Tag: Inspiration
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Cultivating Connection: The Art of Giving Back Through Botanical Illustration
How art and nature intertwine to inspire, heal, and nurture both artist and environment Nature as a Muse and Partner The natural world offers us abundant gifts—fresh air, vibrant beauty, nourishing food, boundless inspiration, and more. How can we, as botanical artists, give back? This question guides not only our creative practices but … Continued
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Creating Compositions: Holiday Cards
Using the art skills learned throughout our course, The Practice of Botanical Drawing, create a finished composition suitable for printing on holiday or harvest greeting cards to send to your friends and family. To create a finished seasonal drawing, focus on complex compositions and seasonal color combinations. If you want guidance through every step … Continued
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Apples: Realistic Botanical Drawings in 8 Steps
Apples are as satisfying to draw as they are to eat! Curl up with your hot mug of apple cider, and create an apple portrait to warm your heart year-round! Learn techniques combining colored pencil and watercolor to render a realistic fruit (that will make a delightful snack when you’re done!). Practice creating beautiful … Continued
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What You Need to Know Before, During, & After Foraging
Foraging (also referred to as wildcrafting) is searching for wild plants or food in nature. Humans, like many animals, have been foraging since the beginning of their existence. The art of wildcrafting helps us to honor and celebrate food, nature, and each other. It is a great time to explore mushrooms! Not … Continued
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Understanding Flowers
If you’ve ever been fascinated by a flower, this post is for YOU! Check out some of the helpful drawing tips taught in our course, The Practice of Botanical Drawing! A flower is the reproductive part of a plant. Its primary purpose? To attract! How do these alluring seed-bearing wonders do it? Let’s examine … Continued
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4 Tricks to Fool the Eye: Trompe L'oeil
Have you ever seen a drawing so realistic that it fools you into believing it’s a three-dimensional object? “Trompe L’oeil” is a French term meaning “Fool the Eye”. Learn (from Wendy!) how to incorporate these fun techniques on kraft paper and tell a story by choosing related or symbolic elements to draw. Lesson … Continued
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Fall in Love with Winter Magic
As the days grow too dark and cold to hang around outdoors, we need to keep ourselves occupied and our spirits up. Just because we’re not able to comfortably enjoy much time outside doesn’t mean we can’t still spend our time connecting with nature. I want to share with you my favorite botanical subjects to … Continued
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Turning Passion into Preservation
How can we, as botanical artists, make a difference in the world? We can document what is happening outside, right here, right now! Nature’s only constant is change – what you see outside today could be gone by tomorrow. But drawings last much longer! Botanical illustrations are the perfect way to keep the essence of … Continued
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The Practice of Botanical Drawing: Ideas for Expanding Lessons
The Practice of Botanical Drawing Lessons are a guide to build on. Expand each lesson with new and different subjects! Watch this video to get advice from Wendy. We know that masters aren’t made overnight, and that consistent practice is the key to success. Think of my books as a template. I show you … Continued
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Sketching Summer: Ideas & Botanical Definitions
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 1-2 trees … Continued
