BOTANICAL ART & ARTISTS
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    • Botanical Art History Books >
      • The Art of Botanical Illustration (Blunt)
      • Book Review: Treasures of Botanical Art
    • Herbals
    • Florilegia and Flora
    • Patrons of Botanical Art >
      • About Leonhart Fuchs
      • About Basilius Besler
    • Past Masters - Botanical Art and Illustration >
      • About Maria Sibylla Merian
      • About Elizabeth Blackwell
      • About Georg Dionysius Ehret
      • About Sydney Parkinson
      • About Franz Bauer
      • About Pierre-Joseph Redouté
      • About Marianne North
    • Famous Asian Botanical Artists (600-1900)
    • 20th Century Botanical Artists >
      • About Raymond Booth
      • About Arthur Harry Church
      • About Margaret Mee
      • About Rory McEwen
      • About Pandora Sellars
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    • Botanical Artists in the UK
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    • Botanical Artists in South America
    • Artists using Other Media
    • The Jill Smythies Award
    • Botanical Artists on Facebook
    • Botanical Art Blogs
  • Exhibitions
    • UK >
      • Botanical Art Exhibitions at Major UK Galleries & Museums >
        • ARCHIVE: Major Gallery Exhibitions
        • ARCHIVE: Shirley Sherwood Gallery Exhibitions
      • RHS Botanical Art Exhibitions >
        • ARCHIVE RHS Botanical Art Shows 2007-2018
        • Exhibit Titles at RHS Botanical Art Shows
      • Botanical Art Exhibitions in England and Wales >
        • ARCHIVE: Past Botanical Art Exhibitions in the UK
      • Botanical Art Exhibitions in Scotland >
        • ARCHIVE: Scotland - Botanical Art Exhibitions
      • Permanent Collections (UK)
      • Calls for Entries - UK
      • RHS Botanical Photography Exhibitions
    • North America >
      • Calls for Entries - USA & Canada
      • Permanent Collections (USA)
      • Hunt International Exhibition of Botanical Art & Illustration
      • ARCHIVE Past ASBA Exhibitions in the USA
      • ARCHIVE: Past Botanical Art Exhibitions in the USA
      • ARCHIVE: Past Botanical Art Exhibitions in Canada
    • Europe >
      • Permanent Collections (Europe)
      • ARCHIVE: Past Botanical Art Exhibitions in Europe
      • ARCHIVE: Past Botanical Exhibitions in Germany
      • ARCHIVE: ​Past Botanical Art Exhibitions in Ireland
      • ARCHIVE: Past Botanical Exhibitions in Russia
    • Australasia >
      • Margaret Flockton Award
      • ARCHIVE: Past Botanical Art Exhibitions in Australasia
    • Asia >
      • ARCHIVE: Past Botanical Art Exhibitions in Asia
    • Africa
    • World Wide Exhibition of Botanical Art 2018
  • Groups
    • National & Regional Botanical Art Societies
    • Florilegium Societies & Other Groups
    • Botanical Art Groups on Facebook
  • Education
    • Tips and techniques >
      • Tips from RHS Gold Medal Winners
      • Botanical Art Video Tips >
        • Video Tips: Watercolour Painting
        • Video Tips: Painting Flowers
        • Video Tips: Painting Leaves & Trees
        • Video Tips Coloured Pencils
        • Video Tips: Pencil drawing
      • How to paint trees and leaves
      • Preparation and set-up
      • Design and composition
      • Pen and Ink
    • Best Botanical Art Instruction Books >
      • NEW Books about Botanical Art & Illustration (2018/19)
      • The Art of Botanical Painting - review
      • The Botanical Palette - review
      • Botanical Sketchbook - review
      • Books By Billy Showell
      • Books - the Eden Project
      • Botanical Illustration - Books by Bobbi Angell
      • Botanical Painting with Coloured Pencils - review
      • Botanical Illustration (Oxley) - review
    • International Directory: Classes, Courses & Tutors >
      • UK: Botanical Art Courses
      • North America: Botanical Art Courses
      • Europe: Botanical Art Courses & Holidays
      • Australasia: Botanical Art Courses
    • Online Botanical Art Courses
    • Diplomas and Certificates >
      • SBA Diploma Assignments
    • Botanical Education on Facebook
    • Fellowships, Scholarships, Bursaries and Residencies
  • Materials
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  • Botany
    • Why botany matters to artists
    • Botany Books for artists >
      • Botany for the Artist (Simblet)
      • The Art of Plant Evolution
      • The Concise British Flora in Colour (1965)
    • Scientific botanical illustration
    • Identify Plants and Plant Life
    • Plant Forms and Anatomy
    • Plant Names and Botanical Latin
    • Botanical Dictionaries
    • Recording a Plant >
      • Plant Pressing for your own Herbarium
    • Plant Evolution and Taxonomy
    • Blogs about Plants and Flowers
  • Gardens
    • Global and National Networks
    • Herbaria, Seed Banks and Fungaria
    • Botanic Gardens in the UK >
      • Old Botanic Gardens in London
    • Botanic Gardens in Ireland
    • Botanic Gardens in Europe
    • Botanic Gardens in the USA
    • Botanic Gardens in Canada
    • Botanic Gardens in Asia
    • Botanic Gardens in Australia
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Why botany matters

Explanations of why botany is so important to botanical artists and illustrators past and present.
​
Botanical illustration started life as a means of creating a record for doctors ​so that they could identify the features of which could be used in medicine. 
(see Herbals and Florilegia). 

​
In doing so they needed to draw plants so they could be clearly recognised - and they needed to highlight the parts which mattered for the medicine.

During the Age of Discovery, when botanical illustrators accompanied explorers and plant hunters, botanical illustration became a way of making a record of what a plant looked like. This then enabled the scientists in botanical gardens to make sense of the dried specimens of plants being brought back from overseas expeditions - which were often in a press and brown and flat.

Often any dissections were undertaken on board ship and watercolour studies of the plants were painted to indicate colour and morphology.
Picture
Cydonia oblonga (Quince) By Franz Eugen Khler, Khler's Medizinal-Pflanzen
Source: via Wikimedia Commons
Study nature diligently, be guided by nature.... for truly art is hidden in nature and he who can draw it possesses it
Albrecht Dürer

TODAY, if you want to succeed as a botanical artist 
​you need to:
  • understand what differentiates a plant from others that are similar - and therefore needs to be highlighted
  • get to know a plant properly - ideally making studies over its complete life cycle before starting to develop a proper drawing or painting
​
Many professional botanical artists develop their artwork by working through themes - creating collections of paintings of varieties of a species. 


TODAY, to become a professional botanical illustrator 
you need to
  • have frequent discussions with botanists regarding dried specimens from the herbarium.
  • must understand what a botanist is saying about what makes a plant special and needs to be highlighted in an illustration (see Scientific botanical illustration).

I've met a number of the younger professional botanical illustrators working today in Botanic Gardens across the world at the RHS and major exhibitions. Several of them have developed their knowledge of botany via undergraduate and postgraduate studies in Botany.

​It's not unusual these days to find myself talking to a professional botanical illustrator with a PhD in Botany!
If you want to win a gold medal for your art from the Royal Horticultural Society then you very definitely need to get your head around the botany aspects of botanical art. 

You can read more about the importance of botany to RHS Gold Medal Winners in my blog posts:
  • Interviews with RHS Botanical Art Gold Medal Winners 
  • Ten Top Tips for winning an RHS Gold Medal for Botanical Art

Banner Image: Pinkneya Pubens by P.J Redoute - from Flora boreali-americana
NEXT:  Botany Books for Artists
​
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  • Home
    • Site Index
  • NEWS
  • HISTORY
    • What is Botanical Art?
    • What is Botanical Illustration?
    • Botanical Art History Books >
      • The Art of Botanical Illustration (Blunt)
      • Book Review: Treasures of Botanical Art
    • Herbals
    • Florilegia and Flora
    • Patrons of Botanical Art >
      • About Leonhart Fuchs
      • About Basilius Besler
    • Past Masters - Botanical Art and Illustration >
      • About Maria Sibylla Merian
      • About Elizabeth Blackwell
      • About Georg Dionysius Ehret
      • About Sydney Parkinson
      • About Franz Bauer
      • About Pierre-Joseph Redouté
      • About Marianne North
    • Famous Asian Botanical Artists (600-1900)
    • 20th Century Botanical Artists >
      • About Raymond Booth
      • About Arthur Harry Church
      • About Margaret Mee
      • About Rory McEwen
      • About Pandora Sellars
    • Botanical Photographers
    • Botanical and Herbal Art Online
  • ARTISTS
    • Botanical Artists in the UK
    • Botanical Artists in North America
    • Botanical Artists in Europe
    • Botanical Artists in Australia and New Zealand
    • Botanical Artists in Asia
    • Botanical Artists in Africa
    • Botanical Artists in South America
    • Artists using Other Media
    • The Jill Smythies Award
    • Botanical Artists on Facebook
    • Botanical Art Blogs
  • Exhibitions
    • UK >
      • Botanical Art Exhibitions at Major UK Galleries & Museums >
        • ARCHIVE: Major Gallery Exhibitions
        • ARCHIVE: Shirley Sherwood Gallery Exhibitions
      • RHS Botanical Art Exhibitions >
        • ARCHIVE RHS Botanical Art Shows 2007-2018
        • Exhibit Titles at RHS Botanical Art Shows
      • Botanical Art Exhibitions in England and Wales >
        • ARCHIVE: Past Botanical Art Exhibitions in the UK
      • Botanical Art Exhibitions in Scotland >
        • ARCHIVE: Scotland - Botanical Art Exhibitions
      • Permanent Collections (UK)
      • Calls for Entries - UK
      • RHS Botanical Photography Exhibitions
    • North America >
      • Calls for Entries - USA & Canada
      • Permanent Collections (USA)
      • Hunt International Exhibition of Botanical Art & Illustration
      • ARCHIVE Past ASBA Exhibitions in the USA
      • ARCHIVE: Past Botanical Art Exhibitions in the USA
      • ARCHIVE: Past Botanical Art Exhibitions in Canada
    • Europe >
      • Permanent Collections (Europe)
      • ARCHIVE: Past Botanical Art Exhibitions in Europe
      • ARCHIVE: Past Botanical Exhibitions in Germany
      • ARCHIVE: ​Past Botanical Art Exhibitions in Ireland
      • ARCHIVE: Past Botanical Exhibitions in Russia
    • Australasia >
      • Margaret Flockton Award
      • ARCHIVE: Past Botanical Art Exhibitions in Australasia
    • Asia >
      • ARCHIVE: Past Botanical Art Exhibitions in Asia
    • Africa
    • World Wide Exhibition of Botanical Art 2018
  • Groups
    • National & Regional Botanical Art Societies
    • Florilegium Societies & Other Groups
    • Botanical Art Groups on Facebook
  • Education
    • Tips and techniques >
      • Tips from RHS Gold Medal Winners
      • Botanical Art Video Tips >
        • Video Tips: Watercolour Painting
        • Video Tips: Painting Flowers
        • Video Tips: Painting Leaves & Trees
        • Video Tips Coloured Pencils
        • Video Tips: Pencil drawing
      • How to paint trees and leaves
      • Preparation and set-up
      • Design and composition
      • Pen and Ink
    • Best Botanical Art Instruction Books >
      • NEW Books about Botanical Art & Illustration (2018/19)
      • The Art of Botanical Painting - review
      • The Botanical Palette - review
      • Botanical Sketchbook - review
      • Books By Billy Showell
      • Books - the Eden Project
      • Botanical Illustration - Books by Bobbi Angell
      • Botanical Painting with Coloured Pencils - review
      • Botanical Illustration (Oxley) - review
    • International Directory: Classes, Courses & Tutors >
      • UK: Botanical Art Courses
      • North America: Botanical Art Courses
      • Europe: Botanical Art Courses & Holidays
      • Australasia: Botanical Art Courses
    • Online Botanical Art Courses
    • Diplomas and Certificates >
      • SBA Diploma Assignments
    • Botanical Education on Facebook
    • Fellowships, Scholarships, Bursaries and Residencies
  • Materials
    • Paper
    • Vellum
  • Botany
    • Why botany matters to artists
    • Botany Books for artists >
      • Botany for the Artist (Simblet)
      • The Art of Plant Evolution
      • The Concise British Flora in Colour (1965)
    • Scientific botanical illustration
    • Identify Plants and Plant Life
    • Plant Forms and Anatomy
    • Plant Names and Botanical Latin
    • Botanical Dictionaries
    • Recording a Plant >
      • Plant Pressing for your own Herbarium
    • Plant Evolution and Taxonomy
    • Blogs about Plants and Flowers
  • Gardens
    • Global and National Networks
    • Herbaria, Seed Banks and Fungaria
    • Botanic Gardens in the UK >
      • Old Botanic Gardens in London
    • Botanic Gardens in Ireland
    • Botanic Gardens in Europe
    • Botanic Gardens in the USA
    • Botanic Gardens in Canada
    • Botanic Gardens in Asia
    • Botanic Gardens in Australia
  • Contact
    • About Katherine Tyrrell
    • About Reviews
    • Privacy Policy