Botanical Illustration from Life: A visual guide to observing, drawing and painting plants

by Isik Guner

A visual guide to beautiful botanic watercolour painting from life for artists.

Botanical artists hold a unique they can record plants and show them to the world, unlocking science for people outside that world, enabling them to be seduced by the most beautiful images, drawn and painted by very skilled hands.

In this beautiful book, award-winning botanical artist, Işık Güner, shares with you her experiences of looking at wild species from around the world, how she does her research, and how she composes her illustrations from live specimens. She will guide you on your own journey, show you how to look for plant samples, and then record them. Straddling the scientific and art worlds, Isik's illustrations help to raise awareness of the valuable knowledge that scientists have been researching and discovering for many years and provide a wonderful inspiration for budding botanical artists.

Observe, draw, paint, explore and master this wonderful art under Işık's careful guidance. Being inspired by the nature around you is the first step to becoming a botanical artist.

Genres: Art

208 pages, paperback

Published November 5, 2019

Reviews

[Brenda Greene · Rating 5 out of 5]

Goodness Ilsik is meticulous. I followed a beginner's tutorial and it helped me get all of the angles and proportional details right. An analytical approach to drawing beautifully illustrated, which gave me quite a few "oh I get it now" moments. I didn't realise just how patient I had to be and how much thought goes into every line. The only tiny niggle I had was the lack of examples on what reference photos should look like (mine were useless) and how to incorporate your own style and different subjects once the basics were mastered. I'm sure Ilsik has more expressive styles apart from paint, so a few photos of that would be good. A book worth buying and not just for drawing plants.

[Elizabeth De Cicco · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book. I am trying to do all of the tutorials and learning what I need to improve. Isik's technique is traditional and her explanations are very helpful. I have been doing botanical illustrations for years with a heavy, direct painting approach I learned from oil painting classes. This book is helping me learn to paint more transparently and slowly build up layers.

[Melissa Bishop · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful photography. A bit advanced for where I am in my art journey but still useful.

[Joanne Toft · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book if you are learning to draw and paint for detail in plants.