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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
Want to know more about the fascinating world of color? Join us for a deep dive into color theory, color mixing, color blending, and color matching. Bring an assortment of botanical bits in any/every color, and we’ll try to match them! We will be using Faber Castell Polychromos colored pencils and Albrecht Durer watercolor pencils, … 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
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Receiving nature's gifts and giving back
The living world provides us with so much – oxygen, beauty, nutrition, inspiration… what can we, as botanical artists, give in return? Our gift is our time, our focused attention, our love. There is a reason that advertisers vie for our attention: they know that our time is our most valuable asset. Making the conscious … Continued
