There are several wonderful books on botanical art that cover several topics ranging from techniques of botanical illustration to historical books on botanical art. Three of these books are mentioned below.
The Art of Botanical Drawing: An Introductory Guide- This book is a preparatory guide to the approaches of botanical drawing and painting. If you are a beginning artist or gardener wishing to capture the beauty of the plants in your garden, you can learn how to distinguish and sketch a wide range of flowers and leaves, including succulents, grasses, vegetables, trees and perennials. In case you are a botanist or naturalist who needs to understand the basics of scientific illustrations, you might also find the text helpful.
This book also covers lessons on recognizing and recreating the surface and structural elements of plants. The book is very handy and includes 150 appealing color illustrations. You can easily follow its hands-on approach even if you are an inexperienced budding artist. This book has been authored by Agathe Ravet-Haevermans.
The Art of Botanical Painting- This is an instructional guide on the art of botanical illustration. It covers all aspects of the botanical art, including plants, flowers, fruits, vegetables and gardens as a whole. The book is packed with demonstrations, step-by-step exercises and illustrations. Its contents include practical botany, techniques for drawing, colored pencils, watercolor painting and gouache, working in the field, working with photographs, presentation and framing, and advice on showcasing exhibitions. This book has been authored by Margaret Stevens.
The Botanical Palette: Color for the Botanical Painter- This book is about one of the main aspects of botanical painting: the techniques to attain the right colors. It offers an authoritative practical approach on this topic and includes 17 demonstrations that are described in a step-by-step manner. Each chapter of this book is devoted to a specific color and provides advice on the approach of achieving right colors by superimposing varying intensity of color shades. This provides restrained, translucent color hues that precisely imitate the frailty of the flowers' looks.
The book offers step-by-step demonstrations that provide details on the way each flower painting is developed, from the initial stage to the finished illustration. A special element of this book is the projects that are integrated with many of its demonstrations. Every project includes a simplified drawing of a finished painting that you can copy and use as the basis of your own painting. This book has been authored by the Society of Botanical Artists.
The books mentioned above are very useful guides for making botanical illustrations. They can be easily utilized by both novice and experienced botanical artists.
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