Uploaded March 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Billy Showell is a watercolour artist and founder of the Billy Showell School of Botanical Art, which she established to share her knowledge and love for botanical watercolour painting. Billy visited the Jackson's Studio to share the story of how she started working with watercolour, and why she wanted to teach others what she has learned along the way.
0:00 "I am just one of many that are just trying to bring the natural world into focus"
0:25 Introduction
0:48 "I was always that sort of quiet child that was sitting in the corner drawing and painting"
1:53 "Once I got to art school, I found my people"
2:24 "I should be living and breathing fashion"
3:15 "A formative time in my life"
4:37 "Well, if you can paint those beautiful flowers on furniture, why don't you paint it onto canvas?"
5:55 "I'd found a little niche that suited me"
6:29 "You don't see petals that are fused at the base and burst open"
7:52 "My career as a Botanical illustrator is different to my career as a Botanical artist"
8:39 "I think as long as Botanical art has its feet in history, it can have its head in the clouds"
9:04 "I've always resisted calling myself a Botanical artist, and I know that sounds strange because that's what I am"
9:49 "Celebrating the beautiful forms that the natural world gives us"
10:40 "Well, you can't just join, you have to apply"
12:01 "I think I broke all of the rules"
12:33 "He's broken all the rules by somehow it works"
12:52 "If you analyse something too much, you break it"
13:23 "Watercolour is one of those mediums where you need really good pigments"
13:52 "Looking for more spring in my brush"
15:06 "My brush that removes all mistakes, most of them"
15:24 "Paper is an obsession with Botanical painters"
16:52 "Religiously, I always add water first"
18:44 "If someone said they couldn't use French Ultramarine or Cobalt Blue, I'd probably run for the hills screaming"
19:11 "Always looks very chaotic, but it's organised chaos"
19:55 "I'm definitely a night owl"
20:34 "When I've got a big deadline, I have complete silence"
21:38 "I do a lot of playing around"
22:36 "The amount of detail or fiddling I do, I don't even count the hours"
23:25 "A couple of times I have actually physically put my painting in a bin, and then retrieved it later on"
24:28 "Be in the state of mind that this is for me, this is my time"
25:45 Credits
Shop Billy's Art Materials on our website: jacksonsart.com/art-techniques/artists-workshops/billy-showell?utm_campaign=artist_insights_billy_showell&utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=organicsocial&utm_content=youtube_social_organic_video_to_ecom
Read the full article on our Blog: jacksonsart.com/blog/2025/03/21/artist-insights-billy-showell/?utm_campaign=artist_insights_billy_showell&utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=organicsocial&utm_content=youtube_social_organic_video_to_blog
#billyshowell #botanicalpainting #botanicalillustration #botanicalart
Billy Showell is a watercolour artist and founder of the Billy Showell School of Botanical Art, which she established to share her knowledge and love for botanical watercolour painting. Billy visited the Jackson's Studio to share the story of how she started working with watercolour, and why she wanted to teach others what she has learned along the way.
0:00 "I am just one of many that are just trying to bring the natural world into focus"
0:25 Introduction
0:48 "I was always that sort of quiet child that was sitting in the corner drawing and painting"
1:53 "Once I got to art school, I found my people"
2:24 "I should be living and breathing fashion"
3:15 "A formative time in my life"
4:37 "Well, if you can paint those beautiful flowers on furniture, why don't you paint it onto canvas?"
5:55 "I'd found a little niche that suited me"
6:29 "You don't see petals that are fused at the base and burst open"
7:52 "My career as a Botanical illustrator is different to my career as a Botanical artist"
8:39 "I think as long as Botanical art has its feet in history, it can have its head in the clouds"
9:04 "I've always resisted calling myself a Botanical artist, and I know that sounds strange because that's what I am"
9:49 "Celebrating the beautiful forms that the natural world gives us"
10:40 "Well, you can't just join, you have to apply"
12:01 "I think I broke all of the rules"
12:33 "He's broken all the rules by somehow it works"
12:52 "If you analyse something too much, you break it"
13:23 "Watercolour is one of those mediums where you need really good pigments"
13:52 "Looking for more spring in my brush"
15:06 "My brush that removes all mistakes, most of them"
15:24 "Paper is an obsession with Botanical painters"
16:52 "Religiously, I always add water first"
18:44 "If someone said they couldn't use French Ultramarine or Cobalt Blue, I'd probably run for the hills screaming"
19:11 "Always looks very chaotic, but it's organised chaos"
19:55 "I'm definitely a night owl"
20:34 "When I've got a big deadline, I have complete silence"
21:38 "I do a lot of playing around"
22:36 "The amount of detail or fiddling I do, I don't even count the hours"
23:25 "A couple of times I have actually physically put my painting in a bin, and then retrieved it later on"
24:28 "Be in the state of mind that this is for me, this is my time"
25:45 Credits
Shop Billy's Art Materials on our website: jacksonsart.com/art-techniques/artists-workshops/billy-showell?utm_campaign=artist_insights_billy_showell&utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=organicsocial&utm_content=youtube_social_organic_video_to_ecom
Read the full article on our Blog: jacksonsart.com/blog/2025/03/21/artist-insights-billy-showell/?utm_campaign=artist_insights_billy_showell&utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=organicsocial&utm_content=youtube_social_organic_video_to_blog
#billyshowell #botanicalpainting #botanicalillustration #botanicalart
