The Best Botanical Art and Illustration Instruction Books is the section on my website which I've devoted to developing a guide to the best instruction / "how to" books available for students and practitioners of botanical art and illustration. There's an awful lot of books out there.
I hope you'll find my guide useful. Maybe bookmark it for later - or even link to it? There's more below explaining how this guide to the best instruction books for botanical art and illustration actually works. A guide to the best "how to" books for creating botanical art and illustration for students of botanical art and and those wishing to develop their knowledge and skills What does this guide have to offer? |
What I've tried to do is:
As a guide I've also included the average ratings out of 5 stars for each book (in the UK and USA). Plus a guide to how to interpret these ratings as they are various factors - detailed in my guide - that influence how many ratings a book has got to date. |
“The RGBE diploma in botanical illustration has been an amazing experience, one that I would certainly recommend to botanical artists looking for a grounding in botanical art and techniques, and delivered by a fantastic, supportive and innovative team. Come and see our graduates’ exhibition…”
Marianne Hazlewood
“The RBGE Diploma Course has challenged and enriched my learning the most. Seriously understanding botany and plant structure to be able to more accurately portray the subjects has made a difference. The discipline of researching, observing, developing drawing and painting skills, referencing botanical artists’ work (past and present), receiving insightful critiques, meeting deadlines, all combine for a strong learning curve."
Kirstin Rindal
The 17th Century watercolours are from the collection of Elias Ashmole, whose collection founded the Ashmolean Museum, and are considered one of the Bodleian Library’s greatest treasures. The Orchard is a practical document that records the size, colour and texture of fruit with their ripening dates. This is the first time they have been lent to an exhibition outside Oxford, and the Museum are displaying them in a brand new exhibition space.
We also have two Meet the Artists days, on Saturday 9th and Saturday 23rd September from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.(11.00 – 15.00) when two exhibiting artists will be on hand to talk to visitors about the paintings in the exhibition, and explain and demonstrate some of the painting techniques used in botanical art. Visitors will also be able to see the paints, brushes, paper and other equipment used in our art, as well as view a painting ‘in progress’.
'Open Table' days invite all visitors to join the artists who will be at the museum demonstrating how they do their work.
Pencils, paper, erasers, watercolours everything you will need to have a go will be there. It will be amazing what you can achieve when given the correct guidance! Don't worry though, there will be no pressure and it will be a laugh for everyone. Its free and fun tuition by qualified, award winning artists!
All paintings are watercolours of botanical subjects and birds of Northern Italy by Mary Ann Scott. Mary Ann is the author of one of the most popular books produced by the SBA for their Distance Learning Diploma Course. Mary Ann started the Diploma Course course in January 2006 and graduated with a Diploma with Distinction in April 2008 which fast tracked her into membership of the Society of Botanical Artists in the UK. Note: You can read my review of her book Botanical Sketchbook on this website. |
Imagine a meeting between an artist from one of the countries with the greatest sensitivity towards the natural world, and an environment providing some of the the richest biodiversity in Europe.
This is what happened when Mary Ann arrived in Italy, the country with the highest number of plant and animal species in the European Union, and began painting the nature around her.
Well known in the UK as a botanical artist, Mary Ann is the author, with Margaret Stevens, of Botanical Sketchbook. Now, in Italy, she is taking on the numerous plant and animal species that surround her. Certainly, in the UK there are no lack of opportunities, but to be able to observe a Night Heron in detail, it is to Italy, and especially to the rice fields around Novara that one must come. And in the same way, if one wants to see a Scops Owl, the smallest of the European owls, it is the Mediterranean area which provides the most opportunities. For the exhibition, “Living Art, nelgiardino di Mary Ann” watercolours have been painted in which observable plants and animals have been described in a very precise and naturalistic way without, however, creating cold, impersonal images that are perhaps more suited to a textbook for the systematic identification of species. Here, on the other hand, every species retains its personality. At times, the subjects are isolated on a white background to emphasise form and colour; at other times a simple setting is provided, taking into account the preferred habitat of each species.
Although some of the watercolours may be seen as “still lives”, life’s movement is more than hinted at.
The nest, discovered on the ground, is described in detail with the elements which compose it; moss, pieces of bark, feathers, down, tell or suggest a story about a pair of small birds which, instinctively or perhaps from experience, have built a structure necessary for their reproduction. Then, who knows what may have happened? Perhaps the young birds had already flown away or perhaps the nest was torn from the branch by a strong gust of wind. We don’t know the rest of the story and therefore we must imagine it. Whatever our reconstruction of events, the fact remains that as an object this nest is beautiful.
We can make similar considerations for all the other subjects depicted in the exhibition. The watercolours give us suggestions without completing the story, leaving it up to us to contextualise according to our personal sensitivities.
All the works, however, emphasise the great beauty of nature. We know that biodiversity is in danger in most of the world. Many of us are using rational
arguments to try and convince those in power to intervene effectively. We know, however, that rational debate frequently fails. Works, such as those presented in the exhibition, might strike other chords; touch, enchant, even trigger irrational mechanisms of fascination in the mind . If such were the case, art would give no less a contribution to the battle for conservation than the most meticulous scientific research. And I write this as a researcher. It may not be impossible that in Italy, thanks to the work of artists like Mary Ann Scott, awareness may grow of the immeasurable
value of our natural heritage.
Katherine Tyrrell writes about botanical art and artists and has followers all over the world. You can also find her at linktr.ee
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