An account of the development of botanical illustration for scientific purposes
(and a continuing "work in progress")
(and a continuing "work in progress")
What is scientific botanical illustration?
|
The emphasis of botanical illustration is on science rather than visual art.
Botanical illustration is always a true and lifelike representation of a plant. It should highlight a plant's particular distinguishing features which enable botanists to tell one plant from another |
See also Scientific Botanical Illustration
in the Botany Section of this site for practical tips for how to draw plants accurately. |
The fundamental factor in scientific quality of a botanical illustration is not the medium the artist chooses to use or the technology used for its representation, but the artist's understanding of plant morphology
Stephen A Harris | The Scientific Context of Botanical Illustration in 'A New Flowering'
_(1851).jpeg)
Victoria Regia : or, Illustrations of the Royal water-lily, in a series of figures chiefly made from specimens flowering at Syon and at Kew by Walter Fitch; with descriptions by Sir W.J. Hooker. Scan of illustrations at The New York Public Library. (Source: Wikimedia Commons)
What's required of a botanical illustration?
Botanical illustrations should be based on:
- observation of living plant material
- reconstitution of dry plant material if possible
- inspection of plant features using a microscope
- accurate measurement of the different parts of the plant
- work with expert botanists who can provide the necessary advice as to what aspects to emphasise
- a very good understanding of the morphology of the plant - shapes and form are a great help in distinguishing one plant from another
- identification of the key (unique) features of the plant - at different stages of its life cycle
- association with a herbarium specimen (when part of a scientific collection) and notes of its habitat and growth
|
REFERENCE: Botanical Illustrators working with Botanic Gardens around the world
PLUS The modern botanical illustration collection at the Natural History Museum |
Winner of the Margaret Flockton Award 2017: Calamus pintaudii by Lucy Smith Pen and ink on bristol board 19.5 x 27 cm 2015
|
The video below - made by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew - provides a very short introduction to scientific botanical illustration and why botanical illustrators work for botanists and at botanical gardens. Not quite sure why they called it "What is botanical art" as opposed to "what is botanical illustration.
SEE also Kew Video: What is Botanical Art?
SEE also Kew Video: What is Botanical Art?
REFERENCE: Botanical Illustration in history and accessible in Museums
- Study Room resource: Botanical illustration | Victoria and Albert Museum
- The Endeavour Botanical Illustrations | Natural History Museum
- Biodiversity Heritage Library’s Flickr account - The @BioDivLibrary Flickr collection is specially curated by book, subject, and contributor to make it easier for you to find images related to specific research needs.
"Contemporary botanical artists share a concern for the environment, particularly in light of climate change, as well as for drawing attention to plants. Before photography was invented, botanical illustrations were essential to understanding plants. But today, too, drawings can illuminate aspects of plants in a way photos cannot. An illustration can show various parts of a plant at the same time, something a photo really can't. It can show extra details of the fruit, for example, and what it looks like bisected."
Robin Jess | Botanical illustration: Putting a timely focus on nature | ABC News
How to have a career in botanical illustration
Below is a video about life as a botanical illustrator working for the Royal Botanic Garden in Sydney.
|
REFERENCE: Articles about careers in botanical Illustration
|
Why fewer botanical illustrators are employed today compared to the past
Floras are not commissioned as they once were; they are laborious and expensive undertakings, botanists retire and are not replaced, and much of plant taxonomy has shifted to the molecular level. |
The beginnings of botanical illustration
|
The development of illustrations of plants was slow and lagged behind illustrations relating to people and animals.
Illustration is associated with the discovery of the importance of plants for medicinal purposes. People draw what's important. EGYPT - Thebes 1,500 years BC There's some limited evidence of the illustration of plants in Egypt - in terms of stone reliefs at on the walls of the room next to the Festival Hall of Thutmose III, in the Precinct of Amun-Re, Karnak. The Botanical garden of Thutmose III represents the fauna and especially flora of the Egyptian empire at its peak. A stone relief contains realistic descriptions of some 275 species. |
Botany is an ancient science. Botanical illustrations - drawings that make science visual – have a history thousands of years old. 
A detail of The Botanical garden of Thutmose III (via Wikimedia Commons)
|
Resources for understanding botanical illustration
The following are links to various resources that explain and provide information about the development of botanical illustration
Museums
Botanic Gardens
Articles
|
_BHL287632.jpg)
Fragmenta botanica, figuris coloratis illustrata :ab anno 1800 ad annum 1809 per sex fasciculos edita /opera et sumptibus Nicolai Josephi Jacquin
|
|
This page is a work in progress.
|
Find out more about the history of botanical illustration in
The Best Books about Botanical Art History, Artists & Illustrators 
|