kept hoping the weeks would magically lengthen themselves.
I never for one moment felt out of place. The whole class community was accepting and encouraging. If you are unsure if this type of illustration is for you - take the class. If you are currently illustrating but in a rut - take the class. You are sure to be filled with so many ideas you won’t be able to get to them all. If you are a seasoned pro and want a challenge - take the class. Get a fresh perspective on illustrating and industry insight to other possibilities. If you’re here reading this wondering if you should take the class - take the class. It is a small investment regardless if your focus is as a professional or hobbyist.”
— Roberta Murray
The course is not a technical pattern-making course in any way - but it’s full of information that will help you create cohesive, attractive and well-composed designs (including patterns) that will impress art directors.
That’s not within the scope of the course but have you downloaded my Free Guide to Getting Your Artwork In Front of Clients? You may find it helpful. Sign up here. I also offer consultations at certain times of the year.
See you on Instagram…
