NEWS about Botanical Art and for Botanical Artists

Sarah Jane Humphrey - being a botanical illustrator

13/12/2018

Sarah Jane Humphrey in her studio

In this video, Sarah Jane Humphrey is interviewed by Melanie Chadwick about her career and how she found her way into a career in illustration and her own botanical illustration niche.

Sarah Jane Humphrey GM is a botanical and natural science illustrator, author, tutor and now shopkeeper.

2018 has been a big year for Sarah Jane

in June 2018, her book Botanical Art with Scientific Illustration was published. READ my REVIEW: Botanical Art with Scientific Illustration by Sarah Jane Humphrey for more details
in July 2018, she won her first RHS Bold Medal Gold Medal by the RHS for Medicinal Fruits and their symbiosis with Pollinators (after a previous Silver and then Silver Gilt).
in November 2018, she opened her own shop in Falmouth called Botanical Atelier at 19A Arwenack St. Falmouth. TR11 4AS where she is delivering botanically oriented events and workshops.

To date her career has involved

graduating from Falmouth University with an Honours Degree in Illustration.
becoming represented by the Wildlife Art Company for illustration work. She was their very first female Scientific and Natural History Illustrator.
securing contracts for botanical, natural history and scientific illustration work from a variety of clients and publishers
delivering workshops on Botanical Illustration in Cornwall

View the video to find out more about how she developed her career to date.

Websites:

Portfolio https://www.sarahjanehumphrey.com/
Botanical Atelier https://botanicalatelier.co.uk/

Botanical Art with Scientific Illustration by Sarah Jane Humphrey

The video is part of Melanie Chadwick's series of interviews called Creative Conversations on YouTube.

Each episode we chat about running a business, struggles and successes as well as sharing tips and advice which may be helpful to others working in the creative world. Pull up a chair and enjoy!

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Botanical Painting Courses at The Prince's School of Traditional Arts

11/12/2018

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The Prince's School of Traditional Arts provides a range of workshops and short, practical courses in traditional arts and crafts as part of its Open Programme. Between March and May 2019 these will include some rather unusual courses in different kinds of botanical painting.

The art courses listed below are a variation of those normally provided to students of botanical painting. They offer an opportunity to explore how to paint plants and flowers using different media and approaches to botanical painting

All the courses are held at The Prince's School of Traditional Arts, 19-22 Charlotte Road, London EC2A 3SG (Nearest tube stations are Old Street or Liverpool Street; absolutely no parking!)

This five-day practical course will introduce you to the basics of botanical morphology so students will know what to look for when drawing and painting flowers. It will also reveal the development of botanical art through time.https://t.co/BXkMORxl3e pic.twitter.com/bYrcMlFarb
— School of Traditional Arts (@princesschool) November 19, 2018

Botanical Painting and Taxonomy
Dates: 11 March 2019 - 15 March 2019
Time: 10:30 - 17:30
Tutor Jessica Shepherd
Course Fee: £385

This five day course will

introduce the basics of botanical morphology
reveal the development of botanical art through time
demonstrate how drama can be created through thoughtful lighting,
examine the importance of composition
explore the colours and techniques needed when painting flowers and leaves.
develop a painting including the techniques learned on the course.

Jessica Shepherd trained in botany at the University of Plymouth and University of Edinburgh before she became a botanical painter

Persian Miniature Painting: Flowers and Trees
Dates: 11 March 2019 - 15 March 2019
Time: 10:30 - 17:30
Tutor: Farkhondeh Ahmadzadeh
Course fee: £385 (concessions)

This course focuses on the details of nature in Persian miniature paintings.

covers trees, rocks, and different types of flowers,
practice how to draw and paint them using Persian miniature techniques.
Through a series of practical demonstrations, including traditional paper treatments, pigment preparation, and brush techniques, students will prepare their own papers and paints to be used for their paintings.

Farkhondeh Ahmadzadeh is an Iranian artist based in London. She graduated with distinction from The Prince's School's MA programme in 2011 and was awarded the Jerwood prize for Islamic traditional art.

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Botanical Indian Miniature Painting
Dates: 6 April 2019 - 11 May 2019
Time: 10:00 - 16:30
Tutor: Samantha Buckley | £350

This course is inspired by examples of Mughal botanical paintings and focuses on

the process of creating an Indian miniature painting,
the traditional method of transferring the image to burnished wasli paper using ink and squirrel hair brushes.
the use of handmade pigments from India and how to prepare, apply and then burnish these colours in preparation for the detailed work of miniature painting.
the special technique of prataj to create the detail associated with these beautiful paintings.

Botanical Indian Miniature Painting - At The Prince's School Of Traditional Arts (Day 1) is an excellent blog post by somebody who took the miniature painting course with Sam Buckley in 2016.

Samantha Buckley completed her MA at The School in 2006, receiving a distinction for her studies in miniature painting. In 2011 she was invited to undertake a one-year apprenticeship in India to extend her knowledge and technique of miniature painting,

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Margaret Mee 1909-1988: 30th Anniversary

30/11/2018

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Today marks the 30th anniversary of the tragic death of Margaret Mee (1909 - 1988) the renowned painter of the flora of the Amazon Forest and dedicated environmental conservationist.

She and her husband had returned to England in November 1988 for a major exhibition of her paintings at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew coupled with the launch of a book Margaret Mee in Search of Flowers of the Amazon Forest (1988) based on Margaret's diaries - and discussion about the future of her paintings.

Very sadly she was killed at the age of 79 in a car crash in Leicester on 30 November 1988 a few months after her last expedition to the Amazon.

Those attending her memorial service, held at Kew on 16 January 1989, included representatives of the Duke of Edinburgh, the Brazilian government, and the world of botany.
In May 1989, her ashes were scattered in the Amazon Forest by her husband and close friends. A plaque was fixed to a tree to record her passing.

Paintings by Margaret Mee at the the "Brazil: a powerhouse of plants: Margaret Mee, pioneering artist and her legacy" Exhibition at the Shirley Sherwood Gallery (20 February 2016 to 29 August 2016)

About Margaret Mee

About Margaret Mee is my page about this remarkable and very petite woman, who was

a famous and important botanical artist, who specialised in painting the flora of the Amazon Forest. 
an ardent conservationist who highlighted the way in which the forest was being destroyed; and
a botanical painter who inspired a number of botanical artists around the world - notably a number of Brazilian botanical artists.

In Search of Flowers of the Amazon Forest

from Amazon UK

Her legacy includes

images from her 15 expeditions into the Amazon Rainforest
nine new plants - previously unknown to botanical record
400 folios of gouache illustrations, 40 sketchbooks and 15 diaries - many now archived at Kew Gardens
her diaries and three books about her work and her paintings
a heightened awareness of the importance of conservation of habitat in the Amazon rainforest.
inspiration for a number of Brazilian artists - notably the Demonte family, Marlena Baretto, Patricia Villela and Alvaro Nunes
The Margaret Mee Amazon Trust (closed 1996) followed by a Fellowship Programme which enables Brazilian artists to train at Kew Gardens
3,000 dancers paraded to a Margaret Mee theme at the Rio Carnival in 1994!

Plus a number of plants are named after her, including:

Heliconia chartacea var. meeana - which has vivid blue berries
Aechmea polyantha - a vaselike Bromeliad discovered by Margaret Mee

On About Margaret Mee you can find out about:

A Timeline of her life and work
Margaret Mee and the Amazon Flora
Margaret Mee's Paintings - and her approach to painting
Exhibitions of Margaret Mee's paintings - in the UK, USA and Brazil
The Margaret Mee Trust and Fellowship Programme

Videos and Slideshows of her work

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NEW Guide to Online Botanical Art Courses & Tuition

27/11/2018

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A NEW GUIDE to Online Botanical Art Courses

Today I'm announcing the launch of my BRAND NEW WEB PAGE Guide to Online Botanical Art Courses and Tuition

Before today, there was nowhere on the internet that offered a comparative analysis and evaluation of the available online tuition and tutorials for those wanting to learn more about botanical art and illustration - in different art media - but now there is!

Online tuition for botanical art is a growing marketplace because

people are becoming more used to using technology routinely in their daily lives
it's possible for a tutor anywhere in the world to deliver tuition to a student living the other side of the world.
it's very often cheaper than some of the alternative courses available - which is really good news for students!
some online courses also allow people to have more control over the pace of a course - and to stop and start when life has a habit of getting in the way

This page covers:

OVERVIEW of Online Botanical Art Courses - indicating different types of tuition and course and providers
CHECKLIST of questions for prospective students - to be used when evaluating alternative options. It's really important to know what you're buying before you hand over the money - and to know whether you can get your money back if it doesn't suit you.
LIST of Online Providers of Botanical Art Tuition - a summary of information about the course tutor, course delivery and pricing. This is based on the information provided on the various websites.

The online providers of botanical art tuition and courses are split into THREE GROUPS:

Recognised Institutions - providing distance learning courses using web-based instruction. They vary enormously in terms of levels and sophistication of teaching delivery.
Online Tuition via Video Tutorials - these are essentially subscription based step by step video based courses with support materials (and a support group). The providers have generated a LOT of videos. Note that access to these videos is almost always for streaming i.e. you do got get to download and keep them. Access lasts for as long as you pay your subscription.
Online Tuition via individual tutors - these are more course based with more emphasis on written guides and/or worksheets/ebooks with videos used as support for learning - and the use of Skype for feedback. Generally it's a more individualised and personal approach

It's important to say that all courses - although similar - are also different.
One of the main purposes of my new page is to try and tease out those differences.

There is a Stage Two Development planned for this page where I assess each website and public information provided and cost against a standard set of questions - but that's for 2019. There's a lot of new websites for online tuition planned for a launch in 2019 so better to do it after these have bedded down!

At the present time, I'm still tweaking the context so if you spot any typos and mistakes please give me a shout-out!

Your Feedback

Your feedback is very important to me. Many of you helped me build this page - by telling me what you wanted to know about the courses and how they are provided. I've tried to develop the page based on that feedback.

I'd now very much appreciate if it you can help me develop it further by telling me how it can be improved. Let me know what you think.

Does it satisfy your needs?
Do you need to know more?

Anything you like - just leave a comment or contact me

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Scientific Illustration Instruction by Rogério Lupo

26/11/2018

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Rogério Lupo is a Brazilian scientific illustrator who 1st Prize in the Margaret Flockton Award in 2010 and 2013. He is also a teacher who has very generously provided a FREE guidebook and a FREE 48 minute video online providing pointers on how to draw scientific illustrations using graphite.

He also makes the effort to make sure his tuition is accessible to those who speak/read English rather than Portuguese.

This post is about:

his FREE 48 minute Video (with English subtitles) and Guidebook (translated into English) - about using Graphite for Scientific Illustration (I previously wrote about the Guidebook in Guide to Botanical Illustration using Pen and Ink - in Portuguese)
his work and artwork online
Rogério's Workshop Tour of the USA in 2019 - providing workshops in the use of graphite and pen and ink for botanical illustration.

The NEW Video

The 48 minute YouTube Video "Graphite for Scientific Illustrations - Supplement to the free Guidebook with English subtitles is a FREE lesson providing complementary demonstrations to support the study and practices of the Guidebook: Graphite and its Possibilities Applied to Scientific Illustrations. also FREE - SEE BELOW

It now has ENGLISH SUBTITLES which have been reviewed by Bobbi Angell, American Botanical Illustrator.

The YouTube icons bottom right of the video

To enable the subtitles follow the instructions below:

Select the captions icon in the bottom right hand corner . It's on the extreme left, to the left of the cog wheel icon.
Click the icon - so a red line appears beneath it
You have now switched on the subtitles
This will stay on for whatever video you watch next - until you switch it off.

You can also read the transcript for the video. If you select the three dots below the video - on the extreme right - and select "open transcript" - the transcript opens up in the top right of the screen and you can read what is being said continuously without referencing the screen. It's a long video and you might find this useful!

The Guidebook

Graphite and its Possibilities Applied to Scientific Illustrations is a FREE Guidebook with English subtitles. Please note that Rogério Lupo has asserted his copyright and any SALE of this Guidebook is strictly prohibited

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Call for Entries - Margaret Flockton Award 2019

25/11/2018

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The Call for Entries for the 2019 Margaret Flockton Award for Excellence in Scientific Botanical Illustration has been published by The Margaret Flockton Award Committee

The deadline for digital online entry is 29 January 2019.

Images from Margaret Flockton Award prizewinners and highly commended 2016-2018 - on Flickr

The Margaret Flockton Award

The Margaret Flockton Award is a prestigious international award for contemporary scientific botanical illustration which

celebrates the best scientific botanical illustration completed by botanical illustrators from around the world today
commemorates the contribution Margaret Flockton (1861-1953) made to Australian scientific botanical illustration.

In particular , the Award focuses on:

both traditional and digital techniques that best illustrate the botanical world
a range of plants from new or renamed species, to rare, vulnerable or endangered plants, as well as common native or exotic subjects.

The Award is run by Catherine Wardrop and Lesley Elkan, the botanical illustrators at the Royal Botanic Garden in Sydney, Australia where Margaret Flockton worked in the Herbarium - on behalf of the Margaret Flockton Award Committee.

The Prizes are as follows

First prize: AU$5000;
second prize: AU$2000;
3 x Highly Commended.

However the best prize is probably the career development benefit of being identified as one of the best scientific botanical illustrators in the world.

This is an OPEN COMPETITION and the Award always welcomes new and talented illustrators. Those interested should first review the entries in the exhibition in 2018 - as exhibited on Flickr

How to enter

You can read about how to enter on:

The RBGS website - see The Margaret Flockton Award Register for updates with the enquiries email on this page.
This website - see The Margaret Flockton Award for Excellence in Scientific Botanical Illustration

You can send in an entry between Mon 14 January and Tues 29 January 2019. Note this is earlier than last year when the submission was in February.

Key points to note are:

All entries must be submitted digitally.

All original illustrations must be scanned or photographed at high resolution and then submitted via approved large-file transfer sites.
No original artworks will require sending or receiving.
Digital submission - forms
Digital submission - artwork
Permissions

Fully digitally rendered, printable illustrations are now eligible for entry.

but NOT animated or 3D works

Entries must comply with a range of technical requirements

these are explained in full on the website in addition to A Guide to Scientific Illustration

No artworks will be offered for sale by RBGS

BUT direct email or website details will be made available, with the consent of the artist for sales to be arranged direct with the relevant artist.

Assessment

Judging: Entries will be assessed in accordance with the following criteria:

accurate interpretation and portrayal of plant characters and diagnostic features;
technical merit;
reproducibility;
composition;
artistic merit.

See A Guide to Scientific Illustration on the RBGS page for more information on judging criteria.

Further Information

Exhibition

The botanical illustrations in the Exhibition can be seen at three different locations.

Works for sale - selected works will be available for sale direct from the artist
The exhibition details for the three locations are as follows:

VENUE 1:

Venue: Joseph Maiden Theatre, Royal Botanic Garden Sydney - enter via Woolloomooloo Gate on Mrs Macquaries Road
Dates: Sat 30 March – Sun 14 April 2019 daily 10 am - 4 pm.
Cost: Entry to the exhibition is free

VENUE 2:

Venue: The Australian PlantBank at The Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan
Dates: Saturday 8 June – Sunday 28 July 2019, Mon – Fri 10 am – 4 pm and selected weekends

VENUE 3:

Venue: Visitor Centre at The Blue Mountains Botanic Garden Mount Tomah
Dates: Friday 9 August – Sunday 15 September 2019, daily 9.30 am – 4.30 pm

More Information:

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From Botany to Bouquets

23/11/2018

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There are a number of publications online about botanical art in the past - if you know where to look.

From Botany to Bouquets: Flowers in Northern Art (1999 / 88 pages) is the catalogue of the exhibition organised by the National Gallery of Art in Washington and held between 31 January — 3 1 May 1999

You can view and/or download a digital version for free as a pdf file - View PDF (28.94MB) on the NGA website.

detail of Ambrosius Bosschaert the Elder, Bouquet of Flowers in a Glass Vase - the front cover of "From Botany to Bouquets" (1999)

From Botany to Bouquets examines the origins of flower painting with a selection of botanical treatises, manuscripts, and watercolors by 16th- and 17th-century printmakers and draftsmen.

The catalogue was written by Arthur K. Wheelock Jr. (the recently retired Curator of Northern Baroque Paintings at the National Gallery of Art in Washington) and is essentially about still life art involving flower painting,. However it starts from botanical art and how this developed over time within the context of various historical developments.

It also includes some great examples of paintings of flowers. I particularly enjoyed

the section about the 16th century nature studies by Albrecht Durer - and his painting of a Tuft of Cowslips
the discussion of printed herbals and florilegia

and the paintings by:

Ambrosius Bosschaert the Elder
Balthasar van der Ast
Jacques Le Moyne de Morgues
Crispijn van de Passe the Younger
Jan and Pieter Withoos
Jacob Marrel's tulips
spring glowers by Julius Francois de Geest

The artists who created the flower still lifes in this exhibition could convey the delicacy of blossoms, the organic rhythms of stem and leaf, and the varied colors and textures of each and every plant. They could capture the fragile beauty of flowers and the sense of hope and joy they represent. Their bouquets come alive with flowers that seem so real we almost believe their aroma—and not the artist's brush—has drawn the dragonflies and bees to their petals.

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