NEWS about Botanical Art and for Botanical Artists

New Year and a NEW page - about Pandora Sellars

1/1/2018

Today I created a BRAND NEW web page about Pandora Sellars (1936-2017)

I've been meaning to do this for some time and decided the NEW Year was a good time to start.

I say start, because this page (like the one for Rory McEwen) is going to take some time to develop to the level I'd like to get it to. Nevertheless I got a lot done today and I'm very pleased with how it looks on a desktop screen.

Pandora Sellars - and bluebells - in 2008 (Photo courtesy Sarah Neill)

It covers:

a summary about Pandora Sellars which explains why she is regarded as one of the best botanical painters ever.
a biographical timeline about her botanical art career and botanical paintings
a review of her botanical art practice - how she painted and why she is memorable (I'd love to hear more opinions about what made her special)
a list of exhibitions (a work in progress)
a list of individual paintings - (a work in progress) I'm developing this over time from various publications and databases. I aim to link these to sites where they can be seen online or viewed by appointment.
tributes following her death
articles and publications in which you can find out more about her and see his botanical paintings

At present the sections devoted to:

exhibitions
the list of paintings
publications

are all off to a good start - but I think they need a lot more work (and more research to identify the sources of data and then digging it out).

Let me know what you think.
Even better - do let me know if you have some information or images to share which are relevant to this page.

and finally....

I wish you and your botanical art and associated activities all the very best in 2018.

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The Best Botanical Art Instruction Books - UPDATED

13/9/2017

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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.

Some are well known. Others are not.
There are brand new books available at a bargain and out of print books which can only be obtained second hand at a very significant cost
Some new books have overtaken old standards.
Some older books still hold up well against newer ones that challenge their reputation.
Different books will interest different folks.

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:

identify all the main books worth taking a look at - but I've not finished yet.
group these into areas of specific interest (see below)
provide in-depth reviews for some of the books - but I've got more to do!

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.

Some of my "how to" instruction books

These are the sections on the main page

The Society of Botanical Art Books developed by Margaret Stevens for the Diploma Course students. The three main ones each also have a detailed review on a seperate page - just click the teal coloured button to access this.
Books about botanical art and illustration - using Graphite and Coloured Pencils - four books by Ann Swan, Wendy Hollander, Sue Vize and Katie Lee
Books about Scientific Illustration - and using pen and ink - including the book considered to be the scientific illustration bible; the first book about botanical illustration ever published by Kew - which sets out how to draw for Curtis's and an old but very comprehensive and authoritative handbook
Books by leading Botanical Artists and Educators - including books by Anne-Marie Evans and Coral Guest
Books by Billy Showell - see dedicated page
Books By Rosie Martin and Meriel Thurstan (the Eden Project) - see dedicated page
Books about Botanical Painting in Goauche

I've still to develop sections for books by American Artists and Australian Artists (not otherwise included above).

These are the books or groups of books with a dedicated seperate page
for more detailed reviews

The Art of Botanical Painting by Margaret Stevens
The Botanical Palette by Margaret Stevens
Botanical Sketchbook by Mary Ann Scott and Margaret Stevens
Books by Billy Showell - four very popular books of relevance to botanical artists
Books with the Eden Project (Martin & Thurstan)
Botanical Illustration (Oxley) by Valerie Oxley
Botanical Painting with Coloured Pencils by Ann Swan
Botany for the Artist by Sarah Simblet (also see note below re. botany books)

The Best Botany Books for Botanical Artists and Illustrators can be found in the Botany section of the website. These are books written specifically to help educate artists about botany and include:

Understanding the Flowering Plants: A Practical Guide for Botanical Illustrators by Anne Bebington
Botany for Artists by Lizbeth Leech
A Botanist's Vocabulary by Susan K. Pell and Bobbi Angell

Some of my 'botany for artists' and botanical illustration books

More Books

Books also relevant to those wanting to learn more about botanical art and illustration can also be found in The Best Books about Botanical Art History, Artists & Illustrators.

Besides the dedicated pages, I've also included books about botanical art and illustration - including "how to" books - with appropriate related content on various pages of my website.

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Pandora Sellars - an appreciation of a great botanical artist

16/5/2017

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This is an appreciation of the life of Pandora Sellars and contains many contributions by way of 'thank you' for the life of a great botanical artist

The celebrated botanical artist Pandora Sellars GM died on 9th May 2017, age 80. She is perhaps best known by many for two iconic paintings which contributed to the revival of botanical art in the UK

"Laelia tenebrosa et al" (see below) was the first botanical painting ever bought by Shirley Sherwood. It is #1 in what is now the largest contemporary collection of botanical art in the world. It triggered her interest in botanical art and collecting more paintings...
Pandora's "Blue Water Lily Nymphaea nouchali var. caerulea" (see further below) triggered an interest in botanical art across the globe and many artists date their involvement in botanical art to seeing that image.

However during her lifetime she contributed to botanical art in a much more significant way and left a long lasting impression on both botanical monographs and the art of botanical painting and very many botanical artists.

Indeed the lives and careers of many leading botanical artists and teachers in the UK, Canada, USA, Japan and Australia owe much to “the best leaf painter ever”.

This kindly and introverted artist, with the quite remarkable blue eyes and a keen sense of humour, also enjoyed lasting relationships with botanists, archivists and botanical illustrators at Kew Gardens - and across the world.

Read on to find out why... (click link bottom right)

Laelia tenebrosa, Philodendron hybrid, Calatheaomata, Philodendron leichthnii, Polypodiaeceae (1989) watercolour painting signed Pandora Sellars (Shirley Sherwood Collection. First botanical painting acquired by Shirley Sherwood - at Kew Gardens Gallery 1990)

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Interview with Denver Botanic Garden SBAI - RHS Botanical Art Gold Medallist 2017

12/3/2017

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The School of Botanical Art and Illustration (SBAI) at Denver Botanic Garden won an RHS Gold Medal for their exhibit of Rocky Mountains: Plants and Fungi at Altitude at the 2017 RHS London Botanical Art Show at the end of February

It's really difficult to win an RHS Gold Medal.

It's even more difficult if you are trying to win as a group - where every single artist has to achieve the GM standard. That's because Gold Medals are awarded on the basis of the weakest image in the portfolio and you can't afford to have any one artist not meet the mark.

That's by way of a preamble to explain why what the School of Botanical Illustration achieved was very significant.

Mervi Hjelmroos-Koski and the lower altitude half of the Rocky Mountains exhibit

Each of the images had a very detailed label and explanation about the plant including:

complete botanical name
altitude it was collected at
background to the name
highlights of important botanical aspects
explanation about its economic and cultural significance in the area

The images were then ordered (left to right) by elevation.

You can find/see:

a dedicated blog about the exhibit online - Rocky Mountains: Plants and Fungi with Altitude. The preamble in the blog post provides the rationale behind the exhibit and choice of plants.

a Facebook album of the images contributed to the SBAI exhibit by the nine artist instructors at SBAI
a Facebook album of photos of the RHS Show taken by Mervi

Rocky Mountains: Plants and Fungi with Altitude Exhibit - five plates from higher altitude levels.

The exhibit was made up of nine drawings and paintings by the core of teachers who regularly provide botanical art and illustration instruction at the Denver Botanic Gardens School of Botanical Art and Illustration and two alumni They are:

Plate 1 Yucca harrimaniae (watercolour and graphite) by Constance Sayas
Plate 2: Mirabilis multiflora (watercolour pencil) by Renee Jorgensen
Plate 3: Castilleja integra (watercolour pencil and graphite) by Charlotte Ricker
Plate 4: Ericameria nauseosa (pen and ink) by Libby Kyer
Plate 5: Colorado mushrooms (pen and ink) by Marjorie Leggitt
Plate 6: Lupinus argenteus (coloured pencil) by Susan Rubin
Plate 7: Frasera speciosa (coloured pencil on Mylar )by Anne Reiser
Plate 8: Aquilegia caerulea (egg tempera) by Laurence Pierson
Plate 9: Four tundra plants (ink, brush and quill) by Susan DiMarchi
Plate 10: Cirsium scopulorum (graphite and coloured pencil) by Randall Raak

Exhibit Listing of Faculty Contributors

Mervi Hjelmroos-Koski, the Manager of SBAI brought the exhibition to London and talked to me about what's involved in creating a group exhibit.

The aim of the exhibition was to show the quality of the School and the calibre of its instructors. The best way to do that was to go to somewhere completely neutral and see what they thought - and where better than the RHS Botanical Art Show!

The feedback she got about the exhibit was firstly that it was very rare to have a Gold Medal winning exhibit by a group. (I know I've seen a number which have done well - but fallen short of a Gold Medal).

In terms of queries from the public, everybody was very interested in the variety of media used eg the frosted mylar used for coloured pencil which gives the impression of vellum.

What it takes to produce a good group exhibit

We talked about what Mervi found essential to getting the exhibit together at a standard which made it possible for them to win Gold.

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Two new book reviews: 'Botany for the Artist' and 'Botanical Illustration'

21/12/2016

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Today I've created two new pages on my website for in-depth book reviews of two books relevant to those who want to learn more about botany and the botanical illustrator - and highly recommended by me.

Both reviews were written some years ago shortly after the books were published - but the books haven't changed so nor has the value of the book reviews!

However it occurred to me that it would be much more helpful to those wanting to learn about how to draw plants - or develop their skills - if the book reviews were with the rest of the information I've compiled. So today I've moved them from my review blog to this website.

I'll also be moving more in-depth reviews between now and the end of the year.

The two books are as follows (click the links below the image to go to the dedicated page for each book and read the reviews)

Book Review: Botanical Illustration

Author: Valerie Oxley

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED - This is an excellent manual for those who like their botanical art to lean towards illustration with a strong botanical slant.

This book differentiates itself by focusing on botany. It's very detailed and practical and consequently very helpful.

It provides lots of detailed facts, useful information, tips and techniques - doubtless derived from the author's many years of teaching botanical illustration and developing a diploma course.

For example, it includes

a very detailed chapter about collecting, transporting and preparing to draw plant material.
a chapter on finishing touches including tips about how to check for mistakes and tips about how to avoid making mistakes in the first place!

It's a sub-page of The Best Botanical Art Instruction Books in the Education Section.

Botany for the Artist: An Inspirational Guide to Drawing Plants

Author: Sarah Simblet

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED - This is the best rated book on the market for those who want to understand more about

botany for artists and
how to draw plants

The quality of the text and illustrations is first class and the whole book provides a fresh perspective on botany for the artist while losing none of the fundamental and enduring truths of what is required of botanical illustration.

The emphasis of this book is on:

understanding the botany of plants and their different parts - roots, stems, leaves, flowers, fruits, cones and seeds - and
how to draw the botanical aspects of plants.

Its focus is on finding ways to unpick and illustrate the functionality of the plant - how it is constructed / how it works.

It's a sub-page of The Best Botany Books for Botanical Artists and Illustrators in the Botany section.

Interestingly both books highlight the value of learning through studying the botanical illustrators of the past.

If you'd like to check out some of the best botanical illustrators and artists in history check out my section on Botanical Art History and in particular Past Masters of Botanical Art & Illustration (1500-1900)

Note: The links above go direct to the page which hosts the book review. The book reviews include associate links to Amazon. This site uses the pennies raised via book sales via those links to finance this website - which is not cheap to run.

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Christobel King and the Margaret Mee Artist Scholars

30/3/2016

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It was a delight to meet Christobel King and Gustavo Marigo at the recent Private View for the Brazil - a powerhouse of plants exhibition at Kew.

Gustavo is the current Margaret Mee Artist Scholar who started his studies at Kew Gardens in 2015. I was also present as Christobel introduced him to Álvaro Xavier Núñez who is one the best known of the contemporary Brazilian botanical artists

Gustavo Marigo (left) and Christobel King (right) in front of some of her paintings at the current exhibition about Brazilian plants and artists

The Margaret Mee Artist Scholars

You can read about how the Fellowship Programme which was set up in her memory and how it came about:

on this website (see About Margaret Mee) and
on the Kew website - the Margaret Mee Fellowship Programme

Below is the list of names of all the Artist Scholars from Brazil to date who have been sponsored by the Margaret Mee Fellowship Programme.

List of Artist Scholars in the exhibition at Kew

It was fascinating to find out from Christobel that she spent three years learning the Portuguese language so she could be more effective in her teaching of the artist scholars from Brazil.

More recently , personal circumstances and the need for Christobel to have a break to write her book (see below) required a short break in the programme.

However the programme has now recommenced and the 2015 scholar is currently studying at Kew and a new one will be appointed for 2016.

Gustavo Marigo with his botanical paintings of plants of Brazil

You can also read more about what has happened to the various Margaret Mee Scholars from the past in my NEW Page about the botanical artists of South America.

The current exhibition also includes a gallery devoted to their work.

The long gallery of paintings by the Artist Scholars.

Paintings by Fatima Zagonel - the 1999 Artist Scholar who studied at Kew

Christobel King and "The Kew Book of Botanical Illustration"

You can find about the techniques that Christobel King uses to teach students of botanical art who come to Kew in her newly published book. You can find out more details of this book on this page on this website.

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Botany for Artists

12/1/2016

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News about Botany for Artists and Illustrators - and students:

a new page for the best books about botany for artists
a new assignment on Botanical Understanding for the SBA's DLDC students
a course in Botanical Drawing taught by Dr. Sarah Simblet, author of Botany for the Artist

Botany Books for Artists & Illustrators

I've published a new page The Best Botany Books for Botanical Artists & Illustrators in the website section devoted to Botany.

The new page focuses on:

books about botany for artists - these compendiums have been specifically designed and written for botanical artists and illustrators.
specialised books about botany which are also relevant - also listed on this site on various pages eg Plant Names and Botanical Latin

I'd love to hear if there are any other botany books specifically written for artists. Those I have listed include:

Botany for the Artist by Sarah Simblet
Understanding the Flowering Plants: A Practical Guide for Botanical Illustrators by Anne Bebbington
Botany for Artists by Lizbeth Leech

Botanical Book for Artists: Understanding the Flowering Plants

Understanding the Flowering Plants - by the tutor for the new SBA DLDC assignment re. Botanical Understanding

SBA Diploma: a new module about Botanical Understanding

Course 13 of the Society of Botanical Artist's Distance Learning Diploma will have a new Assignment (no.7) dedicated to Botanical Understanding.

Anne Bebbington, the author of Understanding the Flowering Plant, already assesses Botanical Accuracy in relation to Diploma Work done at the end of course. In future she will also be the tutor for the new assignment. Doubtless students will also find her book to be a great aid to their studies.

This assignment has been designed and set out to help the students gain good botanical knowledge and observe important diagnostic features of their specimens.

Botanical Drawing

Dr. Sarah Simblet is repeating her intensive course on Botanical Drawing - based on her very popular book Botany for the Artist. It's based at the Ruskin School of Art and the Oxford Botanical Garden.

The five day course places the emphasis on learning skills relevant to both Fine Art practice and botanical illustration and comprises:Day 1 : Drawing to See
Day 2 : Elements of Drawing, Part I
Day 3 : Elements of Drawing, Part II
Day 4 : Understanding light, tone, optical illusions and linear perspective.
Day 5 : Botanical Drawing with a Dip Pen and Japanese Ink

The course has been added into the page for Courses in the UK & Ireland in 2016

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