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Practicing Roots
Check out some of our helpful drawing tips regarding roots that we teach in our course, The Practice of Botanical Drawing! Drawing roots is an important component of botanical drawing. Roots may seem complicated, but when you analyze their characteristics, drawing them becomes a simpler step-by-step process. The patterns in roots are similar to those … Continued
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Practice Becoming a Beginner (Again)
The wonder and amazement we feel as children stems from discovering the world for the first time. Children are remarkably inquisitive, asking what, why, and how everything works, in an attempt to gain knowledge and understanding of their world. This openness and wonder is often referred to as the “beginner’s mind.” The next time you … Continued
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Practice Sketching Seasons: Winter
The Practice of Botanical Drawing started as a year-long Challenge, prompting students to track a tree or woody shrub of their choice through all its stages for a year. The final product becomes a “Sketchbook of the Seasons,” with color and tonal drawings, herbarium components, and journal documentation from one or two trees and or … Continued
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Practicing Color Theory
You’ve heard primary colors are Red, Yellow, and Blue and secondary colors are Orange, Violet, and Green, but have you heard of tertiary colors? Tertiary colors are the colors that exist between the primary and secondary colors. For example, Yellow Orange is the tertiary color between primary Yellow and secondary Orange. Instead of the … Continued
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Listen... with your eyes
As artists, we are all familiar with the feeling of overwhelm that arises upon first look at a subject beside the vastness of a blank page. How will we capture the innate beauty that we see before us? Before you start drawing, take a moment to observe, absorb, and process the sensory information you’re receiving … Continued
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Practicing Leaves
Check out some of our helpful drawing tips regarding leaves that we teach in our course, The Practice of Botanical Drawing! Monocots & Dicots The difference between Monocots & Dicots is found in their cotyledons (first leaves). Monocots have one cotyledon, while Dicots have two! Monocot leaves (Monocotyledons) have parallel veining, which means they … Continued
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Practicing Perspective
Check out some of our helpful drawing tips regarding perspective that we teach in our course, The Practice of Botanical Drawing! Choosing a View Look at a flower from various views and draw some practice rough sketches to choose a view that you will draw. It is good practice to measure and draw three … Continued
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Practicing Light Source
Check out some of our helpful tips regarding light source that we teach in our course, The Practice of Botanical Drawing! Ideal Light Source Setup Light should hit your subject at about a 45 degree angle from the upper left. Use a box to block out other light sources in the room. Notice where … Continued
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Draw Winter! Botanical inspiration around the globe
Winter has begun! We love following nature all year long and noticing the differences in each season. If winter is cold where you are, it may be difficult to find live subjects. Now is a great time to draw things that will not wilt or decay, like branches, nuts, seeds, and pods. Looking for inspiration? … Continued
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The Joy of Botanical Drawing is the Best Colored Pencil Drawing Book of All Time!
“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 … Continued
