The authors of this book, Rosie Martin and Meriel Thurstan, run annual painting workshops at the Eden Project in Cornwall, UK — the largest greenhouse garden in the world ! This book is based on their course and is ideal for beginners as each chapter is like a class; it teaches techniques and then progresses to exercises and themes for you to work on in the next chapters.

The book starts off with how to set up your own studio space for drawing flowers and plants, and recommendations for materials you need. They mention a few brands that you could try, which I found helpful as a beginner! Their recommended colours are not listed according to their real pigment names but by the names used by two brands, Schminke-Horadam and Winsor & Newton. This worked for me as I eventually bought Winsor & Newton watercolours.

Chapter 1 & 2 teaches the basics of drawing botanical illustrations. It discusses textures, forms and shapes commonly found in plants and flowers, and gives tips on observing your object. This section on drawing might be too basic for some, but I found it an enjoyable read and helpful in terms of things to look out for particularly when drawing botany (not just flowers but also fruits and vegetables). Seemingly out of place, Chapter 3 talks about drawing roots! This is an example of their implementing exercises right after a chapter on techniques, and is probably the sequence of their live workshops.

The author then goes into colour. As a beginner, I didn’t know that cool and warm colours mix very differently, till I saw the examples in the book. Included are some color mixing exercises, and even a page on how to create the right shade of green suitable for painting plants. Like most botanical illustrators, their main media is watercolour. The  provide some great examples of washes, and how they can go wrong! Again, there are a couple of exercises that you could try to get the hang of it.

The next few chapters cover tones, shadows, highlights and details, all in the context of painting botany. They are full of tips and techniques (for example, on how to achieve highlights) and are accompanied by beautiful examples. More practical exercises and useful tips follow, falling under different themes for each chapter (e.g. daffodils, autumn, white flowers, pinecones). They really cover a wide range of themes, and you’re bound to find these chapters useful when you approach the subject.

This book is really chock full of inspirational art! There are tonnes more of what I’ve shown here. Out of the 144 pages, a large majority are illustrations, but there is just enough text to make it useful. When I first bought the book and went through it, I was not drawing or painting flowers yet, and therefore did not find the lessons and tips useful. It was not till I started trying to paint flowers that I could fully appreciate the book for what it had — practical exercises and excellent guidance! It’s a book I can recommend to budding botanical illustrators. : )

You can find it at:

The Book Depository: US$17.79

Amazon US : US$17.96

Amazon UK: £8.26

But apart from the eye-candy, there is also lots to learn from this book, for both the beginner and advanced bird sketcher. There is a whole chapter dedicated to the form and anatomy of birds. There is a very useful chapter on birds and water, with tips about reflections and movements. And of course, a chapter on birds flying! John Busby also discusses general aspects of bird watching and bird drawing in separate chapters and throughout the book.

This book is not a step-by-step guide on how to draw birds from imagination. While tips and advice for drawing birds are provided, they are not technical instructions. Drawing Birds encourages you to understand the way of birds, and draw them by observation. It really encourages and inspires reader to get out there and put pen to paper! I know that Drawing Birds will be a lifelong reference and inspiration for my bird drawing endeavours.

Summary: A must-have for bird and wildlife artists! Get it for the advice, inspiration and beautiful art!

Further reviews an be read on Amazon US and Amazon UK

Drawings Birds is available from all these online stores:

Book Depository : US$22.47 (free worldwide shipping)
Amazon US : US$13.57
Amazon UK : £12.99

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