Botanical Illustration Course: With the Eden Project

This book is extremely impressive in its breadth and depth of coverage on Botanical Illustrations. The authors create an excellent section on drawing flowers and plants utilizing the application of geometrical shapes and shading techniques. I primarily utilize Derwent Inktense pencils when doing my botanical drawings. The interesting qualities of these pencils is that the artist lays down lines of actual watercolor. The pencil core is a water soluble formulation which allows easy mixing and blending of colors by careful and knowledgeable laying down of a variety of colors and then after the lines and shapes are drawn, the artist uses a brush with water to brink out the full color and mix the different colors right on the drawing itself. Because the authors have an extremely well developed section in the book on pencil drawing of Botanicals, the book is truly and excellent source for newer artists who need help and practice in understanding how to use pencils to create life-like drawing and beautiful arrays of flowers & other plants. When the authors discuss the creation of botanical drawings of plants with white flowers, they truly explain in detail how the artist is to utilize the white paper as the source of the white areas in the plants. Then by using grays and other tinting colors, the specific color gradations must be created by the careful addition of other tints to get the actual fine off-whites that occur in nature. The authors do not forget to recommend the very careful and sparing use of masking fluid to make sure that the white areas are preserved for adjustment later, but during the initial stages, the use of masking fluid keeps the artist from destroying a careful drawing because a color has run with the application of water. In that way, the artist can use the background white of the underlying paper or vellum or whatever medium the artist feels most comfortable using. Because the authors give a nicely constructed soup to nuts approach to Botanicals. Yet upon reading the book, one finds that they do recommend high grade materials to create the best possible drawings. When discussing brushed, the author suggest the artist use exclusively Kolinsky sable brushes as the finest brushes for creating botanical representations. I am in full agreement that the better the materials, including the brushes, the paper, the paint or pencils and any material that will be instrumental in creating the images, the better the quality of the materials, the easier it is to get really good representations. It is often thought by new artists that "just to start out, they will use less expensive materials. Doing this only has one good quality for helping artists. Clearly that quality is that after struggling with cheap or lesser grade materials, it comes as an enormous relief to see how much easier it is to get amazingly better results when one uses high quality materials. In addition, it really is heart rending to use materials that are not "artist grade" and create wonderful drawings and then watch as the color fades over time or the color mix starts to break down and ruin what was originally a wonderful drawing. If one uses "artist grade or museum grade" materials to start, one does not have to worry about a great illustration becoming a trash can liner because the materials and the paper do not hold up to the test of time and the attack of the atmosphere. Do not make the mistake of wasting money on low grade materials. You will end up throwing them all in the trash after you start using high grade materials. Thus, the use of cheaper materials actually costs more in the long run. Once an artists uses high grade products, they can never turn back. It is just too difficult to draw a precise botanical. It is not worth doing it with junky products that end up not showing your talents and abilities in the best 'light' because they are not up to the level of better products. Finally, the book covers a significant and vast array of different plants and flowers with instructions about how the artist should approach the illustration. When an artist is just starting out in a particular area or type of botanical it is often tremendously helpful to have a little advice with respect to the manner one should take to create a particular type of flower or plant. Because of the wondrous array of different plants and flowers discussed in this book, the artist truly gets their money's worth and a good education to go along with it. Do not be afraid to buy Good books either. This book falls into that category and I do recommend it very highly.

This book is a wonderous compilation of educational guidelines on producing artwork and properly representing the beauty and complexity of plants using pencil and watercolor media. It also could pass as a coffee table book as the images are incredible. I was immediately struck at the techniques covered as every art book should - recommendation on watercolor/paper/pencils to use, other tools needed, shading & highlighting, importance of representing the tiniest details, color development (e.g. how to make the right green - I loved that part), depth and so much more. In many ways I was reminded of my university art classes I took many years ago, but this book covers so much more than I garnered through formal education. Those that purchase the book for learning how to bring plants to life on paper or canvas should follow the educational component of the book from the beginning to the end in order to gain the most on how to illustrate plants. By following this method, each artist will definitely get what this book offers - and makes one wish they could take part of the art classes taught at the Eden Project in Cornwall, UK. I definitely wish I could do so!

A lovely book with lots of information. That said, there's nothing like taking a real drawing class. What I mean by that is a class (with a teacher) that will get you through perspective, value studies and a little color theory; while not fun, these studies will aid in perception and give your drawings life.

This is a really nice introduction to botanical illustration. It covers form, observational drawing, use of graphite, tonal studies, shadow and highlights, texture and the use of watercolors in rendering realistic botanical subjects. It's not a step-by-step guide, but rather provides a wealth of tips and techniques with enough clear examples to help the reader understand the points being conveyed. While I really like this book for its breadth of content as applies to initial drawing (in graphite) and watercolor rendering, I was a little disappointed to see colored pencil go by unmentioned. Since it is a medium often used in botanical illustration, and is used exclusively by some botanical artists, at least a brief discussion of its use here would have been appreciated. Overall though, this is a very good book on botanical illustration and it is sure to stay on my studio shelves for some time to come. I work in watercolor/gouache, colored pencil, pen/ink and acrylics.

For anyone interested in learning how to paint botanical illustrations in watercolor, this book offers both the beginner, as well as the more advanced student, an opportunity to learn and hopefully master all necessary skills. I found the material to be quite comprehensive and well organized. I was so impressed with this volume that I intend to make an additional future purchase with another Eden Project book.

A book of this quality does not come along very often. It has an incredible amount of helpful information in it. Even though I am not aspiring to be a botanical artist, I am still learning a lot that I can use in my own style of art. One of the best purchases I have made in several years. If you want to get some really good solid information on art this is a great place to start.

I have found this text to be quite informative, inspirational to me as a beginner illustrator (for my personal journals), and as an over all reference for methods and guidance in the practice of illustrating plants and flowers. It is a key text in my little botanical library. I love the detailed illustrations and format. It is a lovely book and I am happy to have found it on Amazon!

Beautiful illustrations and step by step ideas. Picking up art and drawing after having been away for years. I'm happy with this book. Has many pencil exercises that are helpful to the beginner.