Billy Showell is a well-respected botanical watercolour artist, and her exceptional eye for detail and ability to re-create the form, texture, colour and patterning of a wide range of plants have earned her a formidable reputation worldwide. Her compositions are given a contemporary, sometimes playful twist, while retaining all the beauty and accuracy of traditional botanical paintings. In this inspiring and indispensable guide for botanical artists, she reveals the materials, methods and techniques she uses to attain her stunningly beautiful portraits of flowers, fruit and vegetables. There is expert guidance on tools and materials, working from life, observation, and drawing and painting techniques, as well as detailed sections on pattern, texture, and colour and colour mixing. With numerous step-by-step studies, close-up photographs and examples of Billy's exquisite paintings, this book is not only packed full of invaluable advice and information but also a visually stunning showcase for the work of this amazing artist.

"Demonstrates how to paint a variety of flowers in a realistic style. This book includes six tracings so that readers can begin to render the delicate flower heads, stems and buds straight away with the image on their paper. It helps you produce life-like botanical artwork"--Publisher's description.

Beautiful botanical drawings ready to paint or color.

Award-winning artist Harriet de Winton shows you how to create contemporary watercolour artworks to treasure and share. Through more than 30 step-by-step projects, discover how to paint individual flowers and foliage, as well as beautiful botanical compositions. Use your new skills to make art for your wall, unique cards, invitations, or simply paint for pleasure.

Billy Showell is a well-respected contemporary artist whose watercolour flower portraits have earned her the respect of watercolour artists all over the world. Worked to the same degree of accuracy as traditional botanical paintings, Billy's compositions are given a more contemporary twist, combining her unique eye for design with her love of flowers. In this book, 40 flower portraits are presented, arranged in alphabetical order, each one accompanied by small studies, details, step-by-step instructions and the colour mixes used to accomplish the finished work. At the start of the book there are useful sections on the materials and equipment needed and the main techniques used, including wet-into-wet, colour blending, lifting out, layering glazes, dry brushing and colour mixing, and at the end of the book Billy gives her own unique slant on composition and discusses the importance of creating a sketchbook. Whether you love to paint, or simply love flowers, this book will delight and inspire you.

Known for his wonderful traditional and contemporary botanical paintings, Michael Lakin is a keen gardener, and an experienced and enthusiastic tutor. In this book he illustrates how to paint twenty-six botanically accurate flowers. Learn how to develop accomplished pictures from initial beginnings and observations right through to the drawing and final painting stages.

This is the story of one woman's journey from amateur painter to botanical artist, told through the sketchbooks and paintings she produced for the Distance Learning Diploma Course run by the Society of Botanical Artists. Packed with advice and tips, this book will serve as a guide and inspiration to anyone wanting to embark on life as a botanical artist. This book is both a showcase of Mary Ann Scott's work and a record of her achievements, including first-hand accounts of the joys and challenges she faced as she progressed. It contains work from every assignment she undertook, from her first attempts at drawing a tulip to the triumphant paintings she made for her diploma portfolio. Along the way are delicate floral compositions, juicy fruit and vegetables, botanical dissections, and her adventures out in the field. Margaret Stevens's comments on each assignments are also included, giving an insight into the assessment process and an all-round view of Mary Ann's successes and (very rare) failures. The book ends with a glorious selection of Mary Ann's ongoing work as a botanical artist.

Capture the fascinating beauty of plants. How can an artist create a botanical portrait that is both accurate and aesthetically pleasing? This is the essence of an art form whose charm and universal appeal have made it popular for centuries. Botanical Illustration in Watercolor is the first authoritative, comprehensive book to focus specifically on the materials and techniques of painting plants in watercolor. This book is full of essential advice not found in any other watercolor books, such as: • What a botanical illustration must include to meet the requirements of scientific accuracy. • How to prop up a heavy woody branch at the desired angle. • How to keep ferns and delicate flowers from wilting before the picture is finished. • How to mix the specific colors of paint most often needed for depicting plants. • How to plan the design of a drawing that involves heavy foliage or multiple stems.

A practical guide to using gouache in botanical painting, by a leading botanical painter. Gouache is an opaque water-based medium, often called body colour, that produces crisp and vibrant paintings, and is becoming increasingly popular in botanical painting. Leading botanical painter, Simon Williams, specializes in painting in gouache and this is his first book. Botanical Painting in Gouache is full of practical advice on all aspects of using the exciting medium of gouache and contains many step-by-step demonstration paintings. In addition to the sumptuous flower paintings there are also sections on painting butterflies, birds and exotic and unusual plants from the rainforest.

Learn to create your own beautiful watercolor botanical art with more than 30 projects, as well as information on materials and basic techniques. The graceful, contemporary style of these flowers and foliage is attractive and accessible to all no matter your skill level. Also published in the UK as NEW BOTANICAL PAINTING.