A Beginner's Guide to Botanical Illustration

 

Botanica by Howard Schatz

I recently finished reading this coffee table book, featuring close-up photographs of plants, which are colourfully edited. While the book was just a starting point, I would recommend it for its beauty.

Botany is the science of plants, but botanical illustration is its own artform. I didn’t previously know a lot about botanical art but after reading this book, I became more interested in researching the topic. 

Some information I found from articles online:

• Right back to the early botanists, the artist was often the first to officially document many of the                        plants we know today.

• An illustration is used to support the work of botanists and horticulturists, describing the plant for                        the science records.

• It is one of the most specific, and vital artforms that plays a major part in botanical discovery.

• Botanical artists are in fact scientific professionals. 

• Many early botanists were artists themselves, or hired an artist to accompany them in the field as                        sending the specimen back home risked damage or decay.

• The attention and care, often done under a microscope or camera lucida, can lead botanical artists                      to make discoveries of their own.

What's the difference between botanical art, 

botanical illustration and flower painting?

In botanical illustration:

The emphasis is on the scientific record and botanical 

accuracy to enable identification of a plant.

In botanical art:

Artwork is always scientifically and botanically correct 

but not necessarily complete. More emphasis is 

placed on the aesthetic value 

In flower painting and "plant portraits":

The emphasis is much more about a pleasing painting 

and much less on the botanical accuracy

Images found on Yahoo search engine.

Key words for searching online:

Botanical drawing, botanical illustration, botanical gardens, 

botanical art, botanical art patterns, botanical watercolour art.

Questions to ask in a search engine:

What is botanical art and illustration?

What is the history of botanical work?

What is a botanical plate?

Articles I read that I would recommend:

https://www.kew.org/read-and-watch/what-is-botanic-art

https://www.botanicalartandartists.com/what-is-botanical-art.html#

Did you find this topic of any interest?

Would you like to read the book that was mentioned? :-) Xx