Floral Oil Painting Workshop (28 February 2026)

Floral Oil Painting Workshop with Robbie Erskine
10–5pm Saturday 28 February 2026

Combine your love of beautiful flowers with deliciously rich oil paint as we create a small artwork with accomplished fine artist Robbie Erskine. Whether you are new to the wonderful world of oils or already practised in this medium, you'll leave with a finished painting and the skills to continue your journey beyond the workshop.

This exciting one-day workshop introduces the alla prima method of oil painting which will allow us achieve results faster than traditional “layering” methods that require longer drying times. Alla prima challenges us to create gorgeous visual results by placing and blending colours side-by-side (rather than on top of each other) in a single layer, allowing us to work quickly and without having to wait for the paint to dry. You'll enjoy this exploration of colour through the tactile and satisfying experience of painting with oils.

You will have the opportunity in this workshop to paint either a daffodil (Narcissus pseudonarcissus) or a pansy (Viola × wittrockiana) using reference photos supplied by the Robbie. These flowers have the benefit of relatively simple botanical characteristics with beautiful colours and share a similar technical process for painting, making them perfect subject matter for us to paint in one day.

Robbie will start the workshop by demonstrating how to prepare a canvas using gesso, which is a professional quality art primer. You will start your painting project using a canvas (approximately A4 in size) that has been stretched onto a wooden frame and which Robbie has prepared with gesso ahead of the workshop. We will explore how to transfer your flower image to the canvas, and a range of techniques that you'll need to complete your painting, including: colour mixing, brush choice, alla prima paint application techniques, brushstrokes and blending. 

Robbie will break down the process of painting subjects into bite-size pieces and demonstrate how to apply the techniques and tools you've learnt to paint your flower. Along the way, Robbie will share her technical hints and tips to improve your oil painting process and give you confidence when creating oil paintings in this style to help you to build a foundation with the skills to create more paintings and continue your oil painting journey at home. By the end of the day, we will have finished the full floral painting ready to take home at the end of the workshop.

Pick the Difference

The images of Robbie's floral oil paintings that we've included below include both alla prima and layered oil painting techniques, sometimes within the same artwork. It can be tricky to see the difference between these methods from photos, but you might like to compare the roses (which were painted alla prima) to the sunflowers and orchid (that were painted in layers) to see if you can pick the differences. The full paintings shown are many weeks and months in the making, and so are obviously beyond the scope of this workshop; however, the last image shows works-in-progress of the subject that you will tackle in this workshop which will provide you with the essential skills you need to embark on larger projects.

Materials

All materials required for the workshop will be provided, including professional grade artist oil paints. We will be painting on stretched canvas (approximately A4 in size) that has been pre-primed by Robbie. If you are already working with oils at home and would like to use your own materials or a desktop easel, you are most welcome to bring these along with you to the workshop. Please wear closed shoes and an apron if you are worried about staining your clothes. 

Who should attend?

This workshop is perfect for students who are curious and excited to explore the world of oil painting, or those who already have some experience and would like to improve their skills. 

About Robbie Erskine

Robbie Erskine is a contemporary fine artist from Brisbane, Australia known for her magical realism and surrealist works depicting the natural world and animal kingdom. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Art, a Diploma in Visual Art and a Bachelor of Graphic Design, and has been painting and drawing for over 25 years and creating in general since a young age. 

Robbie's practice has developed over this time, with the focus on creating artworks of the natural world and animal kingdom with a surrealist twist, a whimsical twist, a narrative, a spiritual element or a comment on the environment. Her award-winning works have been included in group exhibitions both in the gallery setting or online shows, and the art is held in private collections in Australia and internationally.

Explore more of Robbie’s work on her website (robbieerskine.com) or social media (Instagram and Facebook): @robbieerskineart.

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Cost

$300 / $270 (Frequent workshoppers)

Frequent workshopper discount: Sign up for 2 or more Plant Empire workshops, or register 2 or more people for the same workshop, to receive 10% off the total registration price (discount will appear at checkout).

Location

Plant Empire has moved! This workshop will be held at our new premises in Tennyson, Brisbane: 15/55 Lofter St, Tennyson Q 4105.

Accessibility

In our new premises, we have ground floor workshop spaces as well as mezzanine level spaces with stairs. The ground floor spaces are all level without any steps, while the mezzanines are accessible via a staircase with 22 steps and 1–2 landings. Please let us know if you have any mobility issues that would limit your access to the mezzanine spaces so that we can ensure that your workshop is located at ground level by adding a note in the special instructions field when you register for your workshop: for example, "no stairs" or similar.

Reminders

You have full control over how (and how often) you receive reminders for our events. You will receive one email confirmation from us when you purchase your workshop registration; but we won't send any further email reminders, so please ensure that you have the workshop details in your diary. You can also use the "add to calendar" function in our events calendar to add workshops to your digital calendar and customise your reminder preferences.

Cancellation Policy

Please choose carefully before registering for this workshop as we do not offer refunds on event bookings. If you need to cancel your place up to 24 hours before the workshop, we will provide you with a voucher that you can use to attend a future workshop or any other purchase at Plant Empire. We regret that we are unable to provide vouchers for cancellations made within 24 hours of the workshop.

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