Botanical Drawing 101

workshop guide

Hello! Thank you for joining me for this workshop. Feel free to scroll through this guide while I chat to you about the class and keep up with the tutorials. We’ll be looking at three drawing techniques for botanical art today, including graphite work, coloured pencil, and pointillism; these three art styles are really popular in the botanical arts and great places to start on your drawing journey.

This workshop guide will remain open after the end of the workshop so feel free to come back again to remind yourself of anything you learn in the class today. Just keep hold of your QR code!

Part One: Graphite Studies

Tips:

1. Don’t focus on what the flower looks like in its entirety. Look at the shape and features and dimensions. Measure the flower and replicate the shape as you get started.

2. Botanical study is all about the technicalities and depicting a flower accurately rather than copying a photo. What is most important is showing people the shape and colour, and defining features that separate it from other species.

3. There is no correct way to do botanical drawings. Your style is your own and you’ll find ways of doing things that suit you more than others. The more you practice, the faster you’ll find your drawing style (if you haven’t already).

Part Two: Coloured Pencil

Tips:

1. The lines in leaves, flowers and fungi are really important details to be aware of when doing botanical drawing. They determine shape and dimension of the specimen and help to bring a realistic focus to your piece. Look at how they curve or deepen with folds or wrinkles.

2. When using coloured pencils, don’t apply too much pressure to the paper. To deepen or darken your colour, build layers instead. Too much pressure will affect the paper and make it harder to create a consistent piece.

3. When highlighting or shading, look at how the colours in the subject change. For example, highlights of leaves have a yellower hue whereas shadows have a blue hue. Use colour to help guide the viewer’s eye.

Part Three: Pointillism

Tips:

1. Start by drawing a very light outline in pencil that will be easy to erase. Follow that outline with a run of single dots that will help you to follow the shape of your subject.

2. Look at the lines in your subject, e.g. the petals on a flower or folds in a leaf. Shadows are made up of more dots while the lighter lines will be made up of less.

3. The different levels of shading will be determined by how close together your dot work is. When you look closely at the darkest parts, you should still be able to see that it is made up of dots, rather than coloured in, whereas the lightest parts of your subject will be clear and have dots few and far between.

Reference Photos

View the reference photos for each part of the workshop below!

Botanical Inspiration

Have a look at some brilliant examples of botanical drawings from artists and illustrators in history:

^ ‘Crested Saguaro: Carnegiae gigantea forma cristata’ (2013) Joan McGann, pen & ink on paper, 430x635mm

^ ‘Beetroot: Beta vulgaris’ (1994) Susannah Blaxhill, watercolour on paper, 480x640mm

^ ‘Silver tree fern: Cyathea dealbata’ (2007) Bryan Poole, copper plate etching, 420x560mm

^ ‘Papaver orientale ‘Brilliant’ (5/6)’ (2014) Denise Ramsay, watercolour on paper, 555x420mm

^ ‘Seeds of Ebine or Japanese Wild Orchid’; ‘Troubled Tree or Insect Bitten Tree’; ‘Seeds of Morning Glory’ (1972) Mariko Imai, pencil on paper, 260x120mm