NEWS about Botanical Art and for Botanical Artists

NEW PAGE: About eBooks and digital guides to instruction in Botanical Art and Illustration

11/10/2021

One of the benefits of the last 18 months is how the constraints on face to face instruction have stimulated very many people to embrace "the digital dark side" - and find new digital ways of providing instruction - and learning - about Botanical Art and Illustration - without face to face interaction.

Lots of people are now familiar with seeing demonstrations via their screens and receiving online instruction or listening to Talks via Zoom (or similar).

It was perhaps inevitable that there would also be developments in how instruction could be delivered in digital format as a book or guide.

...and so my website now includes a NEW PAGE about e-Books, e-Booklets and Digital Guides
about Botanical Art and Illustration i.e. publications which are delivered online via the internet direct to your digital device. You can find it at https://www.botanicalartandartists.com/best-botanical-art-instruction-ebooks-and-pdfs.html and you can see it below.

a NEW PAGE about e-books, e-booklets and digital guide providing instruction in botanical art and illustration

What my NEW WEB PAGE aims to do is LIST and REVIEW the following:

e-booklets / downloadable digital guides relevant to botanical art and illustration i.e. anything shorter than a book which is:
- available as a PDF or an e-Book format
- can be read easily on a digital device
e-Books of existing print publications for botanical artists - available as digital download e.g, via Kindle. These can
- EITHER use e-book technology to be properly responsive to different sized screens and aid reading and navigation
- OR just be a digital replica of a printed book - with no e-book technology used

The page is not about providing a review of the content of ebooks per se. It's more about:

highlighting what's available and
commenting on how guide, ebooks and booklets read on a mobile device - such as a tablet/iPad or smartphone - or a computer screen.

e-Booklets and downloadable digital Guides

I'm limiting the section to digital publications that are available to everybody i.e. you don't have to sign up for a course to access them.

Rogerio Lupo led the way some time ago with his FREE TO DOWNLOAD PdF Guide to Graphite for Scientific Illustrations. This was produced in Portuguese and then translated into English and checked over by Bobbi Angell prior to being made available via Slideshare.

Margaret Best has now taken up the baton and has a brand new offering. She has started to convert her various Workshop Guides for her 'face to face' students into downloadable e-booklets - for anybody anywhere.

The booklets are a major feature of her new instruction focused website Botanical Art Education with Margaret Best
Her highly focused and very specific e-booklets are based on Guides originally produced for her 'face to face' students.
They are designed for those wanting tuition in botanical art and illustration - in both watercolour and coloured pencils.
Think of them as being rather like a major topic section in an art instruction book...

She has produced four to date - with many more on the way.
Her e-booklets are reasonably priced - and I gather they're selling like hotcakes!

PS Happy Birthday Margaret!

Have you produced an eBook or digital Guide?

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UPDATED: Guide to Online Botanical Art Instruction & Courses

29/9/2020

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I've UPDATED my page which provides a Guide to Online Botanical Art Instruction & Courses - to take account of the many developments since the Pandemic started.

It's clear that face to face workshops and classes are going to be very few and far between for some time to come - and I hope all those that are running them have got adequate insurance!

In the meantime there has been a bit of an explosion of botanical art instruction on Zoom and Facebook Live and other platforms where it is possible to have interactive experiences between tutor and student.

I felt very challenged as to how make it simpler for people to understand the different - and proliferating - options on offer. At one point I thought a separate Zoom page was the answer - and then realised that Zoom is a vehicle and platform rather than a category in its own right.

So the page has now been revised, edited and re-categorised as follows.
Plus I've pushed it up the Education Menu as I think it's going to be used rather more often over the next year or so.

Content

This is what you can find on the page - and I make no apologies for providing a lot of explanation about how it all works at the beginning.

SUMMARIES of:

WHAT Online Botanical Art Instruction is
WHO benefits from online instruction
WHERE you can learn about botanical art online
WHO PROVIDES online botanical art instruction
HOW Botanical Art is taught online

+ FAQS CHECKLIST about Online Learning Options
This is based on Frequently Asked Questions (FAQS) by prospective students (from my Facebook Survey). I recommend students use this as a basis for evaluating alternative options 

OVERVIEW of Online Botanical Art Courses / Videos

This indicates the different types of provision.
While researching "who offers what" in relation to botanical art instruction online, I found that instruction, courses, tutors and fees payable are described in VERY different ways - hence the need to sort and categorise!

DETAIL

I then provide a detailed summary of every provider I know that is providing botanical art instruction online, with:

some detail about the provider
course offering
links to relevant websites
fees or subscriptions payable

Which means that if I've got the categories right, you can compare "like with like".

Who gets on - and stays on - depends on whether I am confident in their abilities and capability in terms of teaching online. That might be the next thing up for review

Keep up to date with Botanical Art Learning Opportunities
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Let me know.....

If you are a teacher
with a developed BOTANICAL ART instruction offering online and you are NOT on the list, then you can contact me.

PLEASE USE MY ADD my ONLINE course (for tutors) FORM - AFTER you have reviewed the information I need from you

If you are a botanical art student
PLEASE COMPLETE the Review of Online Botanical Art Courses form
It would help me greatly if you could:

EITHER Tell me what sort of course you'd ideally like to do online
AND/OR Tell me what you "need to know" before you choose an online course and decide to pay a fee or subscription.
AND/OR Provide feedback about any online courses you have paid for and taken. e.g. Why did you opt for online learning? Who provided the course? Did course delivery meet your expectations - based on information provided? What did you have access to and do? Did you find it helpful? What did you like/not like? Was any aspect disappointing?

PLEASE NOTE COMMENTS ARE NOT PUBLISHED ONLINE - unless you indicate permission to use them for testimonials.

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Rosane Quintella (1959 - 2020)

13/9/2020

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Brazilian botanical illustrator and teacher Rosane Quintella passed away on Friday 11th September age 61.

Rosane Quintella in 2018 at the Worldwide Exhibition of Botanical Art in Brazil.

Rosanne was born on 25th February 1959 in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Her studies included:

Graduated in Plastic Arts at Escola de Música e Belas Artes do Paraná (the School of Music and Fine Arts of Paraná) - EMBAP, 1982.
Bachelor and Degree in Biology from Biologia PUCPR (the Pontifical Catholic University of Paraná - PUC), 1992.
Botanical Illustration Course at the Illustration Center of Paraná - CIBP

In 2005, she travelled to London to became the 17th Margaret Mee Fellow in Botanical Illustration at Kew Gardens in 2005. (see her below with some of her fellow "Fellows")

One of her works completed in 2005 forms part of the Shirley Sherwood Collection.

Rosane Quintella front second from left - with her fellow Margaret Mee Scholars in in Curitiba, Brazil: Back row: Maria Alice Rezende, Alessandro Cândido, Gustavo Marigo, Marcos A. Silva-Ferraz, and Paulo Ormindo. Front Row: Carol de Bassi, Rosane Quintella, Diana Carneiro and Fatima Zagonel

When she returned to Brazil she became a permanent member of the teaching staff at Centro de Ilustração Botânica do Paraná (CIBD) and taught botanical illustration there for the next 14 years - and was apparently much loved by her students and peers.

She also continued to complete her own scientific botanical illustration works in ink and watercolour and was affiliated to UNIC - National Union of Scientific Illustrators.

Rosanne passed away on Friday 11th September 2020. There are tributes to her on:

her Facebook account https://www.facebook.com/rosane.quintella.7 - I'm very sure any teacher would be proud to read the comments left
the Centro de Ilustração Botânica do Paraná website is also carrying a tribute to Rosane (see below)

O Centro de Ilustração Botânica do Paraná está de luto.
Uma grande amiga nos deixou hoje pela manhã.
Querida Rosane, que falta vamos sentir daquela sua risada contagiante!
Um caminho de muita luz é o que nós, seus amigos, desejamos pra você.
Vá em paz, Flor do Dia!

Rosane Quintella (1959 - 2020)

The Paraná Botanical Illustration Center is in mourning.
A great friend left us this morning.
Dear Rosane, we will miss that contagious laugh from you!
A path with lots of light is what we, your friends, wish for you.
Go in peace, Flower of the Day!

Note: Photographs of Rosanne Quintella:

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RHS Interview: Billy Showell talking about plants and her botanical painting career

4/8/2020

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If you've not seen this video about Billy Showell talking about her career as a botanical painter posted by the Royal Horticultural Society on their Facebook Page do take a look below.

The link should work for you even if you're not a member of Facebook.

Billy Showell is

a botanical painter, and well known author and teacher of botanical painting.
the current Co-President of the Society of Botanical Artists

She talks in the video about about how she combines gardening and painting plants - and how her career progressed from

no garden and liking to paint plants
then full time painting plants and then teaching botanical painting online and in workshops around the world
to aiming to plant native plants in her new garden to help her focus on themes.

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ABBA: Beginner's Botany for Botanical Art

17/6/2020

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The Association of British Artists is developing a resource about Beginner's Botany for Botanical Art. This post highlights what is available.

It's part of a new series of articles and videos associated with promoting learning amongst those new to botanical art.

A still frame from the ABBA video "Three B's Episode 2 - Complex Flowers"

Elaine Allison, the new President, has produced two excellent videos which started off as a live streaming event - plus two blog posts. The focus of both is on The three B's.... Beginner - Botany-Botanical Art

You can find the videos on the BRAND NEW ABBA Channel called - ABBA for All. It's worth subscribing to this with your Google account if you want to follow what they produce.

I think it's an excellent idea. In my opinion, it's also something that more botanical art societies should do - although in order to emulate what ABBA is doing it does take

knowledge of both botany and botanical art
plus experience and expertise in both teaching and presenting on video.

Let's hope that there are some more botanical art societies out there prepared to develop similar resources.

Episode 1: Simple Flowers

There is something more important than knowing what parts of the plant are called and that is what does it really look like. This requires detailed anatomical observation. Where possible, it is really useful to see the plant growing in the wild. Get to know the habitat, location with respect to other plants and if it is the same species, how the form can change depending on where it grows.

The FIRST module focuses on simple flowers and provides a short introduction to basic descriptive botany

this is the blog post
this is the video - The 3 B's Episode 1- Simple Flowers (24 minutes) - which you also watch below. However you'll enjoy the big screen version on YouTube more.

Using a common native plant, the Geranium, the module considers

The botanical knowledge needed to produce an accurate botanical illustration
What you need to know about your plant specimen before you start drawing
Equipment that might be useful when studying the morphology of your plant
Examination of a single plant in terms of:
- scientific name
- environment in which it is found
- the genus of Geranium
- a diagram of the important parts of the plant
- an exploded diagram of the Inflorescence - with an analysis of what is shown

Episode 2: Complex Flowers

Understanding how the flower is put together is the first step in producing a great piece of artwork that is botanically accurate.

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Botanical Art Education: planning considerations re. coronavirus

4/6/2020

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Botanical art teachers have been asking me for my advice in recent days about things they need to think about when planning for future courses / workshops / tuition for students of botanical art and illustration.

This post follows on from my previous posts about:

BELOW is a summary of the advice I have offered and have to offer about:

what are the best options
what's the best timescale for starting up again.

[Today's planned post about selected artists re Plantae 2020 is taking longer than anticipated - hence this replacement!]

photograph courtesy of Fiona Strickland

RISK FACTORS

The one thing that is certain is that the virus is not going away any time soon.
All that is happening right now is that the reproduction rate is being cut - but a very small percentage of the community has been infected and the virus is still in the community.

Other than that we know that:

the coronavirus is still not fully understood
it's clear that some underlying conditions pose more risk for some people - covering both teachers and students
there is no vaccine
we have not yet reached the stage where we know if some people are immune (or not)
some people are super-spreaders - and this tends to happen in the context of group activities
obviously risk varies depending on where you live.

Bottom line it's still dangerous - particularly for older students of botanical art.

I doubt if any sensible person would book and attend courses unless you can demonstrate in an explicit way what you are doing to keep people safe.

Overall, I think most botanical art teachers need to consider that special arrangements may need to prevail for a year or more. It could be longer - but we just don't know at this stage.

OTHER CONSIDERATIONS

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Best Botanical Art Instruction Books - major reboot!

16/4/2020

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My page about The Best Botanical Art and Illustration Instruction Books on this webite has been completely redesigned to make it more accessible and informative.

The Page (in the Education Section) was getting very, very long. I was concerned people were missing really useful books towards the bottom. In the end I decided that it needed a completely new approach - to accommodate all the new books that need a proper listing. So it's had a REBOOT!

It now has four NEW pages which comprise the following sub-sections (see below):

Best Books by Botanical Art Societies - currently covering books by SBA and ASBA
Best Books about Botanical Drawing Instruction - for all those using graphite and coloured pencils for botanical drawing
Best Botanical Illustration Instruction Books - about the professional standards and techniques of those concerned with scientific botanical illustration
Best Books by Top Botanical Artists / Teachers - for those that deserve to be highlighted and don't fit in the other categories

This page introduces this section and

how the books are organised
who the authors are
how book reviews and ratings work
what I focus on when sorting the "wheat from the chaff"
how you can help support my website when you buy a book - at no cost to you
PLUS an introduction for each new sub-section and NEW PAGE. These are identified below.

The Best Instruction Books by Botanical Art Societies

The Best Instruction Books by Botanical Art Societies is a brand new section for books by botanical art societies. At present this is:

the Society of Botanical Artists (in the UK)
the American Society of Botanical Artists

However it could also include instruction books by other botanical art societies if these are developed in the future.....

The biggest major new book in 2020 will be the 400 page / 900 images "Botanical Art Techniques" book by ASBA - edited by Robin Jess and Carol Woodin - which is being published in September. This leads this new section.

It's followed by summaries of four of the five books written by Margaret Stevens the Past President of the SBA and the first Director of its Distance Learning Diploma Course. Three of these have deailed book reviews which can be accessed via the "buttons" on this page.

I'm beginning to think the SBA may well want to ponder on whether the existing books need a second edition going forward.

The Best Instruction Books
about Botanical Drawing (for Pencil Artists)

The Best Instruction Books about Botanical Drawing (for Pencil Artists) page is dedicated to all pencil artists!

Books featured and summarised on this page include:

Botanical Painting with Coloured Pencils by Ann Swan
Botanical Drawing in Colour by Wendy Hollender
NEW BOOK in 2020: The Joy of Botanical Drawing by Wendy Hollender
Botanical Drawing using Graphite and Coloured Pencils by Sue Vize
Fundamental Graphc Techniques by Katie Lee
Botanical Drawing by Penny Brown.

I'm expecting in due course to add in books about drawing in pen and ink (unless they are scientifically biased - in which case they will go in the next section!)

The Best Instruction Books
about Botanical Illustration

The Best Instruction Books about Botanical Illustration focuses on books written by
those who have worked as professional botanical illustrators and/or worked closely with botanists.

Books featured and summarised on this page include:

How to Draw Plants: The Techniques of Botanical Illustration by Keith West - an old and authoritative handbook
Botanical Illustration from Life: A Visual Guide to Observing, Drawing and Painting Plants by Işık Güner - a very new and contemporary handbook. One of the best I've seen in terms of standards required and making content accessible
Botanical Illustration Books by Bobbi Angell (separate dedicated page) - two books published 30 years apart
The Kew Book of Botanical Illustration by Christabel King
Botanical Illustration by Valerie Oxley
The Guild Handbook of Scientific Illustration (2nd Edition) edited by Elaine R. S. Hodges

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The Best Instruction Books
by Top Botanical Artists / Teachers

The Best Botanical Instructions by Top Botanical Artists / Teachers are associated with notable botanical artists and/or leading botanical art teachers - and not otherwise listed elsewhere.

Books featured and summarised on this page include:

An Approach to Botanical Painting by Anne-Marie and Donn Evans
Painting Flowers in Watercolour: A Naturalistic Approach by Coral Guest
Botanical Painting Books by Billy Showell (separate dedicated page)
Botanical Illustration Books with the Eden Project (separate dedicated page)
Botanical Illustration - The Complete Guide by Leigh Ann Gale
Botanical Art with Scientific Illustration by Sarah Jane Humphrey
Botanical Painting in Gouache by Simon Williams (Author)
Drawing and Painting Plants by Christina Brodie

NOTE: Very many thanks to Polly O'Leary who reviewed the pages for me before I went "public". She spotted a number of small typos and duplicate words! Thanks Polly - I owe you!

What do you want to know?

My advice and information on the Online Botanical Art Courses page was very much driven by what you needed to know. It's generally helped improve the information available about onine courses.

We can do the same thing for books.

After you've had a look at the new pages I'd be interested to hear your views on what aspects of this part of the website might be improved to provide better value to you as both a reader and a consumer.

EXAMPLE: I'm thinking of introducing some symbols to indicate if a book is more suited to: beginners | improvers | advanced artists.

Leave a comment below or contact me with your thoughts

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