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Draw Botanical LLC

FAQ

Yes! Cancel your subscription at any time, no hidden fees or penalties. We're sorry to see you go, but glad to have you while you're here! Come back any time 🙂

Note: After cancelling your subscription, you will still have access to our course content through the end of your billing cycle.

To cancel your subscription:

1. Log in to drawbotanical.com with your username and password
2. Click your name in the green bar at the top right of your screen (to the left of the search bar)
3. Click Account Settings
4. In the white box on the left side, click My Subscriptions
5. Click the purple button that says Cancel

You can cancel your Botanical Basics and purchase a Practice of Botanical Drawing subscription here: https://drawbotanical.com/the-practice-of-botanical-drawing/

A Subscriber is anyone with an Active Subscription. Any Active Subscription includes access to:

-My portfolio
-The Art Feed
-Monthly live webinars

Additionally, if you are subscribed to a Course, you’ll also have access to:

Course Content Library including streamable video lessons and downloadable lesson PDFs

If you are currently paying for a subscription, it is considered Active.

Your subscription status will be “On Hold” if payments have been paused (sometimes this happens because a credit card does not process; see Updating Card Information).

If you cancel your subscription, your status will be “Pending Cancellation” until the end of your last billing cycle.

Utilize all the services available to you:

Watch instructional videos and study PDFs as you create your own drawings. Try to create a schedule for yourself and work on the lessons regularly. If you’re short on time, do a short Botanical Basics exercise! The way to improve your technique is to practice drawing, even for 10 minutes a day.

Build your online portfolio. Upload your drawings to your portfolio, and build a collection of artwork! You’ll see your progress over time, and you can invite your friends to view your portfolio by copying and pasting the URL.

Get feedback and help. Upload your drawings and get feedback from the Art Feed! When we’re stuck and not sure what to do next, the Art Feed is a great way to build motivation and confidence in our work. Interact with the community and comment on others’ drawings, too! 

Join a monthly webinar. Meet the community online for our live monthly webinar!

Monthly subscriptions automatically renew each month on the day the original subscription began. For example, if you begin a subscription on April 19, you will be automatically billed again on May 19, and so on until you decide to cancel. (See How to Cancel My Subscription.)

Yearly subscriptions do NOT automatically renew. If you purchase a yearly subscription (only available for The Practice of Botanical Drawing Course and Community), you will receive an email notification when it is time to renew. 

You will have access to the course content, My Portfolio, Webinars, and Art Feed pages as long as your subscription to drawbotanical.com is Active. (See What is an Active Subscription?)

If you purchase an Individual Video Lesson, you will have unlimited access to that video as long as it remains hosted on YouTube.* Be sure to save the email you receive with the link!

If you attend a Zoom Workshop and receive a video or recording, you will have unlimited access to that video as long as it remains hosted on YouTube.*

You can also find these purchased videos logging in to our website, clicking My Supplies, and scrolling down to My Videos.

*We have no intention of removing any of these videos anytime soon. 

A Workshop is a LIVE, one-time, intensive class, usually 1-3 days, where we focus on a particular subject or technique. Ask questions and receive feedback on your work in real time. Workshops will be either in-person or online using Zoom.

A Course is a library of content on our website that you access with an active subscription; you can work at your own pace for as long as you like. Receive feedback by posting your work to the Art Feed and attending monthly Webinars.

A Webinar is a LIVE monthly recurring meeting, open to all Active subscribers. In this meeting, we discuss the work that was posted to the Art Feed that month and give live feedback. We also like to catch up with our Community members, and we’ll often talk about upcoming events or other news from the Draw Botanical Studio.

Our Zoom workshops include a set of pre-recorded videos for you to watch as you prepare for class, as well as recordings of each workshop session, delivered via email. We encourage collaboration and community, and we strive to create a safe virtual environment for everyone to draw together. We provide live demonstrations on the first day of a workshop and constructive critique of your work on the second day.

Watch this video for an inside look at an in-person workshop at Hollengold Farm!

If you attend an in-person workshop with our instructors, you can expect expertise in the Draw Botanical Method, as well as a supportive environment to grow your practice. We teach using a combination of hands-on demonstrations and lectures. You’ll have plenty of individualized feedback, quiet drawing time, and we’ll often lead you on an adventure to hunt for plant specimens! 

Yes, all Zoom workshops are recorded, and links to watch the recordings are sent to those who registered for that particular workshop.

Yes, all Zoom workshops are recorded, and links to watch the recordings are sent to those who registered for that particular workshop.

Cancellations at least one week in advance will receive a 95% refund (5% processing fee). If you cancel less than one week up to 48 hours before the event, you will receive a 95% refund (less 5% processing fee) if we can find someone to replace your spot. Less than 48 hours cancellation, we cannot issue a refund. You will still receive all recordings from the workshop, and you can watch them at your convenience, so if you can't attend the first day live, you can watch it the next day and follow the instructions you'll receive to submit your work any time before the second session to be reviewed in the slideshow during the second class so you can receive feedback. If you can't make it to the second class live, we can still discuss your work and you can watch the recording later to receive the feedback. If you can’t submit your work in time to be discussed during the second session, see “Where can I share my work to receive feedback?”

We offer 3 unique subscriptions so you can get everything you need to succeed (and nothing you don’t!). Try your FIRST WEEK FREE. Cancel any time with no hidden fees.

All 3 subscription options include the following community perks:

-share photos of your work, both finished and in process, on the Art Feed - our image-focused forum, open only to our vibrant community of Subscribers (artists like you from around the globe)

-receive compliments and constructive feedback in a timely manner (so you can finish your drawing before your subject wilts!)

-online personal Portfolio (with a link to share with your fans!)

-live conversation with knowledgeable instructors about your artwork at our monthly Webinar

-access to recordings of past Webinars to watch anytime

-learn from others’ “mistakes” (and let them learn from yours!). You can learn a lot about how to improve your own work by listening to instructors’ suggestions for other artists.

-build community, make new friends with similar interests

-have a lot of fun!

Read more about the advantages of taking a botanical illustration course online.

Botanical Basics is our most basic course that costs $35/month and has 40 short instructional videos of the fundamentals of 3-dimensional drawing. This course is great if you're a total beginner and need to really dive into the basics. Learn more: https://drawbotanical.com/botanical-basics/. 

Examples of Botanical Basics Lessons: 

Toning a sphere

Overlaps

Value scales

Also included in your subscription is access to your own online botanical drawing portfolio, our motivational community, the Art Feed where you can post your work and receive helpful feedback from our expert instructors, and an invitation to our monthly Webinar where we look at your work and discuss ways to improve. 

The Practice of Botanical Drawing course costs $50/month or $500/year and has those same 40 fundamental instructional videos from Botanical Basics plus 43 additional videos and downloadable PDFs covering more advanced techniques.

This course is great if you already know the basics of drawing and want to work on more advanced skills. You will have access to the content for as long as you are an active subscriber, so if you purchase $500/year, you have access for that year and can choose whether or not to renew your subscription for the following year, and if you purchase $50/month, you have access for that month and your subscription will automatically renew until you cancel it.

Since Botanical Basics is included in this course, you can always go back and look at lessons from Botanical Basics to hone those foundational skills whenever you’d like (See “How do I access the Botanical Basics videos in The Practice of Botanical Drawing”). Learn more: https://drawbotanical.com/the-practice-of-botanical-drawing/. 

Examples of Practice of Botanical Drawing Lessons:

Draw a Citrus Fruit

Draw a Rose

Identifying Plant Families

Patterns in Nature

Create a Compelling Composition

Also included in your subscription is access to your own online botanical drawing portfolio, our motivational community, the Art Feed where you can post your work and receive helpful feedback from our expert instructors, and an invitation to our monthly Webinar where we look at your work and discuss ways to improve. 

The Community subscription costs $20/month or $200/year and is designed for those who have completed the lessons in Practice of Botanical Drawing (or bought the USB) but still want to engage with our community Art Feed and monthly Webinars. It's also a good option for those who aren't ready to commit to a course with video lessons, but still want to receive feedback on their work and have the motivation of our positive community. Learn more: https://drawbotanical.com/community-subscription/

Botanical Basics is our most basic course that costs $35/month and has 40 short instructional videos of the fundamentals of 3-dimensional drawing. This course is great if you're a total beginner and need to really dive into the basics. Learn more: https://drawbotanical.com/botanical-basics/. 

Examples of BB Lessons: 

Toning a sphere

Overlaps

Value scales

The Practice of Botanical Drawing course costs $50/month or $500/year and has those same 40 fundamental instructional videos from Botanical Basics plus 43 additional videos and downloadable PDFs covering more advanced techniques. This course is great if you already know the basics of drawing and want to work on more advanced skills. It's really nice that you can always go back and look at lessons from Botanical Basics to hone those foundational skills whenever you like. Learn more: https://drawbotanical.com/the-practice-of-botanical-drawing/. 

Also included in both subscriptions is access to your own online botanical drawing portfolio, our motivational community, the Art Feed where you can post your work and receive helpful feedback from our expert instructors, and an invitation to our monthly Webinar where we look at your work and discuss ways to improve. 

If you'd like, you could start with Botanical Basics and see how you like it, and if you decide that you want more instruction, you can cancel your Botanical Basics subscription and purchase the Practice of Botanical Drawing.

Our lessons are designed to be used sort of like a cookbook--using the natural subjects ("ingredients") available to you.

You can also choose a lesson depending on the current season in your location. 

Follow along with each lesson in order, or choose depending on the season. Start with Lesson 1, move on to Lesson 2, etc. Or, because so much happens with nature over time, follow the lessons that relate to what nature is doing outside your own window! If it is Spring and wildflowers are popping up everywhere, consider jumping into Lesson 5: Understanding Flowers, for example.

Keep in mind that all lessons are designed to repeat over and over again with different subjects. Lesson 5 explores the daffodil, but it can apply to other flowers as well: try it with a tulip, a lily or a foxglove! 

Believe it or not, I revisit these lessons all the time, just with new and changing subjects. I also love to draw the same subject from a different viewpoint over and over again. Find ideas for how to expand lessons here.

First, make sure you are logged in. To log in, look to the immediate left of the search box in the top right corner of the screen and click “Sign in.” (If you see your name, then you are already signed in!) Enter your username and password in the appropriate fields and click the purple “Log In” button. Once you are logged in, click “My Courses,” which is the first option in the white/light gray bar directly underneath the green bar at the top of our website. Click on the name of your course, and then click on any lesson video to watch!

When you log in to our website, click "My Courses" (in the gray bar beneath "Courses" in the green bar at the very top), and you should see your course, The Practice of Botanical Drawing. Click on The Practice of Botanical Drawing, and notice the Modules in black text. You should see "Botanical Basics (Show/Hide Lessons)." Click “Show/Hide Lessons,” and that should allow you to see Botanical Basics lessons 1-39!

No. They are streaming videos and require internet access to be viewed.

However, you can purchase all Botanical Basics & The Practice of Botanical Drawing video lessons and PDFs on a USB Flash Drive here.

You can find the current webinar schedule on the Webinars page. You will need to be logged in and have an active subscription to view the Webinars page.

Webinars are usually on a Monday, toward the end of the month.

Upload your artwork to the Art Feed . If there are over 100 uploads that month, we take into account all submissions and choose ones that illustrate common issues so that everyone can benefit from the feedback.

All webinars are recorded and archived at the bottom of the Webinars page.

We used to sell a variety of art supplies specifically recommended by Wendy for botanical drawing, but we no longer vend most art supplies. Find out more about our Art Supplies here.

You can view our list of Recommended Supplies here. For all the supplies that we recommend for our online programs and workshops (and why), visit our Art Supply Guide.

Check out our Art Supply Guide for all of the tools we recommend and why we recommend them!

Watch Wendy’s review of various hot press watercolor paper!

Why we love Legion Stonehenge Paper:

Keeps sharp point longer

Works great with watercolor

Takes pencils without too much texture

Comes in many colors (Wendy’s favorites are white & kraft)

Smoother than other papers, so the same result can be achieved with less layers

100% Cotton

Neutral pH

Acid Free

Chlorine Free

2 deckles, 2 cut edges (sheets)

Sized for watercolor

Superior quality

Contains no animal gelatin

Synthetic Sizing

Aqua Stonehenge is as finely crafted as it is affordable. Performing way beyond its price point, it has been tested to its limits and as it turns out, it has no limits.

Wet-on-wet or wet-on-dry, it has a wonderful crispness that anchors beautiful work across every task and technique. With Stonehenge Aqua, blending is effortless, lifting is no longer a chore. It welcomes masking while never relinquishing the control you both demand and desire. Bright colors dry bright. Blocks or sheets, it’s flat paper that dries flat.

To learn more about why we love Legion Stonehenge Aqua Hot Press paper, visit drawbotanical.com/paper

One of the most important supplies for our technique is the PENCILS! We have spent many years drawing with colored pencils, and Faber-Castell Polychromos Colored Pencils and Albrecht Durer Watercolor Pencils are our favorites. Not only do they have all the qualities we love in a pencil (see below), but they also come from an excellent company that we know and trust.

From Wendy: “I have been working with Faber-Castell since 2007 when I contacted them to let them know how much I loved their pencils and that I recommend them in my instructional books. Since then, we have collaborated on many projects over the years. They have purchased rights to use several of my works on their products and campaigns. Whenever I ask for donations, they are always very generous. Most importantly, I love their products and the people I work with there.”

WHY WE LOVE FABER-CASTELL PENCILS

Polychromos Colored Pencils

They hold a really sharp point for fine detail.

The pigments are oil-based, so there is no waxy buildup.

The sharpened tips don’t break easily.

Good lightfast ratings

Beautiful color choices that match colors in nature–especially the greens!

The Polychromos color names and numbers are consistent with the Albrecht Durer watercolor pencils, so it’s easy to match and learn your color mixing.

They contain the highest quality pigments for unsurpassed lightfastness, which is rated on each pencil. They have a buttery smooth color laydown and can be easily blended for layered effects, highlights and transitions. Thick 3.8mm leads are break and water-resistant, smudgeproof and provide permanent, rich color. Provides sharp fine lines and excellent point retention.

Albrecht Dürer Watercolor Pencils

Easy to match colors with Polychromos

Good lightfast ratings

Beautiful color choices that match colors in nature–especially the greens!

Convenient, no-mess, and easy to use. (Watch this video to learn how Wendy uses her watercolor pencils on Dura-Lar)

Comparable to other types of watercolor.

They contain the highest quality pigments of unsurpassed lightfastness and brilliance, which is rated on each pencil. Thick 3.8mm break-resistant and fully water-soluble leads, can be easily blended when wet and become permanent when dry for rich watercolor effects.

To learn more about why we love Faber Castell Polychromos colored pencils and Albrecht Durer watercolor pencils, visit drawbotanical.com/pencils

A simple hand-powered pencil sharpener. Lightweight, durable, and portable. Awesome sharp points. It’s handy to have a desktop, hand-crank pencil sharpener in your studio, and we’ve found this one to be the best that we’ve tested for getting the sharpest point at a low price. It’s also nice and small, which is great for drawing on-the-go. Students often ask us, “Is an electric sharpener good?” Sometimes, if that’s what you prefer, but we’ve found that hand crank sharpeners give you the sharpest point and are easier to travel with because they don’t have any bulky cords. Watch a video about how to use the Muji sharpener.

This little eraser is the art supply of our dreams. It is so small and easy to erase with accuracy and precision. Our instructors all choose this as the art supply they can’t work without. Its pen-style design makes it easy and familiar to use and gives you awesome control as you erase. And it’s refillable!

If you’re working with watercolor, you’ll need a good watercolor brush! This is Wendy’s favorite synthetic watercolor brush, handmade in Japan. Many watercolor brushes are expensive, but this brush is inexpensive enough that you can buy several to have backups. They hold a really good tip/point, and they are perfect for the Draw Botanical technique. We hand-picked these four sizes because they are the ones that Wendy uses the most. We are the only US retailer of these brushes! Buy Interlon watercolor brushes here.

Yes. We happily provide donated art supplies, especially to those in need. If you have a group or project you’d like to recommend we donate to, please email us at info@drawbotanical.com.

Please contact us via email if you have specific issues at checkout.

When someone purchases a Gift Certificate for you, you should receive an email with a Gift Card Code. Shop at drawbotanical.com as usual, and then at checkout, enter your Gift Code under “Have a Gift Card?” Then click “Apply.” Your Gift Card amount will be applied to the Cart Total.

If you do not use the full Gift Card amount, be sure to create an account, and the remaining balance will be saved to your account for use at another time.

If you have received a coupon code from us, enter it in the box at checkout. Note: coupon codes are not case-sensitive.

Log in to drawbotanical.com and click "My Account" in the top right header bar. Choose “Payment Methods” from the menu on the left, and update your card information.

Art supplies and other products can be returned if they are in original packaging, have not been used, and are in excellent condition. If an item is damaged please send us a photo of the damaged item along with how the shipping box arrived, and we will send you a new item. If you are returning an item for any other reason, you must ship it back to us at your own expense. Once received we will issue a refund, less a 15% restocking fee. Please include a note indicating your name and reason for return.

We ship via USPS Priority Mail, First Class Mail, and Media Mail.  

Shipping costs vary depending on both the weight of your items and the location of your address. If you add the things you want to your cart and input your address in our online ordering system, it should give you a shipping cost based on what you ordered and your location. To input your address, click "Proceed to checkout." (This will NOT complete your purchase or charge your credit card.)

For standard shipping, you should receive your order within 4-5 business days. 

Sorry, we cannot expedite shipping.

We do not currently ship internationally (outside of the U.S.).

If you’d like a tracking number to track your order, please email info+shipping@drawbotanical.com to request one. Please provide your order number for easy reference.

Email us as soon as possible at info+shipping@drawbotanical.com with the correct address and we will update the shipping address for you.

We suggest waiting at least a week for orders within the U.S. If you have tracking information, you can track your order. We suggest following up first with your local post office before contacting us for delayed or lost orders, as they will have the most relevant information about shipping and tracking. If an order really is lost, we will send you a replacement once we hear from you and the post office that this is the case.  

Contact info+shipping@drawbotanical.com to notify us of the discrepancy. We will correct the mistake and send you the supplies you need at no additional cost to you.

See our Return Policy above.

Yes, if we receive two separate orders from one person going to the same location, it is our policy to combine the shipments into one order. 

You can purchase from our website easily with credit card, Google Pay, or Apple Pay. If you don't see the option for Google/Apple Pay, make sure your browser and device are updated, clear your cache, and restart your device.

If you'd like to pay via Venmo, please email info@drawbotanical.com with your Venmo name and what you'd like to purchase, and we will issue a charge. 

All of our books cover the same basic techniques; some go more in-depth on certain topics than others. If you are a true beginner, we recommend A Beginner’s Guide or The Joy of Botanical Drawing to get started. Learn more about our books and compare them here.

The Joy of Botanical Drawing

by Wendy Hollender, 2020

Perfect for everyone!

Our most current book, with updated techniques and supplies.

Named the best colored pencil book of all time by Book Authority.

Has more watercolor techniques than the other books.

Bite-size lessons break down the basics, then increase in complexity, all paired with in-depth illustrations to guide you in using colored and watercolor pencils to bring a botanical subject fully to life.

Lessons include ...
Drawing a Red Tomato in Colored Pencil and Watercolor
Mixing Bright Colors and Shadows
Leaf Front and Back
Drawing a Tubular Flower in Perspective
Advanced Root Overlaps
Drawing a Zinnia (Composite Flower)
Drawing the Pattern on a Strawberry
Plant Process Pages

Click Here to Buy The Joy of Botanical Drawing

Botanical Drawing: A Beginner’s Guide

by Wendy Hollender, 2007

Perfect for first-time artists and those who like to work right in the book.

Learn to draw realistic 3-dimensional subjects on a 2-dimensional surface.

A wonderful book for beginners

Colored pencil only.

“Workbook-style” with blank paper inside the book to practice right next to each lesson.

Examples of lessons:
Making a Circle look like a Sphere
Making Circles look like Apples
A Cup becomes a Tulip
Drawing Tulip Petals with Colored Pencils

 Click Here to Buy Botanical Drawing: A Beginner's Guide

Botanical Drawing in Color

by Wendy Hollender, 2010

Perfect for those seeking more instruction on Wendy's colored pencil method, this book takes The Beginners Guide deeper into more advanced techniques.

Examples of lessons:
Measuring in Perspective*
Drawing Three Views of a Daisy
Color Theory*
Studying a Tree or Plant Year Round
Observing and Drawing Under Magnification
How to Plan a Composition* 

*advanced lessons

Click Here to Buy Botanical Drawing in Color

The Practice of Botanical Drawing

by Wendy Hollender, 2017

Perfect for students subscribed to the Practice of Botanical Drawing Course - this book includes all the PDF instructions from the course, spiral-bound.

A “step-by-step” approach.

Mostly colored pencil, with some watercolor.

Enhanced by the video companion lessons, but also a great stand-alone book that follows nature throughout the seasons.

Examples of lessons:
Drawing an Acorn
Drawing Citrus Fruit
Drawing a Rose
Drawing Outdoors
Identifying Plant Families
Creating a Composition

 Click Here to Buy The Practice of Botanical Drawing

Nature Journaling in a Nutshell

by Abby Goldfarb & Wendy Hollender, 2023

This Quick Guide has everything you need to know to easily start your nature journaling journey.

Includes details on:
+ suggested supplies to use
+ ways to lay our your pages
+ short lessons in observational drawing and other art skills
+ many ideas to make your journal unique

 Click Here to Buy Nature Journaling in a Nutshell Quick Guide

Want to download a PDF instead of a printed booklet? Click here!

If you are an Active Subscriber, you also have membership access to our community Art Feed, where our talented instructors leave comments with feedback for you. You can also attend our monthly Webinar, an in-depth discussion of the artwork that was posted to the Art Feed over the past month.

Before the second session of each two-day Zoom workshop, you can submit your work to the slideshow that will be discussed during the second class. 

View our Community Principles.

If you would prefer individual live personalized feedback, you can email info@drawbotanical.com to request an individual critique session with one of our instructors, but we highly encourage sharing your work with the group.

We work hard to create an inclusive atmosphere of positivity where we focus on the joy of drawing and learning as a community so that participants can learn from one another's work. You can be scared, but try to do it anyway! You have nothing to lose and so much to gain from sharing your work with our supportive community. See “Where can I share my work to receive feedback?” for ways to share your work. View our Community Principles.

My Portfolio is available to Active Subscribers at Draw Botanical. My Portfolio is a “Profile page;” a personal image gallery where all of your artwork uploads are archived. Curate the page and share the url with your friends if you like. It’s also fun to look back at your images and track your progress over time.

The Art Feed is available to Active Subscribers at Draw Botanical. The Art Feed is an image-focused forum to receive feedback, motivation, connect with students, and build a botanical drawing portfolio. The Art Feed has a familiar social-media-like format with simple likes, comments, and tags. Uploaded images are stored in My Portfolio. Join our vibrant, supportive community to make friends, share ideas, and get feedback from artists around the globe. View our Community Principles.

Watch a video about the Art Feed.

Learn more about the Art Feed here.

Draw Botanical's Community Principles

Official Community Spaces

As a community of botanical artists, we create virtual opportunities to come together, both on the Art Feed on our website and at our live monthly Webinars. Other spaces we own, operate, and moderate include our official Instagram and Facebook accounts for Draw Botanical. 

Community Guidelines

Creating healthy communities within our official Draw Botanical online spaces is vital to us. This is why we have decided to develop a list of community guidelines. We hope this list provides clarity for what our company stands for and helps everyone navigate our official Draw Botanical spaces responsibly.

  • We believe in treating others with respect. Harassment or hateful conduct will not be tolerated. This includes but is not limited to discrimination, bullying, hate speech, or any targeted attack on the basis of race, ethnicity, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, disability, marital status, citizenship, national origin, or socioeconomic status. Comments that violate this policy posted to any of our official online spaces will be deleted, hidden, and the user in violation may be banned.
  • We believe in engaging in healthy discussions. Respectful conversations help us understand the world better. We also understand that not everyone shares the same lived experiences. It’s important that we are able to have discussions without engaging in harmful behavior such as online bullying.
  • We believe in establishing healthy boundaries. Making friends online can be a fantastic experience, but it is essential to be mindful of the type of information you share. If someone in the online community makes you feel unsafe, please practice good social media self care and block, report, and/or contact the appropriate site administrators. If this happens on our official Draw Botanical online spaces, please contact us at info@drawbotanical.com. Please include the date of the incident(s), the platform on which it occurred, and any screenshots you believe to be relevant.
  • We believe in having fun! We encourage you to find bright spots within our content and community that bring you joy! It’s also important that we all work together towards keeping our community safe for others to navigate. Listen to each other, learn from each other, and create fun in a way that doesn’t harm anybody else.
  • We believe all who follow these community guidelines are welcomed here. Whether you are a seasoned artist or you are entirely new to art creation — you belong here. We encourage you to engage (or not engage) with our content in whichever way feels best for you.

 

If you disregard these guidelines, we reserve the right to remove you from our official online spaces.

Art Feed Conduct

Images

Please only post relevant content you’ve developed incorporating Draw Botanical methods to the Art Feed and Portfolio spaces. We define relevant content as:

  • Your own botanical illustrations of subjects found in nature (ie. plants, trees, birds, insects, etc.)
  • Photographs of botanical subjects
  • Drawing exercises and works in progress (ie. toning exercises, sketch pages, etc.)
  • Comments

 

Respect all artwork. We value all creators in our community and believe that everyone deserves respect, especially in relation to their hard work.

Avoid overt criticism by keeping suggestions positive. When critiquing work on our Art Feed, the goal is to help our community of artists learn and grow through the joy of botanical drawing. Our focus is on the joy of the process, and the quality of the end result is a bonus! We ask that you be mindful of the impact negative words have on developing artists and make sure to keep your comments encouraging and positive.

If you'd like to notify (or "mention") someone on the Art Feed, just use the "@" symbol to tag them. Type "@" and then begin to type their name. You should see a pop-up list of people to choose from. Choose the person you want to notify, and click their name. This should send them an email notification that you mentioned them in your post.

To scan, you’ll need a digital scanner. Set it to scan at 300dpi in color. Save it as a .jpg file and upload.

To photograph, use a high-resolution camera (most smartphones work well for this). Place your work on a flat surface in a well-lit area (with light coming from all angles if possible—outdoors on a partly sunny day or near a window makes for great photos) and try to photograph it from directly overhead. Edit as needed: rotate, crop, and adjust the resolution. The ideal image is a .jpg at 300dpi, around 1500px wide, and less than 5MB.

Watch a video about how to photograph your work.

Watch a video about how to upload your artwork.

Log in to your account at drawbotanical.com. At the top, you should see a green bar. Below that, you should see a gray bar. In the gray bar, select the second option from the left, “My Portfolio.”

Scroll down and you will see a light gray box outlined with a dashed line, and inside that box, you will have two options - a purple button that says “Select your files” and in gray text “or Drop your files here.” If you have your photo in your documents or on your desktop, you can drag it into the gray box where it says “Drop your files here,” and your work will upload to your portfolio and the Art Feed. Another option is to click the purple button that says “Select your files.” This will open a box where you can select your photos from your computer’s documents and click “Open” to upload them to your portfolio and the Art Feed. Images should be JPGs less than 5MB.

At the end of each lesson in our courses, Botanical Basics and Practice of Botanical Drawing, if you scroll down, you will see black text that says “Upload your Artwork.” Beneath it, you will see a light gray box outlined with a dashed line with a purple button that says “Select your files” followed by gray text that says “or Drop your files here.”

If you have your photo in your documents or on your desktop, you can drag it into the gray box where it says “Drop your files here,” and your work will upload to your portfolio and the Art Feed. Another option is to click the purple button that says “Select your files.” This will open a box where you can select your photos from your computer’s documents and click “Open” to upload them to your portfolio and the Art Feed. Images should be JPGs less than 5MB.

Your files will automatically appear in the Art Feed.

If you would like to delete your photos, you can do so by logging in and clicking "My Portfolio" in the gray bar toward the top under the green bar. When you scroll down to see your photos in your portfolio, hover over the picture you want to delete, and at the top of the photo, you should see options to "Edit" with a pencil and "Delete" with a trash can. If you click "Delete," it will ask you if you are sure, and once you click "Ok," your photo will be deleted.

If you would like to edit your photos, you can do so by logging in and clicking "My Portfolio" in the gray bar toward the top under the green bar. When you scroll down to see your photos in your portfolio, hover over the picture you want to edit, and at the top of the photo, you should see options to "Edit" with a pencil and "Delete" with a trash can. If you click "Edit," you will be taken to an area where you can Rename and Tag your image. Scroll to the bottom, and you'll see a button that says "Modify Image." Click there and you'll be able to perform simple photo editing actions like Rotate and Crop. Be sure to Save your work!!

Log in to drawbotanical.com and click “Account Settings.” Then click "Account Details." From there, you can update your email address, location, and social media links. If you want to update your Address, click "Addresses." If you want to update your credit card information, click "Payment Methods."

You can share your portfolio with others by sending them this link: drawbotanical.com/members/[username]/

Be sure to replace [username] with YOUR username! (Don't include [ ] in link)

Example: drawbotanical.com/members/wendy is the link to Wendy's portfolio

We value your privacy, and while our database has always been encrypted to prevent hacking, we have now added this feature to prevent your work from showing up in search engine searches. To enable this new privacy feature, follow the instructions demonstrated in the screenshots below:

Log in to drawbotanical.com, click your name (top right, to the left of the search bar), click Account Settings, and then click Account details (bottom of the white box on the left, above Logout)


Scroll down (past where you would confirm a new password) and make sure BOTH check boxes are selected next to No Index and No Follow.

As with any website, the best way to protect against hackers is to keep everything up-to-date and use strong and unique passwords for each account. We always update our site, but make sure your browsers and devices are up-to-date, and change your passwords! We have started using LastPass to keep our team's passwords someplace secure (and so we don't have to worry about remembering them all!).

At Draw Botanical, we strive to create and build a community of students around the world, at all skill levels, with a life-changing experience that will foster the art of slowing down to observe and capture the natural world through an ongoing botanical drawing practice.

The Draw Botanical Method is centered around the teachings of Wendy Hollender, renowned botanical illustrator. We teach this method using colored pencil and watercolor to create realistic, three-dimensional plant illustrations. We facilitate growth in the level of skill and the quality of our students’ work.

As far as we can tell, the act of botanical drawing is enriching for everyone who tries it. You may find that slowing down your mind to attune to the exquisite beauty of nature can have healing properties. Some people compare it to falling in love. We believe that everyone can benefit from a little botanical drawing, and so we make it our job to teach it to you in a way that is inclusive and fun.

Our lessons and content are based on the following books:

The Joy of Botanical Drawing by Wendy Hollender

Botanical Drawing: A Beginner’s Guide by Wendy Hollender

Botanical Drawing in Color by Wendy Hollender

The Practice of Botanical Drawing by Wendy Hollender