AN award winning botanical artist is set to give a sketching masterclass workshop for beginners.

Martin Allen, a multiple Royal Horticultural Society Gold Medallist and internationally-recognised botanical artist, will be working alongside Tees Valley Wildlife Trust to deliver three one-day field-sketching lessons focussing on the wildflowers and trees of local woodlands.

People who attend the workshops will be encouraged to join the Middlesbrough-born artist through the year and practice their skills in capturing seasonal changes in East Cleveland woodlands. It is part of a Heritage Lottery Funded project to create a collective digital diary of three different ancient woods.

Kate Bartram, of the Tees Valley Wildlife Trust, said: “We are really fortunate that Martin can give his time to encourage people to develop new skills and an interest in plants through drawing."

Mr Allen, who began painting in the 1990s when recovering from illness, was awarded his first Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) Gold medal in 1995.

He said: "As a teacher I give lots of encouragement. I tend to find most people draw a lot better when they stop being so hard on themselves and relax.”

Anyone interested must book a place and come suitably dressed for spending time outside in woodlands.

The programme of workshops is: Saturday, June 5, Margrove Heritage Centre, Margrove Park; Saturday, June 11, Saltburn Valley Gardens Woodland Centre; and Tuesday, June 21, Cleveland Ironstone Mining Museum, Skinningrove.

For more information, visit teeswildlife.org/woodlandsdiaries, call 01287-636382 or email info@teeswildlife.org