The Joy of Botanical Drawing: A Step-by-Step Guide to Drawing and Painting Flowers, Leaves, Fruit, and More

by Wendy Hollender

Overview

A gorgeous, easy-to-follow, and inspiring guide to stunningly realistic botanical drawing that covers everything you need to draw our natural world.

Achieve amazingly realistic and vibrant botanical illustrations, from flowers so dazzling you feel as if you might be able to smell them, to tomatoes that look as if they've just been picked from the garden. Wendy Hollender is known for her vivid, detailed, and inspiring illustrations and in The Joy of Botanical Drawing, she helps you take your art to the next level by sharing her perfected techniques through short lessons that start simple, then build on the basics with easy-to-use and clear step-by-step illustrations. Using colored pencils and watercolor pencils, Hollender shows you how to accomplish scientifically accurate botanical portraits of a spiraling pine cone, a spiky chestnut, a fuchsia-tined radish, a graceful morning glory, and many more.

From colorful leaves to delicate petals to textured bark and slender stems, The Joy of Botanical Drawing will give you the skills to complete lifelike drawings while also enjoying nature and the mindfulness of a regular drawing practice.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781984856715
Publisher:	Clarkson Potter/Ten Speed
Publication date:	04/07/2020
Pages:	192
Sales rank:	173,952
Product dimensions:	8.40(w) x 10.90(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Wendy Hollender is a botanical artist, illustrator, instructor, and author. She is a leading expert in using colored pencils and watercolor pencils to create detailed botanical drawings and paintings. Her illustrations have been published in the New York Times, O: The Oprah Magazine, Real Simple, Good Housekeeping, and Sunset magazine. Her work has been exhibited by the Royal Botanical Gardens and the Smithsonian National Museum for Natural History. She is currently an instructor at the New York Botanical Garden and leads workshops at her farm in Accord, New York. She is the author of Botanical Drawing in Color and the illustrator of Foraging and Feasting: A Field Guide and Wild Food Cookbook.

Read an Excerpt

Introduction: An Invitation

“The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago. The second-best time is now.”—CHINESE PROVERB

I first learned botanical-illustration techniques twenty years ago. The moment I understood these techniques, a door opened for me, and I immediately fell in love with the practice of botanical drawing. Since that day, it feels like the plants are leading me along a path that I steadily follow.

When I study and draw from nature, I feel a presence of something that never fails to take my breath away. I “undress” the plant to study the mystery within, exploring plants and flowers on a micro level, almost the way an insect does. Many people desire a deep connection with nature. They think botanical drawing is something they cannot do because they have no talent. Most of these people have never studied drawing.

I want to share two comments I have heard thousands of times from people when I tell them I am a botanical artist and that I teach this subject. The first thing they say is, “I can’t draw.” I ask them how they know this; have they ever studied or practiced drawing? They say, “I have never studied drawing because I have no talent.” The second comment I hear from students in my drawing class is, “I am afraid . . .” This sentence ends with several things: afraid to ruin a drawing, to mess up the paper, to begin. Through the botanical drawing lessons in this book, it is my hope that you will experience the relaxing and meditative quality of drawing from nature, and develop a toolbox of drawing skills at the same time. If you slow down and practice these techniques, not only will you learn to draw but you will experience a close and personal relationship with nature. This often leads to a state of flow or well-being, so you will approach each drawing session with enthusiasm, purpose, and confidence.

You might think this book is about results. Tangible botanical drawings to hold in your hands, hang on the wall, and share with others; however, the focus of this book is not on the results but on developing the practice—and the process of doing is the best part. I think it’s a privilege to immerse myself in nature’s world, and it fills me with joy on a daily basis. I’m not sure why this is, but my intuition tells me it is a combination of the repetitive activity of slow drawing combined with the close-up examination of nature on an intimate level. It might even be the plants’ qualities that help with this.

I remember once drawing a lavender flower, which has tiny flowers. While looking at the flower close up, the intoxicating scent of lavender filled the air. I kept looking closely at the flower just to get another whiff! Whatever the reason for the joy the natural world brings, the results are clear. I am happy in the doing and look forward to this every day, even at those times when I’m working on a particularly difficult subject. And I think the drawings reflect the joy of unlocking nature’s complexities. The tangible result is the botanical drawing I have created, and it serves as a reminder of my time spent studying and relaxing with this plant as well as a piece of art for everyone else to enjoy and see. I am pleased to show the world the details and magic I see in the plant world, something they might not have noticed without my help.

I practiced botanical drawing happily for ten years in a large city, inspired by the urban parks and botanical gardens. As I worked in the city, the plants called to me and encouraged me to put down roots in some fertile soil of my own. I moved to a horse farm in a small agricultural community, and with the help of family and friends, we turned it into gardens full of plants for food, beauty, and inspiration. I follow the plants at home and when I travel. Year after year, I track a plant that has caught my attention so that I can see how it develops from flower to fruit. Color is usually the first thing I see, a bright color against a backdrop of green. I need to get closer, and eventually when I have studied the flower parts under magnification, I feel as if a window into nature’s life cycle has opened. This has taken me to magical places all over the world where I can draw exotic, unusual, and common plants. I feel lucky that this is my daily practice.

I draw almost every day. My ideal day begins like this: I wake up in the morning, birds chirping outside my window. Coffee cup in hand, I go outside to see what nature has been up to overnight. As I walk around the gardens, I spy a new flower opening or a ripening fruit. It’s always exciting to see botanical developments, whether it’s a plant we have put in the garden that is thriving or an interesting weed that has shown up on its own. I am a student of nature, and I enjoy the opportunity to observe small details and remain open to nature’s surprises. This feeling reminds me of a small child experiencing everything for the first time, making new discoveries and revisiting something from the day before to rejoice in the memory of it. As I walk through the gardens, something inevitably grabs my attention, and I know I want to capture it in a drawing. Once I’ve chosen something I’d like to draw, my day has focus and meaning. I grab my clippers and take my subject to the table where my art supply kit awaits. I sit down, observe my plant closely, and begin to draw.

I invite you to join me on this journey and develop your own process for drawing botanical subjects inspired by nature.

Table of Contents

Introduction: An Invitation 1

How to Use This Book 4

Botanical Drawing Basics 5

The Daily Practice 6

Materials 7

Chapter 1 Understanding Light Source to Create Three-Dimensional Form 17

Creating a Consistent Light-Source Setup 20

How to Use Watercolor Pencils for Botanical Drawing 23

Slow-Toning to Create a Seamless Blend of Values from Light to Dark Using Watercolor and Colored Pencil 24

A Curved or Three-Dimensional Tone Bar 30

Chapter 2 Adding Tone to Three-Dimensional Form 33

Highlight 33

Drawing a Small Tomato in Neutral Tones 34

Drawing a Branch 37

Combining a Cylinder and a Cup Shape to Form a Mushroom 40

How to Draw Convincing Cast Shadows, Reflective Highlights, and Highlights 43

Combining a Cone and a Sphere to Form a Pear 46

Chapter 3 Adding Color to Form 51

Color Theory: Exploring the Color Wheel 51

Color Matching and Blending with Colored Pencils and Watercolor Pencils 56

Drawing a Red Tomato in Colored Pencil and Watercolor 59

Mixing Bright Colors and Shadows 63

Mixing Earth-Tone Colors and Shadows 67

Chapter 4 Focus on Leaves 71

Parallel Veining and Overlapping Leaf 72

Basic Leaf-Veining Practice 75

A Basic Leaf with Net Veining 78

Colorful Leaf with Watercolor 80

Leaf Front and Back 82

Chapter 5 Perspective and Measuring Accurately 85

Perspective on a Cup 86

Measuring a Cross Section of a Fruit in Perspective 88

Drawing a Tubular Flower in Perspective 90

Chapter 6 Overlaps 93

Overlapping Leaf 94

Basic Root Overlaps 96

Drawing a Garlic Bulb with Thin, Hairy Roots 98

Advanced Root Overlaps 100

Overlapping Petals of a Flower 104

Overlapping on a Rolled Piece of Birch Bark 106

Overlapping on Small Fruits, Leaves, and Stems 108

Chapter 7 Exploring Flowers 111

Drawing a Petal 116

Making an Herbarium Page 118

Making a Process Page from Your Herbarium Page 120

Drawing a Morning Glory (Tubular Flower) 122

Drawing an Allamanda (Tubular Flower) 126

Drawing an Anemone (White Disk-Shaped Flower) 128

Drawing a Zinnia (Composite Flower) 132

Drawing a Hibiscus (Disk- or Funnel-Shaped Flower) 134

Drawing a Rose (Cup Flower) 136

Chapter 8 Cross-Contour and Patterns on Form and Color 141

Cross-Contour and Pattern on an Apple 142

Drawing the Spiral Pattern on a Pine or Spruce Cone 145

Drawing the Pattern on a Strawberry 148

Drawing the Pattern of Spikes on a Sweet Chestnut 150

Chapter 9 Bite-Size Botanical Compositions 153

Plant Process Pages 155

Watermelon Radish 156

Hydrangea (Inflorescence Flower) 158

Page Composition Study 160

Avocado 164

Morel Process Page 166

Conclusion: Staying Motivated 171

Sources for Subjects 171

Evaluate the Components of Your Drawing 172

Acknowledgments 177

About the Author 179

List of Illustrations 180

Index 182

Editorial Reviews

One of the best colored pencil drawing books of all time.”—BookAuthority

From the Publisher