Botanical Drawing in Color: A Basic Guide to Mastering Realistic Form and Naturalistic Color [Paperback]

Wendy Hollender (Author)

Book Description

Release date: July 20, 2010

Botanical Drawing In Color offers a thorough immersion into the world of scientifically accurate, three-dimensional, and artistically rendered natural illustration. Whether you’re just broaching this unique skill or are already an expert, these step-by-step instructions are an invaluable reference guide, written by one of the nation’s leading experts in the field, Wendy Hollender.  Each lesson here increases in complexity to build your skill set in a clear, concise, and accessible way. With a focus on the natural world through the botanical life-cycle, each project is not only a technical study, but a beautiful piece of artwork in and of itself.
 
Learn:


   • Single light source toning technique
   • Principles of perspective for drawing flowers
   • The fundamentals of plant anatomy
   • Colored pencil techniques and color theory of the natural world

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

WENDY HOLLENDER is the coordinator of botanical art and illustration at the Westchester Arts Workshop and the New York Botanical Garden. Her work has been featured in the prestigious Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation’s 13th International Exhibition of Botanical Art & Illustration at Carnegie Mellon University. She is the founder of WH Art & Design and a member of the American Society of Botanical Artists, the Guild of Natural Science Illustrators, the Brooklyn Botanic Garden Florilegium, and the New York Botanical Garden Board of Advisors. 
 

Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Watson-Guptill (July 20, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0823007065
• ISBN-13: 978-0823007066
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 0.4 x 11 inches
• Shipping Weight: 0.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #67,870 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #32 in Books > Arts & Photography > Graphic Design > Techniques > Use of Color
  • #41 in Books > Arts & Photography > History & Criticism > Themes > Plants & Animals

More About the Author

Wendy Hollender is the coordinator of botanical art and illustration at the New York Botanical Garden. She teaches botanical art at the New York Botanical Garden and leads workshops in such exotic locations as Trinidad, Block Island and Hawaii. She exhibits internationally and was awarded a Silver Medal at the Royal Horticultural Society of London in 2007.

Wendy has two books based on her drawing demonstrations in teaching these past eight years.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 37 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful student and teacher resource August 5, 2010

By Nina Antze

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

This is a book that many of us who do Botanical Illustration in colored pencil have been waiting for- a real workbook for the pencil artist. Wendy is an experienced teacher and provides simple, clear lessons not only on colored pencil techniques but on basic nature drawing and creating form. There is also a good section on color theory. The book is packed with delicious colored illustrations of a variety of plants and fruits some wonderfully exotic. I was inspired by her section on dissections and creating compositions showing the reproductive parts of plants. The book is a great teaching tool with lots of step by step exercises. It is definitely very inspiring for the beginning artist and the experienced painter.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Botanical Drawing in Color November 24, 2011

By Ginny Mapes VINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

As an artist, I always encourage my students to look at the real object, if possible-- be it a flower, leaf, plant, bird, or animal. I do want them to use their "artistic eye" and really study what they are seeing. This gives them a scientifically accurate frame of reference on which to base their drawings. Author, illustrator Wendy Hollender does the same thing in her book, Botanical Drawing in Color: A Basic Guide to Mastering Realistic Form and Naturalistic Color. She is the coordinator of botanical art and illustration at the New York Botanical Garden, the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, and the National Tropical Botanical Garden. In her book, she gives readers step-by-step instructions. Each lesson increases in complexity to build your skills. She describes form first, color second. She wants the reader to feel comfortable with the use of color before she introduces color theory. She wants the reader to feel comfortable with the process of drawing before she introduces perspective. She has many lessons marked with a green art nouveau style leaf. The lesson will require you to do something other than just reading the text. Each lesson is like an exercise to warm the reader/artist up. She starts out with the very basic--how to sharpen your pencil! She shows examples of historic botanical prints as well as the modern Vera textile designs. She suggests, "Do not strive to copy my illustrations, but rather learn my techniques and use them to create a realistic version of the plant...in your own style."

She encourages her students to slow down, observe closely, learn step-by-step. A very well-written and beautifully illustrated book. A must for every artist.

16 of 19 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Botanicals with personality! August 24, 2010

By Jeanne P. Stano

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

I fell in love with botanical drawing in colored pencil when I discovered Wendy Hollender's article "City in Bloom" in the September 2009 issue of The Artist's magazine. Then I simply had to have her earlier book "Botanical Drawing." I am a volunteer at The NY Botanical Gardens, and an art student with a thirst for "how to" instruction on the transformation of living botanicals into works of art. In this regard Ms. Hollender's "Botanical Drawing in Color" is a must have! The drawing illustrations and techniques she shares with the readers make the reproduction of the botanicals seem possible even for students new to botanical art. Each of the book's pictured botanicals appears to have a personality of its own. The artist talented enough to capture this personality on paper ultimately produces colorful botanical portraits. The myriad drawing techniques sprinkled throughout this book unfold for the readers like a child's pop-up book...splashed with vibrant color and realism. It is a delightful book that will appeal to artists of all levels, or simply the reader with a deep love and passion for nature.