Find out about the Botanical Illustration books written by Rosie Martin and Merial Thurstan
with the Eden Project
Rosie Martin and Meriel Thurstan are the principal illustrators and authors of four books about botanical illustration (and a fifth about natural history illustration).
  • ​Botanical Illustration Course with the Eden Project
  • Exotic Botanical Illustration
  • Contemporary Botanical Illustration
Plus the final book, not formally associated with the Eden Project is Botanical Art for Beginners
​
​These books grew out of the extremely successful Eden diploma course in botanical illustration, which developed into weekly classes, demonstrations, workshops and a distance learning course. The course was designed and delivered by Rosie Martin and Meriel Thurstan and used to be run in association with the internationally renowned ​Eden Project in Cornwall.  

Rosie and Meriel have now retired from teaching at the Eden Project and workshops and courses are now run by the Eden Project Florilegium Society
The Eden Project is a huge botanical project in Cornwall started by Sir Tim Smit. It started in a clay pit just outside St. Austell, grew geodesic domes and biomes including tropical plants and "the world's largest rainforest in captivity". It is a major educational charity.

​Its purpose is to educate people about plants and sustainability - to remind people of the vital role played by plants in people's lives - and to contribute to the regeneration of the local economy.
Picture
The Eden Project and its Geodesic domes

About Rosie Martin and Merial Thurstan
​

Rosie Martin trained in art and design at St Martin's School of Art in London and was awarded a first class Honours degree. She was awarded an RHS Gold medal for botanical watercolour portraiture and was elected to the Society of Botanical Artists. She has also been a tutor for the Field Studies Council GB and founder Vice Chairman and Artistic Director of the South West Society of Botanical Artists.

She continues to work to commission and each year produces a small number of large scale plant portrait paintings. ​She continues to teach from her studio near Totnes in South Devon.  In the past her students have gone on to win RHS Medals.
Meriel Thurstan took up botanical illustration while working in Cornwall - at both the Lost Gardens of Heligan and later at the Eden Project. She has two RHS Medals - a Silver Medal for her exhibit of Fungi Found at the Eden Project, and a Bronze medal for watercolour paintings of potatoes. She is based in Taunton in Somerset where she delivers a weekly botanical painting class and occasional short courses at other venues.

She was the Founder Chairman of the South West Society of Botanical Artists (SWSBA) but has now retired from this post. She was also a founder member of the Eden Project Florilegium Society.

The Books - associated with the Eden Project

This is a very brief introduction to the books listed below.

The first three books were written in co-operation with the Eden project and the students taught on the course organised by Meriel Thurstan and taught by Rosie Martin.
  • Botanical Illustration Course with the Eden Project - this in essence covers the content of the year-long diploma course taught at the Eden Project
  • Contemporary Botanical Illustration - this book aims to develop the skills and knowledge covered by the first book 
  • Exotic Botanical Illustration - focuses on the skills needed to portray the exotic plant material found within the Eden Project
The final book ​Botanical Illustration for Beginners is the 'sign-off' of the two authors

In effect, it returns to the beginning (like all good film series ) and provides the "prequel" - the book for the people who are coming to botanical illustration without the basic skills and competences which most students who do a botanical illustration course have already developed as watercolour painters.  

​They're not the only tutors to have noticed that there was a gap in the market which needed filling!
Botanical Illustration Course with the Eden Project
by Rosie Martin and Meriel Thurstan
​with The Eden Project

This book was voted "Practical Art Book of the Year" in 2006 by readers of Artists' Choice, Leisure Painter and the Artist and I own a copy.

This is the first and by far the most popular of the books written by the two authors.
The book essentially covers the ground of the lessons taught by the year-long Diploma course about botanical illustration in watercolour which was run at the Eden Project - organised by Meriel Thurstan and taught by Rosie Martin. Many of the illustrations are from students coursework.
The scope of the book aims to teach and develop the skills necessary for botanically accurate and pleasing portrayal of plant material. It's NOT a "painting by numbers" system of teaching. You are NOT invited to copy the style of other painters.

​This book covers:
  • ​brief introduction to materials and studio practice
  • Pencil drawing
  • Forms in Nature
  • Roots
  • An introduction to colour
  • Starting to paint
  • Tones and shadows
  • Details, highlights and 'tweaking'
  • Putting the stages together 
  • Seasonal colour, autumn fare and the apple revisited
  • White Flowers 
  • Depth and perspective
  • Watercolour over pencil
  • More texture, pattern and effects
  • Dissectioin and bisection
  • Pineapples, fire cones and other complex forms
  • How to make your picture work


Hardback: 144 pages / 200 Illustrations |
Publisher: Batsford | Published: 2006
Paperback: 144 pages | Publisher: Anova | Published: 30 Mar. 2008

It now appears that this book may be out of print.  
​An 80 minute DVD was produced to accompany this book but only used copies are available for sale.

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Contemporary Botanical Illustration with the Eden Project: Challenging Colour and Texture
​by Rosie Martin and Meriel Thurstan
​with The Eden Project

​This book was voted "Practical Art Book of the Year" in 2008 by readers of Artists' Choice, Leisure Painter and the Artist.

This is the second book by the authors of the bestselling Botanical Illustration Course with the Eden Project.

It's one of the few books which discuss what is meant by contemporary botanical illustration. However my major reservation about this book is that it incorrectly conflates the definition of botanical art with flower painting in the 'Introduction' - and fails to under stand the distinction between the two (see What is Botanical Art?)

​The book aims to take those have already begun botanical illustration on to the next step through some of the more advanced knowledge and skills required for contemporary botanical art. 
​The key difference in this book is that topics touched on in the first book are discussed at more length and the reasons provided for approaching the process of botanical illustration in one way rather than another. 

​This book covers some of the more unusual colours and colour effects which present challenges for those pursuing botanical art. It also places more emphasis on the importance of composition and ways of making artwork distinctly contemporary.

This book covers:
  • Your workplace and your materials - a more in-depth discussion of the best ways to work
  • Sketchbook practice
  • Composition
  • Pencil drawing
  • Painting techniques
  • Basic colour theory
  • Colour effects and subjective colour
  • Using a limited palette
  • Paint it black
  • Challenging texture, pattern and colour
  • Understanding your subject and adding interest: food plants
  • Presenting your work.
The "Contemporary" book covers much of the same material, but with significant enough differences that if you like one you'll want to read the other. Particular emphasis is placed on the discussion of composition in the "Contemporary" book—movement away from the traditional compositions into, of course, contemporary work. 
Roz Stendahl
​144 pages
Publisher: Anova / Batsford
​Hardcover published May 2008
Paperback published August 2008
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Exotic Botanical Illustration: With the Eden Project
by Rosie Martin and Meriel Thurstan
​with The Eden Project​
This is a natural subject for a book associated with the Eden Project due to the fact it houses a tropical rain forest and has lots of exotic flowers within the biomes.

It's very likely you can see them to in botanic garden glasshouses.
​
Plants in this book range from:
  • slipper orchid
  • cacti
  • protea
  • bird of paradise flower (see cover)
  • cariverous plants
The book covers:
  • Equipping yourself to paint - which is the perennial discussion of materials, equipment and studio practice. The authors are very specific as to their recommendations.
  • Harnessing Technology - an unusual chapter and one not often seen in botanical art instruction books - however it's pretty basic.
  • Composition
  • Drawing
  • Understanding Colour
  • Washes and other watercolour techniques
  • Using coloured pencils
  • Your sketchbook
  • Flowers and Plants
  • Exotic Fruit and vegetables
  • Complex forms


​Hardcover: 144 pages
Publisher: Batsford Ltd
Published: 5 July 2012

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Hardcover: 144 pages
Publisher: Batsford
Published: September 4, 2012

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The last book by Rosie Martin and Meriel Thurstan

Botanical Illustration for Beginners
​by Rosie Martin and Meriel Thurstan

​The aim of the book is to simplify learning about botanical illustration and the emphasis is succinct.  

Summary:
  • targeted very much at the beginners market, this book offers good value as its content is succinct and hence there's more practical knowledge and advice than often seen in books aimed at a similar audience 
  • this book has been well received by those who bought it
The book includes a variety of contributions from past students and members of the South West Society of Botanical Artists (SWSBA)
The book covers:
  • Materials and equipment - Detail tends to be at a summary level with additional tips
  • Techniques - addresses common questions eg How do I make sure my drawing is accurate?, How do I transfer my drawing. Sometimes introduces a topic in brief (eg 12 different types of washes are described on one page with very brief 'nitty gritty' notes) - and then expands to explain each process in more detail but still succinct
  • Colour - 
  • Drawing - 
  • Basic Botany (often omitted in some basic books) - 
  • Painting - 
  • Pattern and texture - 
  • Coloured Pencils - 
  • Composition - 
  • Working with White and Black - 
  • Complex forms - this comprises a series of exercises related to various different kinds of complex forms eg how to paint an allium


​Hardback: 144 Pages
Publisher: Batsford
​Published: 2015

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An afterword...
​

When writing a series of books, you usually don't tend to know when writing the first whether or not you will be commissioned to write any more. 

Botanical Illustration with the Eden Project was very successful and consequently Rosie and Meriel now faced the challenge well known to all creative people - of what to write for "the next book".

The challenge when your first book is very successful is that any and all subsequent books really need to have a clear focus, be distinctly different and add new and valued content.  I'm not entirely sure that Rose and Meriel achieved this. To my mind there is a level of repetition of basic information in each book. The argument for this by publishers is that each book is being bought as an individual entity - and people need to know the basics.

​Personally speaking - in an ideal world where we have complete foresight - I'd have preferred to see the books designed and written as a series with each being quite distinctive with no duplication or repetition of points made in previous books (as is seen more clearly in the series of SBA books for example).  To my mind it's why I continue to see the first book in bookshops - but the second (published in 2008) has somehow completely disappeared from public view and can only be found online - despite the fact that this has the more valuable and in-depth information likely to be of interest to those planning to move to a more advanced level of botanical painting.  

The third and fourth book appear to have made a better effort at clearly communicating what their focus is i.e.
  • new and unique subjects (exotic plants) and
  • new audiences (the beginner)
​and seem to have succeeded better as a result.

Easy to say in retrospect - but it's a point worth thinking about if you're ever asked to write a book! Yu might be asked to write another one.....
Credits for the illustrations

The bulk of the illustrations are provided by other artists

I'm not a big fan of books which use illustrations provided by other artists - without a credit in the caption - and then list the artists at the end, in alphabetical order with the page numbers where their illustrations appear.  

I find it virtually impossible to find the right page number for the illustration you're interested in. (These are not the only books which do this - but it's a point I feel strongly about.)

How much simpler is it to provide a credit with the image - as academic texts always do?

I speak as an Author who gained the co-operation of people providing illustrations for my book by insisting that all artists MUST be credited in the caption.