Botanical Illustration from Life A visual guide to observing, drawing and painting plants

by Guner, Isik

• ISBN13: 9781782218067
• ISBN10: 1782218068
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2019-11-05
• Publisher: Search Press

Summary

A visual guide to beautiful botanic watercolour painting from life for artists.

Botanical artists hold a unique status: they can record plants and show them to the world, unlocking science for people outside that world, enabling them to be seduced by the most beautiful images, drawn and painted by very skilled hands.

In this beautiful book, award-winning botanical artist, Işık Güner, shares with you her experiences of looking at wild species from around the world, how she does her research, and how she composes her illustrations from live specimens. She will guide you on your own journey, show you how to look for plant samples, and then record them. Straddling the scientific and art worlds, Isik's illustrations help to raise awareness of the valuable knowledge that scientists have been researching and discovering for many years and provide a wonderful inspiration for budding botanical artists.

Observe, draw, paint, explore and master this wonderful art under Işık's careful guidance. Being inspired by the nature around you is the first step to becoming a botanical artist.

Author Biography

Born 1983 in Ankara, Turkey, Işik Güner originally graduated in Environmental Engineering. However, instead of this she chose an entirely different path and has been working full time as a botanical artist for over 10 years. She is very glad she made this decision, though as the child of a botanist father and growing up surrounded by wild nature, her decision was easy.

Işık's painting of Gunnera Tinctoria won an RHS Gold Medal and the RHS Best Painting in Show in Spring 2014. She has worked on various international botanical projects around the world. She is also a visiting tutor for the Diploma in Botanical Illustration at the Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh and delivers tuition through workshops in Europe.

Table of Contents

START 10
Communication throughdrawing 12
Plants for life 14Past and present 16
Different approaches 18
Different techniques 21

OBSERVE 24
Learn to see what you’relooking at 26
Observing plants in their habitat 28
Plant selection 32Pressing specimens 34
Searching for plants 36
Preserving plants 41
Positioning plants 42Positioning yourself 47

DRAW 48
Drawing from life 50
Starting to draw 53
How to draw 56
Measured drawing 61
Perspective drawing 66
Aerial perspective 72
Complex subjects 75
Let’s draw plants 78
Composition 80
Ready to paint 84

PAINT 86
Watercolour 88
Starting to paint 90
How to paint 94Colour 98
Mixing colours 100
Colour contrast 103
Colour perspective 104
Texture 107
Sketches 108
Let’s paint 112
Final touches 118

EXPLORE 120
Botanical illustration is allabout details 122
Exploring many different typesof plant 125
Identification of species 128
Roots 131
Stems 134
Buds 140
Leaves 145
Flowers 159
Fruits and seeds 174

MASTER 186
Finding your style 188
Finding solutions 191
Inspiration from nature 192
Inspiration from other artists 196
Akiko Enekido 198
Lizzie Sanders 199
Anne Hayes 200
Constance Sayas 201
Jacqui Pestell 202
Gustavo Surlo 203
Plant list 204
Thank you... 208