Karen Kluglein Drawing & Painting Botanicals For Artists

DRAWING & PAINTING

BOTANICALS
FOR ARTISTS

328550 - Drawing and Painting Botanicals_001-144.indd 1 24/3/20 4:59 PM

Title: 328550 - Drawing and Painting Botanicals
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DRAWING & PAINTING
BOTANICALS
FOR ARTISTS
How to Create Beautifully Detailed
Plant and Flower Illustrations
KAREN KLUGLEIN

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Text and Photography © 2020 Karen Kluglein
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ISBN: 978-1-63159-857-9
Digital edition published in 2020

eISBN: 978-1-63159-858-6
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Kluglein, Karen, author.

Title: Drawing and painting botanicals for artists : how to create
beautifully detailed plant and flower illustrations / Karen Kluglein.
Description: Beverly, MA, USA : Rockport Publishers, 2020. | Includes
bibliographical references and index. | Summary: “Drawing and Painting
Botanicals for Artists offers artists at all skill levels a
comprehensive survey of drawing and painting mediums and techniques,
along with guidance for creating accurate, detailed, and beautiful
botanical artworks”-- Provided by publisher.
Identifiers: LCCN 2020002537 | ISBN 9781631598579 | ISBN 9781631598586
(eISBN)
Subjects: LCSH: Botanical illustration--Technique.
Classification: LCC QK98.24 K59 2020 | DDC 581--dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020002537
Design: Samantha J. Bednarek

Cover Image: Karen Kluglein
Page Layout: Samantha J. Bednarek
Photography: Karen Kluglein and Shutterstock on page 72 and 124
Illustration: Karen Kluglein
Printed in China

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Dedicatin
To my two artistic parents
who were always an inspiration
and forever encouraging.

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Cntents
INTRODUCTION 8
Learning to See, Learning to Draw 8
Consider the Subject 9
1 2
Key Terms 10
DRAWING PAINTING
Botanicals Botanicals
MEDIUMS AND SUPPLIES 16 MEDIUMS AND SUPPLIES 64
Graphite Pencils 16 Watercolors 64
Colored Pencils 18 Gouache 70
Fine Point Markers 20 Paintbrushes 72
Silverpoint 22 Painting Surfaces 73
Paper 24
ESSENTIAL PAINTING TECHNIQUES 74
Erasers 25
Color Mapping 74
Pencil Sharpeners 25
Washes 76
ESSENTIAL DRAWING TECHNIQUES 26 Layering 77
Live Specimen 26 Gradations 78
Working from Photographs 27 Drybrush in Watercolor 81
Loose Gestural Drawing 28 Lifting 88
Precise Measuring 30 Overlaps 90
Values, Shadows, and Highlights 35 Correcting Mistakes and Making Revisions 91
Gradations 38 Details and Finishing 96
Lifting Graphite 39 Adding Personality 106
DRAWING SUBJECTS AND MEDIUMS 40 PAINTING SUBJECTS 108

Drawing Leaves 40 Painting Leaves 108
Drawing Flowers and Petals 45 Painting Flowers and Petals 117
Drawing Fruits and Berries 51 Painting Fruits and Berries 128
Drawing Stems and Branches 54 Painting Stems and Branches 134
Final Thoughts 136

Resources 139
Acknowledgments 140
About the Author 140
Index 141

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Intrductin
In botanical art, we’re enhancing what we see in the
LEARNING TO SEE,
LEARNING TO DRAW
specimen before us. The bend of a stem or curve of
a leaf can be changed to artfully portray our subject.
What helped me most when I was a young student
We begin with scientific accuracy, being mindful of
were the many hours I spent drawing.
extracting details in every possible way. But then the
My high school had an experimental program that
artistic part comes in and we can take some liberties to
gave students free time during the day to use as
make the image our own.
they wished. The hope was that the time would be
There are no shortcuts with this style of botanical art.
used constructively in something that interested
Botanical drawings show minute detail and bring out
them. It enabled me to spend many hours drawing in
form and textures in much the same way as painting;
sketchbooks and exploring numerous mediums
the only difference is the medium used.
in the art room.
It can be labor-intensive, especially with the
Drawing for hours on end trains your eye and develops
watercolor finishing work of details and drybrush.
hand-eye coordination. You’re able to look at something
Watercolor, though known to be a difficult medium to
in front of you and immediately know how you’d go
work with—after all, we’re trying to control water!—is
about representing it. You’ll know the angle of a line
also quite adaptable. There’s no one correct way or rule
needed or how to mimic a curve. You’ll know how dark
to approach this. Whatever works for you and gives you
or light something should be and how to make correct
the results you want is fine. But here, I show what works
proportions and perspective. Little by little, your work
for me. I’ve tried to provide the information, tips, and
will improve. This ability just takes practice and time,
tricks that I know, and I hope you find something to take
and eventually, it will come naturally.
away from this book.
The slow process used can be meditative and
relaxing, so enjoy it as you go and remember that
practice makes perfect!
Train your eye with simple shapes and then gradually try drawing more complicated objects.
8 DRAWING & PAINTING BOTANICALS FOR ARTISTS

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“August Peach” watercolor on paper 8" x 10" (20.3 cm x 25.4 cm)
CONSIDER THE SUBJECT taking detailed notes. These notes can be in the form of
written words as well as small graphite or colored pencil
Choose something with an attractive shape, maybe
sketches that explain what you see before you. They’re for
a lyrical curved stem or petal or the delicate filigree
your eyes only, just to remind you of your observations.
of a dried autumn leaf. It makes the task easier when
For more on working from a live specimen versus a
you find a personal connection to your subject and
photo, see pages 26-27.
feel strongly about portraying it. Working with a real
specimen, as opposed to a photo, is of paramount
importance to convey the accuracy needed in botanical
drawing. Photos may be taken and used as reference
when the blossom has faded, but they aren’t a reliable
substitute for seeing the real thing in front of you and

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“Slipper Orchid” Cypripedium reginae watercolor on vellum 7" x 7" (17.8 cm x 17.8 cm)
KEY TERMS • Background: The part of the artwork that appears to

be farthest from the viewer (opposite of foreground).
I’ve included these brief definitions of botanical
subjects and the art materials and techniques featured • Bloom: A natural waxy, dusky blue protective coating
in this book so you can familiarize yourself with the on the surface of some fruit.
terminology used throughout.
• Blotting: The process of removing pigment with an
• Ambient color: The reflected color from what absorbent material from the painting’s surface.
surrounds the subject.
• Botanical art: Artwork that’s botanically and
• Archival: A material that’s especially permanent and scientifically accurate but that emphasizes aesthetic.
acid-free so it will withstand time.
• Botanical art: Artwork that’s botanically and
• Atmospheric perspective: A method of creating the scientifically accurate but emphasizes aesthetic
illusion of depth in artwork. As objects recede into the value and doesn’t include all the information needed
distance, they may become less clear and have less by a botanist for identification. See also Botanical
contrast and color. illustration and Floral painting.

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• Botanical illustration: Artwork that emphasizes • Floral painting: Artwork focused primarily on
scientific accuracy and includes all the important presenting a pleasing rendering and less on scientific
aspects of a plant for identification. It may also accuracy. A floral painting may include a background
include the plant’s life cycle and dissections. See also or have an impressionistic style. See also Botanical
Botanical art and Floral painting. art and Botanical illustration.
• Burnishing: A technique of blending with a colorless • Foreground: This is the part of the artwork that
or light pencil (after a colored pencil drawing is appears to be closest to the viewer (the opposite
complete), until none of the paper’s tooth, or texture, of background).
shows through.
• Foreshortened: The perspective of an object seen at
• Cold-pressed paper: Paper manufactured with a a distorted angle, often coming towards the viewer.
bumpy textured surface.
• Form: An element that has length, width, and
• Color mapping: The technique of placing different depth and appears three dimensional.
colors in different areas of your drawing or painting.
• Gesso: A water-based paint used to create a hard
• Complementary color: Two colors on opposite sides of surface to draw or paint on.
the color wheel (for example, red and green or orange
• Gestural: An energetic, expressive sweep of the
and blue).
artist’s hand deliberately emphasizing movement.
• Composition: The placement or arrangement of visual
• Gouache: A water-based paint with an opaque quality
elements in an artwork.
that comes from white pigment or chalk in the paint.
• Contour: The outline that defines a form,
• Gradation: A gradual change in value from dark
figure, or body.
to light, one color hue to another, or one texture to
• Contrast: The placement of opposites (light and dark, another. A gradation can occur over a short or large
rough and smooth, large and small) in a piece of art to span but should be smooth.
create visual interest and drama.
• Graphite: A form of carbon found in the lead of a
• Crosshatching: The application of layers of lines with pencil compressed to varying degrees of hardness.
pencil or paint going in different directions.
• Hand-eye coordination: The ability of your eye to
• Daylight bulb: A full-spectrum lightbulb that emulates coordinate the information received to control and
the quality of natural daylight. direct your hands in the accomplishment of a given
task, such as drawing or painting.
• Depth: The apparent distance from near to
far in artwork. • Helping hands tool: A tool with adjustable movable
clips used to keep your specimen in place.
• Dimension: The perception of when a shape seems
to stand out from surrounding space or creates the • Highlight: An area or spot that’s highly illuminated.
illusion of being solid.
• Hot-pressed paper: This is paper manufactured with
• Divider: An adjustable tool, similar to a compass, that a smooth surface finish.
has points at both ends and is used for measuring.
• Illustration board: Surface made by mounting sheets
• Drybrush: A watercolor painting technique that uses a of drawing paper on both sides of a stiff backing,
small amount of water to draw with the brush. such as a heavyweight paperboard.
• Fine-point markers: These are drawing pens of varying • Kneaded eraser (putty rubber): A soft eraser that can
size and color with free-flowing ink. be shaped by hand and used to remove graphite.
• Fixative: A liquid that’s usually sprayed over a finished • Lifting: The process of removing medium (paint or
piece of artwork to preserve it and prevent smudging. graphite) from the painting’s surface.
Introduction 11

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• Lightfastness: The ability to resist UV rays and fading, • Sepal: A leaf-shaped structure that’s found in
core durability, and resistance to water. flowering plants.
• Local color: This is the color of the object itself. • Shadow: A shadow is a dark area where light is
It’s the color that isn’t changed by light, shadow, blocked by an opaque object.
or reflections.
• Silverpoint: The technique of drawing with a silver wire
• Mapping: The technique of defining areas of differing on a prepared surface, which can be either a gessoed
colors in your art. board or paper.
• Masking fluid: A liquid product that’s applied to the • Specimen: A sample of a flower or plant that you use
painting’s surface where it dries and repels paint. as your subject. Botanical artists collect specimens
so they can get a better look at something to study it.
• Mottling: When a surface has irregular spots of
varying values and sizes it’s referred to as mottled. • Staining: Refers to those colors of paint that can’t
easily be removed and leave a “stain.”
• Opaque: When light does not easily pass through
a surface or paint, it’s called opaque. • Style: When artwork is distinctive and recognizable to
a particular artist, it’s considered the artist’s style.
• Palette: A surface on which to put and mix
your paints. • Technique: The method, procedure, or way something
is done. For example, the “technique” of drybrush.
• Papillae: Tiny outgrowths located on the surface of
a petal or a leaf. • Tonal color: The color that’s lighter or darker than the
local color—the colors that have changed as a result
• Perspective: A system or process of representing
of light hitting the subject.
the way elements appear to get smaller and closer
together the farther away they are from the viewer. • Tone: Another word for value, the lightness or
darkness of a color.
• Pigment: The coloring ingredient of paint that’s
insoluble and when applied, impart their color by • Tracing paper: A thin, transparent paper used to
staying on the surface. sketch and make revisions before transferring to the
drawing or painting surface.
• Plate finish: This is a paper having an extremely
smooth finish that’s made using a metal plate. • Transfer paper: A carbon paper used to apply
a drawing to another surface.
• Proportion and scale: The size, location, or amount of
one element in relation to another in the artwork. They • Translucent: When light can pass through a material,
help the viewer to make sense of the artwork. it’s translucent.
• Reducing glass: A glass lens that allows you to see • Values: The lightness or darkness of tones and colors.
your artwork from a distance perspective of reduced
• Vellum: A prepared animal skin used to paint on that’s
size, like a magnifying glass in reverse.
archival and gives the artwork translucence.
• Reference: These are the supplies you can refer
• Wash: A solution made by diluting paint with water.
back to when drawing or painting. They can be your
specimen, written color notes, and photos. • Watercolor: A fluid and transparent water
painting medium that contains pigments in
• Reflected light: Light that bounces from a source or
a water-based solution.
surface other than the primary light source.
• Scientific accuracy: This is artwork that’s scientifically

and botanically correct. Parts of the specimen are
portrayed in an accurate way so that the plant can be
identified.

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“Narcissus Bulb”
Narcissus papyraceus
silverpoint
4.5" (11.5 cm) high

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1
DRAWING
Botanicals
Proficiency in drawing is by far the most
important quality needed in creating
traditional botanicals. Hours spent
observing and drawing what you see will
be of enormous benefit later when you
work with the added complexities
of applying paint.
With drawing, we can eliminate those
questions and concerns and focus on
what we see in the specimen before us.
Choose a simply shaped flower or leaf that
appeals to you. You’re going to be looking
at it for a long time. Look through your
garden; have your eyes open during a walk
in the woods or even in the produce aisle
at the grocery store. You never know when
you’ll find that perfect peach to draw!
15

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mediums and supplies
What’s nice about drawing is that the supplies are simple,
inexpensive, and easy to transport.
H pencils are
hard, B pencils
are soft, and an
HB pencil is in
the middle.
GRAPHITE PENCILS pencil is soft and will leave a dark mark;

an 8B pencil will be much softer and
Graphite pencils are graded numerically
leave a significantly darker mark. An HB
to identify their hardness or softness
pencil is the same as a standard No. 2
and how they will respond on your paper.
pencil and is in the middle of the hard
Soft pencils have a lower clay content
and soft pencils range on the scale.
and appear darker, while hard pencils will
For the purposes of botanical drawing,
leave a lighter mark. For this reason, soft
a softer pencil like an HB or B can be
pencils will need to be sharpened more
used for a more gestural loose sketch.
often, whereas with a hard pencil, you
When more precise lines are needed, a
can obtain a very sharp point that will
harder pencil such as a number 2H can
last a long time. The letter H indicates a
be used. Generally, I only use a select few
hard pencil, and the letter B designates
pencils: an HB, a 2H, a 6H, and an F. Each
the blackness of the pencil’s mark and
is used for a different purpose.
is a softer lead. The higher the number
indicated on the pencil, the harder it
is. For example, a 2H pencil will leave a
light mark, whereas a 9H pencil will be
significantly harder and lighter. A 2B

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Peony (Paeonia) was drawn
with a single graphite
pencil #F which can
produce darks and lights
and makes a sharp point.

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COLORED PENCILS
Colored pencils have a core of colored
pigment and an outer wood casing. They
may be made of wax, pigments, binding
agents, and additives. They may be
oil-based or water-soluble. Artist-grade
pencils have a higher concentration of
pigments than student-grade pencils.
They are graded for lightfastness, which
is the ability to resist UV rays and fading,
core durability, and resistance to water.

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Burnt Ochre Ultramarine Permanent
Green Olive
Purple
Cream Violet
Venetian Red
Heliotrope
Cadmium
Burnt Sienna Yellow
Purple Red-Violet
Light Yellow
Dark Sepia
Ochre
Dark
Dark Indigo Cadmium Chrome
Lemon Yellow Yellow
Dark
Dark Blue May Green Cadmium
Orange
Pale
Purple Violet Earth Green Geranium
Lake
Light Cobalt Light Green

Turquoise Ivory
Cobalt Chrome White

Turquoise Oxide Green
Phthalo Blue Hooker’s Green
Faber-Castell colored pencils (opposite) and a color chart to use as reference when choosing colors.

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Fine tip markers
are available in
different colors
and varying sizes.
FINE POINT
MARKERS
Fine point markers are available in
different thicknesses and colors and are
a convenient replacement for the pen and
ink used years ago. No longer are drips
and spatters a concern. Good quality
pens will be archival, fade-resistant,
and smudge-, water-, and bleedproof,
meaning that they won’t bleed through
the paper. Pens are available in different
colors and come in a range of tip, or nib,
sizes from 005, which is the smallest, to
08, which is the largest.

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A garlic bulb
drawn with fine
point marker.
Drawing Botanicals 21

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“Scottish Thistle”
Onopordum Acanthium
silverpoint on paper
9.5" x 12" (24.1 cm x 30.5 cm)
SILVERPOINT
Silverpoint is the technique of drawing
with a thin silver wire on a prepared
surface, which can be either a gessoed
board or prepared silverpoint paper.
If you want to prepare a board
yourself, paint a piece of Masonite with
a few coats of gesso. Once dry, sand
until smooth. For beginners, I would
recommend a clay-coated silverpoint
paper since there’s no prep work. You can
fashion a thin silver wire in a mechanical
pencil and sharpen it on sandpaper
to get a point, or you can purchase a
silverpoint pencil. Silverpoint isn’t easily
erased, and in fact, I don’t even try to do
so because it can leave a mark on the
paper. Begin with light lines and increase
pressure slowly. The lines are sensitive
and incredibly delicate. The sharp tip
will make a very fine line when held
perpendicular to the surface.

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Drawing with the silver wire on its side will produce a wider line.
Using more pressure will make a darker line.
Indian Pipe (Monotropa uniflora). A silverpoint drawing You can also go over areas again and again to make additional
will always be subtle and delicate. Over time, the silver/gray layers and darken values, though the final results will never be
drawing will tarnish to a warm sepia. as dark as graphite.

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Saral paper is a brand of
graphite paper that is used PAPER Transfer Paper Transfer paper, also
known as graphite paper, is used to
to transfer your sketch to Drawing papers are distinguished by
your finished drawing or transfer your final sketch to the finished
painting surface. the tooth, or texture, they have and the
art surface. The paper is placed between
weight, or thickness, they are.
Above right: It can be
the two surfaces with the transfer paper’s
difficult to get an even While a hot-pressed paper is smooth,
tone on rough-textured graphite side down then the sketch is
drawing paper. A paper
a cold-pressed paper has texture.
traced with a 6H pencil and transferred.
with a smooth surface Graphite will settle into the crevices of
is more suitable for a Silverpoint Silverpoint adheres to a
realistic drawing. a cold-pressed paper, but it will glide on
smooth gessoed surface which can
top of a hot-pressed paper. For detailed
take some work to prepare. Alternatively,
work, which is what botanical artists are
paper made specifically may be
looking to achieve, I would recommend
purchased. The paper’s surface is very
a hot-pressed paper. A straight line
smooth. Note that silverpoint cannot
looks more exact and straighter on the
easily be erased.
smooth paper as opposed to going into
the hills and valleys of a cold-pressed
paper. Using harder pencils results in
more precise lines, whereas softer lead
pencils tend to make less-defined lines
and more dust!
Tracing paper can be used when you
want to contemplate positioning of
elements in your drawing. For example, a
leaf can be drawn on the tracing paper
and the angle of it repositioned until
you’re satisfied with how it looks before
you add it to your drawing.

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ERASERS
There are many different types of erasers
available, but I really only use two or
three. My two favorites are the standard
gray kneaded eraser, sometimes called
putty rubber, or a Sakura electric battery
powered eraser, the SumoGrip® EE-3000
Electric Eraser. The kneaded eraser is
versatile as it can be fashioned into a
point to pick up lead in a small space
or pressed down in a blotting fashion
to carefully remove graphite from a
wider surface. By kneading the eraser
every once in a while, the eraser exposes
another clean surface ready to pick up
more lead. The Sakura electric eraser
works like magic in picking up graphite
in a tiny area. Because this eraser spins
in one small space, you can pick up
the area you want to remove without
disturbing the rest of your drawing. The
third eraser that can be helpful is the
Tombow MONO zero precision eraser. It
too has a tiny eraser, but it’s a manual
tool, as you yourself provide the motion
to remove the graphite.
PENCIL
SHARPENERS Sharpeners and erasers.
Shown here are the Stadler,
There are numerous types of pencil and Muji pencil sharpeners,
and Sakura, Mono Tombo
sharpeners on the market for both
and kneaded erasers.
graphite and colored pencils. Many
sharpeners work well to achieve a
decent point on a graphite pencil. To
make the point even sharper, rub the
side of the point on a fine-grade
sandpaper. For colored pencils, the
MUJI Manual Pencil Sharpener works
well and will give you a sharp point.

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essential drawing
techniques
Spending time drawing will be most beneficial to you but there are techniques
and tools that can help your work to advance, be more precise, and make your
practice more enjoyable. Your reference materials, drawing techniques, and the
actual set-up of your workspace all affect the final result of your work.
A photo may
be helpful to
see how light
creates shadows
and highlights
on your subject.
It may, however,
fail to portray
tiny hairs on a
stem, and this
is where your
notes come
into play. They
can help you
remember colors
and textures
that may not be
seen in a photo.
LIVE SPECIMEN tape. I’ve kept flowers, such as tulips,

for many days with this method.
The most important thing needed in
After they were carefully held closed
creating botanicals is our live specimen.
with Scotch tape (sticky side out) in
We want to keep our live subject alive
the fridge overnight, they slowly opened
for as long as possible! Put your flower
once again the next day, enabling
in a refrigerator overnight to keep it
many more hours to paint!
fresh. Don’t leave it in a warm room or in
sunlight. You might even want to coax
opened petals closed again with twine or

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WORKING FROM Most often, photographing in bright In this photo, you can see how
PHOTOGRAPHS
placing something white behind
shade works best, but take many photos your subject makes it easier to
in different locations. Choose a sunny isolate it from the background.
Photos should be considered just
day, but in an evenly shaded location
another tool to help see your botanical
(not dappled light). You’ll find that taking
subject accurately. They are never to be
them in sunlight will give you shadows
a substitute for seeing the real thing.
that are too harsh. Make sure the form of
Nuances of color and detail are often not
your subject is emphasized and does
accurate in a photo, but having a photo
not look flat. Take many photos at
for reference can help to remember the
various angles. Different elements of
highlights and shadows on your flower
the plant can always be put together
before it wilts! Do make sure you’re
in the sketch stage (remember to be
taking the best photo possible. Choose
accurate to the plant). Always keep in
your subject carefully, without broken or
mind that if something looks strange
bent petals. Place a large white piece of
in the photo, it will undoubtedly look
cardboard behind the subject. This will
strange in your artwork!
help to show how the light hits the edges
of your flower or leaves and which are
dark and which are highlighted.

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LOOSE GESTURAL Once you’re satisfied with your basic
DRAWING loose composition and your sketch

becomes more detailed and complete,
A loose gestural sketch is a good way to
you can use tracing paper to transfer it
plan the placement of elements in your
to the surface you’ll be painting on. The
design. I often make a sketch on tracing
finished detailed outline sketch should
paper to visualize different compositions.
indicate any shadows and the most
One simple trick is the rule of thirds,
predominant details, such as veining and
where the paper is divided into three
bumps. This mapping of important areas
sections, both horizontally and vertically,
will help guide you when you begin your
and the primary element is placed where
final piece.
the lines intersect. Also consider how the
viewer will look at your art, how their eye
will travel through the image, and where
the weightier elements will be placed.
At this beginning stage, you can create
movement and emphasize the most
important elements you want to portray.

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These sketches show the progression from
loose gestural to a more refined image used to
transfer to the painting surface.

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5
4B
4A
3A
1A
2 3B
1B
Supplies PRECISE The drawing supplies you’ll need are
MEASURING
dividers or a clear ruler, an HB pencil, a
1. Dividers (A) or a
kneaded eraser, pencil sharpener, and a
clear ruler (B) Drawing precisely from life entails lots
smooth hot-pressed drawing paper.
2. HB pencil of measuring to create a drawing similar
3. Eraser, electric (A) in size to your actual subject. For a
or kneaded (B)
Setting Up
more contemporary feel, some botanical
When drawing from a live specimen,
4. Pencil sharpener, artists push the scale of their art to be
it’s important to set up your workspace
manual (A) or larger, but for our purposes of explaining
so that you’re comfortable, have good
hand crank (B) drawing from life, we will be drawing very
lighting, and have a white background
5. Feather close to the size of the subject in front
behind your subject. Doing everything
of us. By measuring and lots of erasing
you can to simplify the image you’re
and adjusting, an exact drawing of your
looking at will be beneficial.
subject can be achieved. This rewarding
If you want cast shadows, place the
concept entails lots of practice. Once it
object on a flat white surface. If not,
clicks, you’ll understand this concept of
raise your subject up and position a
measuring and drawing from life, and at
flat white background behind it. A piece
some point, you should even be able to
of foam core on a picture easel can
make informed decisions as to correct
be helpful. Use your imagination as to
proportions!
how to hold your subject in place. A
There’s no steadfast rule as to where
vase, a flower frog, or a helping hands
to start measuring, but I can tell you
tool—adjustable devices with clips for
what works best for me.
holding objects while your own hands

Text Page: 30
are occupied—all work well. Place tape helpful to secure everything in place Options for setting up and
arranging your drawing
across the top of your vase to secure with tape. subjects—flower frog, vase, and
delicate stems. helping hands—plus transparent
tape for keeping them in place.
Use an adjustable lamp with a daylight • Don’t forget to take a photo of your
Above right: I prefer to work
bulb. Positioning it from the upper-front subject. Put a piece of white paper
vertically rather than flat on
left often looks the most natural. behind it so there are no background a table, so I can see what I’m
drawing most similarly to how
Before you begin, decide where you distractions and the darks and lights I see the subject in front of me.
would like to position your subject on of the edges will be clear. A piece of A tabletop easel at an 80- to
85-degree angle works well
your paper, as it can be frustrating foam core on a picture stand works for this.
to find out later that you can’t fit well for this. Make sure your camera
everything on your page. First consider is angled exactly the same way that
the size of the entire specimen, then you’re going to be looking at your
determine its placement on the page. subject while drawing. This photo will
be invaluable because your flower or
• Arrange your subject just as you want plant will inevitably shift with time!
it to appear on the page. Be aware of
any elements, such as leaves, that may
look too foreshortened or odd. If you
can position your subject in a pleasing
way, this is the time to do it because
from this point on, we don’t want to
move anything! For this reason, it’s

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The climbing hydrangea leaf
has distinct veining, irregular
The Measuring Process 4. Picture the numbers on a clock and
contours, and serrated edges. 1. Sit a comfortable distance from your superimpose those numbers onto the
The contours and veining become glass in front of your specimen. Let’s say
most apparent when the leaf is
subject so that when you extend your
lit from the side. slightly bent arm towards it, you’re about the angle of that line you’ve measured
3 inches (7.6 cm) from the subject. If goes from the 11:00 position to the
you’re right-handed, use your left hand 4:00 position. You would then take your
to measure. dividers or ruler to your drawing paper at
that same 11:00 to 4:00 angle and put
2. Imagine a flat vertical plane in front a dot with an HB pencil on your paper at
of the subject at this 3-inch (7.6 cm) those two positions. Be sure to double-
distance—as if there were a vertical piece check this measurement. Then, go to
of glass 3 inches (7.6 cm) in front of the the next largest span in your subject
subject. Each time you measure, you’ll and repeat the process. Go up to your
be bringing your slightly bent arm up to imaginary glass, measure two points, and
this flat vertical plane. (If this all seems then figure out what angle on the clock it
confusing to you, practice measuring a is. Mimic that angle on your paper. Then,
simple small box instead of a flower until compare and check the first two points
you understand the concept.) you put down on the paper to the second
two. Repeat until you’ve documented your
3. Make sure to use a sharp HB pencil. subject’s critical drawing points. See figs.
Raise your dividers or clear ruler up to A–F for examples of essential measuring
the longest span in your subject (for spans on a leaf:
example, across the diameter of a flower • the entire width (A)
from tip to tip of the longest petals). • each half from the midrib to the edge
Remember to keep your dividers or ruler (B and C)
on the same plane as the imaginary • from the center to the tip of the
glass. This is the single most difficult stem (D)
concept for students to grasp when • from the center to the base where the
drawing and measuring from life. The stem emerges (E)
more natural inclination is to angle the • from the center to the tip of the
dividers when measuring and to actually leaf (F)
touch the flower you’re assessing, but
that isn’t the correct technique.

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A B
C D
E F

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Many variables can prevent things
from measuring up correctly, so a lot of
erasing and double-checking can go on.
A feather or makeup brush can whisk
the frazzles away. Keep in mind that this
is a slow, deliberate process that can’t
be rushed.
Mimic the curves you see between the dots.

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Notice where light hits
the surface of this leaf,
creating highlights, shadows,
and dimension.
VALUES, The goal in a successful drawing or
SHADOWS, AND
painting is to have a full range of values.
HIGHLIGHTS
Dark values should be in harmony with
light values and have a full range in
Value is the lightness or darkness of between. Dark values add depth to
tones and colors. In something that’s your subject, and without contrast, your
black and white, the highlight is white, work will appear flat and lack realism.
the shadow is black, and the mid tone The full range of tonal values will make
is a middle gray. This middle gray or your work sing.
local value is the essential value of the
subject without the addition of shadows
or highlights. When looking at something
in color, it’s easiest to visualize its
value in black and white without the
distraction of color.

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Dark, In graphite, highlights may have a light
medium, and
light tones tone or maybe even no graphite at all.
with an The darkest shadows can be achieved
HB pencil.
with a softer pencil or by layering or
applying more pressure. You can practice
values in graphite by using a single HB
pencil and varying the pressure applied.
Dark,
medium,
and light
tones with
colored
pencil.
Values and Overlapping

As shown in this graphite drawing, an overlapping leaf
may be darker or lighter than the leaf below, depending
on contours and lighting.

Text Page: 36
Graphite
drawing of
an orange
showing
shadow,
mid tones,
and highlight.
Drawing
of hibiscus
flower with
colored pencil
showing
shadow,
mid tones,
and highlight.

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GRADATIONS
Gradations are a gradual change in
value from dark to light, one color hue
to another, or one texture to another.
Volume and curved or rounded forms,
space, distance, and atmosphere can
all be created with gradations. For the
purposes of botanical art, we most often
want to recreate the smooth gradations
in a petal or leaf.
To make a smooth gradation with
a graphite pencil, make horizontal
overlapping lines all going in the same
direction. Gradually move your hand
down the page, applying less pressure
and spacing the horizontal lines further
apart as you go. The goal is to have the
darkest value at the top and gradually
fade out at the bottom. When making
these lines, hold the pencil at an angle
An exaggerated gradation shows The gradation becomes
more pressure and lines closer even and smooth by filling so that a wider and softer line is made.
together where it’s darkest. in the lighter areas.
By going over this area repeatedly and
filling in the white areas, a smooth
gradation is created.
The same building up of color After crosshatching to build up

and smoothing done with the colored pencil, use a wax-
colored pencil. based colorless blender pencil
to smooth and fill in the white
spaces in the paper.

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LIFTING GRAPHITE
When you’ve decided a value is too dark
Graphite lifted with the electric
or you want to create a small highlight eraser can make distinct small
or adjust a color, lifting may be the way white spots and lines.
to go. Lifting graphite is easier than

lifting with paint, but the same principle
applies. Removing from a large area is
more difficult than a small one. You have
a choice of erasers to use when lifting
graphite. If you wish to create a white
dot in a dark area, the electric eraser
will quickly pick up all graphite wherever
it touches. If you want a light area that
isn’t as pronounced, a point can be
fashioned from a kneaded eraser and
carefully be worked into the area. The
Effects made with the kneaded
small Tombow MONO precision eraser eraser on the left and Tombow
can do this as well. MONO zero precision eraser on
the right are more subtle.
When lifting graphite from a larger
area, I find flattening the kneaded eraser
and pressing it onto the area you want to
lift works well. You’ll probably need to go
back in to even the tone when doing this.
An electric eraser can also remove
graphite lines from a transferred sketch
on the surface of the paper you’re going
to paint on. The electric eraser is a great
choice because it only disturbs a tiny
area and removes the graphite efficiently.
These same lifitng techniques may
A larger area can be lifted by
also be used with colored pencil but
flattening and pressing the
will not work with fine-tip markers kneaded eraser into the graphite.
or silverpoint.
Supplies
• HB pencil
• Eraser: kneaded, Tombow MONO
precision, or electric

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drawing subjects
and mediums
Various drawing mediums can be used with botanicals. Whether the subject is
delicate or roughly textured, you’ll want to choose a medium that will give you
the desired effect. Most important is to be able to get the detail needed with
the medium you choose.
Before choosing
a leaf to draw, DRAWING LEAVES
be aware of the Because in botanical art we’re aiming
different variables
that distinguish for scientific accuracy, your drawing
them from each
shouldn’t stray from the leaf structure
other. Leaf shape
and arrangement, we’re seeing. This is yet another reason
edges or margins,
and veins or
why it’s important to have the actual
venation patterns subject in front of you as reference and
are all things to
consider. not just a photo, which may not clearly
show all the details you need to see.
Leaves from one

plant may look the
same, but in fact,
each is unique,
so look carefully
and choose the
one with the most
pleasing shape for
your art.

Text Page: 40
Working
Japanese Anemone leaf
(Anemone hupehensis).
in Colored
Pencil
In the drawing
demonstration for the
leaf on pages 42–43,
I use Faber-Castell
colored pencils on
Strathmore 500 Series
Bristol Plate Finish
(hot-pressed) paper,
which is designed to
capture lots of detail.
The same erasers used
for graphite will also
work for colored pencil
(kneaded, Tombow MONO
zero precision eraser, or
electric). A burnishing
pencil may be used
towards the completion
of your drawing to blend
color together. These
Japanese Anemone Leaf Supplies are wax pencils without
in Colored Pencil • Tracing paper color, sometimes called
If you choose a leaf that has varying • 6H pencil colorless blenders. A
texture or color you will have lots of • Hot-pressed Strathmore spray fixative for colored
information to work with and your art Bristol Plate paper pencil can stop smearing.
will be more interesting. That was the • Kneaded eraser
reasoning for choosing this anemone • Tombow MONO zero precision eraser
leaf. The way your leaf is lit will help you or electric eraser
to see the contours of the surface so • MUJI Manual Pencil Sharpener
adjust its placement carefully. • Faber-Castell colored pencils in
the following colors: Light Cobalt
Turquoise, Green Olive, Chrome Oxide
Green, May Green, Purple Violet,
and Heliotrope
• Burnishing colorless pencil

Text Page: 41
1 2
1. Draw the outline of your leaf, including 5. Build up color slowly until the values
Edges
veining, shadows, and any other are where you want them. Defining the
significant markings. Then, transfer it to veining early on will help you stay on
your paper in one of two ways: (1) outline track. Experiment with gently blending
the back side of the drawing with a soft with a paper towel or brush. As you work,
Make sure your drawing’s
graphite pencil, then turn it over, place it be aware of your light source, which
edges accurately reflect
on your paper, and trace over the front; should remain consistent over the hills
your leaf’s shape. If you
or (2) place a sheet of transfer paper and valleys of the leaf’s surface. In this
use a solid line to outline
(Saral) on your surface graphite-side way, you’ll get an even tone.
a leaf, it will look “cut out”
down, place the drawing on top of it, and
and not very realistic.
then trace it. 6. Smaller details like red in the veining
Fading the edges in and
and ochre at the tips of the leaf are
out by making them
2. Using a very sharp pencil, apply a added later.
darker and lighter,
very light layer of color, moving the
and perhaps not so
pencil in just one direction. Build up the 7. As you add more layers, you can
perfect, will heighten
layer slowly, putting hardly any pressure add more pressure. Build up different
a drawing’s realism.
on the pencil. colors in different areas. You may want
to try the small Tombow MONO zero
3. For the second layer, apply lines in the precision eraser to pick up highlights
opposite direction. in small areas. Don’t burnish or apply
lots of pressure until you’re happy with
4. Use this technique to apply colors in the colors you have. Once the surface
various areas as you see them in your has been burnished, it’s difficult to add
subject. This mapping approach defines more color because there’s too little
the contours, shadows, and highlights in tooth, or paper texture, left. When all the
the leaf. Here, I used a pale aqua in the elements—values, colors, and details—
highlight areas, gradually layering darker seem right, your drawing is complete!
greens in the shadows.

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3 4
5 6

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Japanese Anemone
(Anemone hupehensis)
drawn with colored pencil.

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DRAWING
FLOWERS AND
PETALS
Flowers and petals often have a delicate
surface texture with gradations that
indicate their curving shapes. When they
are light in value a delicate touch should
be used. They may have ruffled edges
or have deep veining. Be observant and
mimic what you see.
Anemone coronaria drawn

with graphite.

Text Page: 45
transferred with light lines to your final
drawing paper. By using this method,
there are no excess pencil lines, erasure
marks, or damage to the paper.
2. Using a No. F pencil, fill in the bumps,

or papillae, and any predominant veining.
Begin shading in the darkest creases
of the petal, moving the pencil in the
direction of the creases. Hold the pencil
point at a little bit of an angle to the
surface of the paper, to make a softer line
that will easily blend. Continue following
the natural direction of the petal. To make
the darkest spots, hold the pencil point at
a more perpendicular angle to the paper
and apply more pressure.
3. Once the dark areas are in, use a 2H

pencil for the lighter shadow areas. Fill in
and smooth the shadows already drawn
with the No. F pencil. Then, continue
to add darks to the veining, spots, and
papillae. Pay particular attention to the
Lily Petal in Graphite light edges of the petal and where they
Choose an interesting petal with both
fade in and out of space. In the lightest
dark and light colors and distinguishing
areas, there may be barely any graphite.
details, like the lily (genus Lilium) flower
petal above.
4. Continue to add layers of graphite
to build up values and bring out the
Supplies
shape of the petal. The petal becomes
• Tracing paper
more realistic as we darken and create
• HB, 3B, No. F, 2H, and 6H pencils
contrast. The fine lines going in the
• Hot-pressed drawing paper
direction of the petal’s growth creates a
(Arches Illustration Board used here)
delicate texture, while darker and more
• Kneaded eraser
defined lines create the small protrusions
on the petal’s surface.
1. Draw the outline of your petal on
tracing paper, highlighting the most
predominant details, such as veining
and spots, and any shadowed areas.
Next, transfer your outline to a piece
of hot-pressed paper. To transfer, use a
soft 3B graphite pencil and trace over
the lines on the back of your tracing
paper, turn the paper over, place on your
final drawing paper, and trace over the
tracing paper once again with a very
sharp 6H pencil. Your drawing will now be

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1 2
3 4

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Beach Rose 1. Draw the leaves and petals one at
in Fine Point Marker a time, comparing the proportions as
I created this beach rose (Rosa rugosa) the drawing progresses. To make the
sketch using both a photo and small thicker lines, hold the marker at an
cutting from the plant for reference. I angle or apply more pressure. To make
chose this subject because the amount the thinner lines, hold the marker at a
of detail involved made it an excellent perpendicular angle to the paper and
choice for an ink drawing. For paper, I apply light pressure.
used a clay coated, sealed, pen and ink
paper. I did not use a graphite sketch 2. Once the main outlines are drawn,
first, but instead drew directly on the add the finer details, showing veining
paper. If you prefer, you can always and contours. Indicate shadows using
make a light sketch on your paper and fine lines and dots. Make the darker
then erase the pencil lines after your ink shadows with dots (stippling) applied
drawing is complete. close together. These shadows bring out
the rounded shape and volume of the
Supplies beach plums and contours of the leaves.
• Clay coated pen and ink paper Because the petals have less detail,
• Micron fine point markers, apply the ink with a lighter touch so that
Nos. 08, 05, and 005 they don’t appear too heavy.

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1

Text Page: 49
The completed marker
drawing shows contours,
lots of texture in the leaves,
and stippled shading.

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DRAWING FRUITS
AND BERRIES
When portraying fruits or berries it is all
about the many distinct textures they
have. A banana has a matte surface
so will not have the well-defined shiny
highlight you would find on a strawberry.
A fruit may have tiny hairs or seeds, be
shiny or have bloom. For me this is what
makes fruits interesting to draw.
Strawberry (Fragaria
ananassa) drawn with
colored pencils.

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Blackberry in Colored Pencil 1
The blackberry was chosen to show how
to create volume in each little segment
with highlights, shadows, and reflected
light. We can control the shiny surface by
adjusting the value of the highlights and
the sharpness of the highlights’ edges.
By doing this, each little segment looks
round, has volume and texture.
Supplies
• Tracing paper
• 6H pencil
• Hot-pressed Strathmore
Bristol Plate paper
• Kneaded eraser
• Tombow MONO zero precision eraser
or electric eraser point begins to dull, use the wider line
• MUJI Manual Pencil Sharpener to cover larger areas. Make lines going
• Faber-Castell colored pencils in the in different directions (crosshatching),
following colors: Dark Sepia, Dark so the lead adheres to the paper, being
Indigo, Pale Geranium Lake, Light careful not to press too hard. Continually
Yellow Ochre, and Pink Carmine turning the pencil will eventually create
• Burnishing colorless pencil another sharp edge without needing to
use a pencil sharpener.
1. The highlights on the blackberry
(genus Rubus) subject will change 5. Use Pale Geranium Lake and Light
with each slight movement, so be Yellow Ochre in the hairs. Layer Dark
sure to take a photo to record the Sepia into the deepest shadows.
original composition.
6. Lightly add Pink Carmine to the

2. Once you finish the outline of each hairs and just a few segments to create
segment, draw in the highlights and pink undertones.
shadows using Dark Indigo in the darkest
shadows. This blackberry has intense 7. Burnishing helps to fill in the tiny
deep blue-black color throughout spaces of white paper and deepen the
most of the berry, so the color mapping values. When your drawing is complete,
process for this subject is simple. you may want to spray it with a fixative
for colored pencil to prevent smearing.
3. Add Dark Sepia over the Dark Indigo A workable fixative spray can also be
to deepen shadows. used while you draw. You can draw on top
of a workable fixative, but you won’t be
4. Use Dark Indigo to draw in gradations, able to remove any pencil lines once it’s
one section at a time, comparing and been sprayed.
mirroring the values you see in your
subject. Since the value of the blackberry
is so dark, use Dark Indigo over the
entire surface of the berry, except for
the whitest highlights. Define the edges
using the sharpest point, and once the

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2 3
4 5
6 7

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DRAWING STEMS
AND BRANCHES
To be honest, stems and branches
are my least favorite, although
necessary, part of a plant to draw or
paint. I would much prefer to portray a
showy colorful flower. Once again, careful
observation of your subject is important
as the details are often not easily
distinguished in a photograph. Because
stems and branches don’t wilt quickly,
you’ll find these easier to maintain and
display than a flower.

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Each stem or branch is unique in
both color and texture.

Text Page: 55
Stems often gradually change in you observe, you’ll try to portray by
appearance as they get closer to the replicating what you see. A shiny stem
flower. Make detailed written notations will have a light highlight; a ribbed
of your observations of these textures stem will have one or more indents
and colors. Notice where leaves come off running the length of the stem; a smooth
the stems, how they are configured, and stem will have even gradations; and a
their distance apart. rough branch will be filled with a lot of
Observe the texture so you can contrasting textures.
accurately convey the way the subject
feels. Is the stem shiny, hairy, ribbed,
or undulating? Whatever texture
To simplify, think of a stem like a long cylindrical shape.

One side will have a shadow, and there will be a lighter highlight running along the length.
The rhododendron (genus Rhododendron) stem has small segments that can be drawn
section by section, detailing the texture you see.

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Long lines going in the direction of growth create shadow in this thick hydrangea
(genus Hydrangea) stem.
Light and shadow give this curving morning glory

(Convolvulaceae family) stem movement. The fuzz on this hairy stem can
be made using a sharp pencil point.

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All three stems
shown together.

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Lichen growing on a branch has lots of irregular and delicate texture to work with.

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Because the details are so
irregular and nondescript, this
Branch in Graphite Here, I’m working from left to right,
drawing is kind of like scribbling. This drawing of a small branch is a quick adding predominant markings, flaking
exercise easily done from life without bark, indents, and protrusions. Use a light
using dividers to measure. Because the touch where the values are lighter. Press
branch is stiff and holds its shape, you down harder with a sharp point where
can hold it carefully with one hand and you see the darkest shadows. A highlight
make a general outline of its proportions and shadow will run along the length of
with the other hand. Then, you can more the branch, so make sure a gradated
accurately draw in the branch’s width shadow is drawn on one side to bring out
just by eyeing it. the cylindrical shape.

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These photos show sections with more detail.
The completed drawing.

Text Page: 61

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2
PAINTING
Botanicals
In botanical painting, we use knowledge
gained from drawing and add in the
complexities of working with fluid color.
Prior to photography, botanical painting
was the only way to document the world’s
varied plant life. Specimens were depicted
accurately for identification purposes, and
the colors used were an important part of
that identification.
Most botanical paintings are created in
watercolor—the medium that was used
most often long ago and is still most
popular today. Delicate washes accurately
mimic the transparency of petals, tiny
brushes can create the minute detail in
a flower, and colors are matched to the
specimen for accuracy.
63

Text Page: 63
mediums and supplies
Botanical artists, focused on portraying detail, usually choose to work with
a water-based medium because of the minute detail that can be achieved.
Regardless of the medium, the supplies needed are the same. Paint, brushes, your
painting surface, a palette, paper towels, and a cup for water are the basics.
much as previous botanical artists have

created amazing and detailed work,
I believe that today’s contemporary
botanical artists surpass them in terms
of detail and precision. Perhaps this
can be attributed to better tools and
products available to them, but they
have taken the art of botanical painting
to a whole new level.
Some watercolorists like to limit their
palette to just a few colors and then mix
everything they need from those few.
Not me. I love color! And, I don’t want to
limit my palette. Even though it’s true
that most colors can be mixed from just
a few, it can be easier to go directly to
a clean, clear pigment that’s already
formulated. That isn’t to say that I don’t
WATERCOLORS sometimes add a bit of another color to

enhance it, because I usually do! I prefer
Watercolor is made of pigments
professional watercolors in tubes rather
suspended in a water-based solution.
than pans, but both work equally well. I
The characteristics of watercolor have
fill an empty metal tin and plastic wells
made it a traditional medium of choice
with my various paints. As they dry out,
for the botanical artist. The translucence
an eyedropper with water can be used
of a delicate petal or leaf can be por-
to place a few drops in each section to
trayed with washes of varying density
moisten the paints. Even completely
of pigment applied to the paper. The
dried-out watercolor can be rewetted
paint has minute particles of pigment
and used. A little watercolor goes
that are applied with sable brushes of
a long way.
varying sizes. Larger brushes are used
The easiest tool to help you with
at the beginning of a painting, and
color mixing is something you can make
then the smallest of brushes are used
yourself—a color chart of the paints
for the details.
you already have.
The botanical artist can achieve detail
with watercolor unlike that achieved in
any other medium. Both acrylics and
oil have a denser quality and lack the
translucence found in watercolor. As

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A small color chart that
coincides with paints in your
palette is convenient when
choosing colors to mix.
lack
Ivory B
Sepia
Davy’s
Gray
ta
Magen
ridone
Quinac
Opera
ling
e Seed
Antiqu
Indigo
n
r Lemo
Winso
Gold
Green e
Antiqu
ri g ht Yellow
B

Text Page: 65
An An An An An
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so
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Po ntiq ac e let Pu rian nta Gr ver ck
ite ve ld
mp ue
ad Blu ock Blu nze Blu let rpl
e
ey r
ou e e e
r
Holbein “Irodori” Antique Watercolor
Make your own color chart

using the paints you own. You
Making a Color Chart this color chart, it will be much easier to
may want to make a separate To make your chart, line up all of your color match your subject to your paints.
chart for each brand of paints. Once your eye becomes accustomed to
paints, grouping like colors together. On
a piece of illustration board or heavy choosing colors in this way, you can hold
weight watercolor paper, make a small your chart up to an object and make
swatch of paint going from an intense an educated assessment about which
thicker area to a lighter wash. This will colors mixed together will be the most
help you envision both the dark and light accurate to your subject!
values of that particular color. Write
the name and brand of paint next to
each swatch. When you’ve completed

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AZO Yellow/ M. Graham Manganese Blue Hue/ Winsor & Newton
Duochrome Cabo Blue/ Daniel Smith

Hansa Yellow/ Daniel Smith
Cerulean Blue/ Winsor & Newton
Cadmium Yellow Medium/ Daniel Smith
Cobalt Blue/ Winsor & Newton
Cadmium Yellow/ Winsor & Newton
French Ultramarine/ Winsor & Newton
Lemon Yellow/ Winsor & Newton
Cobalt Blue Deep/ Winsor & Newton
Permanent Yellow/ Holbein
Genuine Lapis Lazuli/ Daniel Smith
Naples Yellow Deep/ Winsor & Newton
Prussian Blue/ Winsor & Newton
Naples Yellow/ Winsor & Newton
Indigo/ Winsor & Newton
Jaune Brilliant/ Holbein
Yellow Ochre/ Winsor & Newton

Cobalt Violet/ Winsor & Newton
Cadmium Orange/ Winsor & Newton
Permanent Mauve/ Winsor & Newton
Winsor Orange Red Shade/ Winsor & Newton
Winsor Orange/ Winsor & Newton
Opera/ Holbein
Rose Madder Genuine/ Winsor & Newton
Quinacridone Magenta/ Winsor & Newton
Permanent Magenta/ Winsor & Newton
Green Gold/ Winsor & Newton

Permanent Rose/ Winsor & Newton
Olive Green/ Winsor & Newton
Rose Dore/ Winsor & Newton
Sap Green/ Winsor & Newton
Vermillion Hue/ Winsor & Newton
Permanent Sap Green/ Winsor & Newton
Quinacridone Red/ Winsor & Newton
Viridian/ Winsor & Newton
Scarlet Lake/ Winsor & Newton
Permanent Light Green/ Daniel Smith
Permanent Alizarin Crimson/ Winsor & Newton
Hooker’s Green/ Winsor & Newton
Cadmium Red/ Winsor & Newton
Cascade Green/ Daniel Smith
Perylene Maroon/ Winsor & Newton Terre Verde/ Winsor & Newton
Quinacridone Gold/ Daniel Smith Perylene Green/ Winsor & Newton
Neutral Tint/ Sennelier

Brown Ochre/ Winsor & Newton
Neutral Tint/ Winsor & Newton
Quinacridone Burnt Orange/ Daniel Smith
Neutral Tint/ Holbein
Indian Red/ Winsor & Newton
Payne’s Gray/ Winsor & Newton
Burnt Umber/ Winsor & Newton
Dacy’s Gray/ Winsor & Newton
Raw Umber/ Winsor & Newton
Lamp Black/ Winsor & Newton
Burnt Sienna/ M. Graham
Sepia/ Winsor & Newton

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Make each little swatch (like this reflected onto the apple’s surface.
Winsor Orange one) fade from
dark to light. By careful observation, you’ll naturally
see these shifts of color in the subject
you’re painting.
In painting flowers with watercolor, I
like to begin with pure, clean, light colors.
Pink or peach-colored flowers are best
painted starting with a color that most
matches the local color in the petal
without trying to mix it.
The shadows in pale colored flowers
It’s important to know the basics
will have other colors, often something
of color and how colors work together.
with a blue tone, added to it. When the
There are some basics to know for
flower is a very pale color, use a light
botanical painting.
touch when adding blue or it can easily
First, understand the colors you’re
be too noticeable. Shifts in color in a pale
seeing in your subject:
flower should be subtle.
Shadow is created three ways:
• Local color is the color of the object
itself. It’s the intrinsic color that
1. Adding a blue color to the area.
isn’t changed by light, shadow, or
2. Using the local color with a darker
reflections.
tone. In watercolor, this is done by
layering the local color.
• Tonal color is the color that’s lighter
3. Adding a little bit of the color’s
or darker than the local color. They
complementary color; for
are the colors that have changed as a
example, adding red to a green
result of light hitting the subject.
leaf’s dark shadows.
• Ambient color is reflected color

from what surrounds the subject.
For example, a red apple that has a
green leaf next to it may have green
Color and Color Mixing

Mixing color is easiest done by looking carefully at your subject and then at your
color chart. See what color most similarly matches the subject. In most cases, it won’t
be an exact match, and you’ll have to make an educated guess as to what color or
colors should be added. Let’s say your subject is a leaf that looks most like Sap Green
but it has more yellow in it. You might try adding a Winsor Yellow and testing the mix
on your scrap paper. Do this mixing and testing no matter what colors you’re matching.
Some color mixes can get muddy or dull. By trial and error, you’ll get a feel for it and
get quicker at making informed decisions as to what colors to add to your mix to
match your subject.

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“Tamora Rose” (Rosa
‘Tamora’) watercolor
on vellum 10.5" x 14"
(26.7 cm x 35.6 cm).

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GOUACHE
The primary difference between gouache
and watercolor is that gouache has
a white chalk in the pigment. Both
mediums are water soluble and have
similarities and differences.
Because of the added chalk, gouache
is thicker, heavier, more opaque, and
not as translucent as watercolor. For
this reason, gouache can be used on
a dark paper and watercolor cannot.
Watercolor would fade away on a dark
paper, whereas the pigment in gouache
sits on top of the paper’s surface. When
using gouache on a dark background,
you’ll need to do many layers of paint,
especially when building up light colors
and whites. When painting with gouache
on a white paper, begin with dark colors
and add lighter colors on top. The
consistency of the paint should be like
cream. If it’s too thick, it can crack when
dry, and if it’s too thin, it can flake off.
Gouache is similar to watercolor in that
the paint can be rewetted with a damp
brush and lifted. When layering gouache,
make sure the bottom layer is completely
Gouache is very similar to watercolor, dry. Overworking an area can make the
but it’s thicker and more opaque.
“Queen of the Night” Epiphyllum paint lift off completely. This is another
oxypetalum night-blooming cereus similarity gouache has to watercolor.
flower gouache on paper 16.5" x 19"
(41.9 cm x 48.3 cm) Any white highlights in a gouache
painting would contain white paint,
whereas in traditional watercolor, white
paint is rarely used. Instead, highlights
are indicated with the white of the paper
showing through.
Gouache dries a different color than
when wet, so it can be tricky to use
and takes practice! A finished gouache
painting will have a matte finish with rich
and vibrant color.

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“Magnolia Grandiflora” gouache on colored
paper 12" x 15" (30.5 cm x 38.1 cm)
Working with
Acrylic Paints
I chose to paint this onion with acrylics as an experiment to see if
I could use acrylics thinned down with water to make the painting look
like watercolor. White paint was not used so the thinned acrylic was
more like a glaze of washes built up the same way as watercolor. This
was tricky because if it got too dark I would not be able to remove paint.
The painting was successful in that it does look like a watercolor but I
did not find using acrylic with this technique advantageous since
I prefer to be able to adjust and manipulate the paint if need be.
“Onion” acrylic
on paper 8" x 10"
(20.3 cm x 25.4 cm)
Painting Botanicals 71

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Winsor & Newton Series 7 natural
Kolinsky sable brushes hold a lot PAINTBRUSHES the available brushes of different shapes,
of paint and keep a sharp point. a round brush can always do the trick.
Paintbrushes are an important tool for
Brushes come in various sizes, ranging
the botanical artist. They’re made of
from No. 000, No. 00, No. 0, No. 1, and
different materials and are available
up. When painting small areas, such as
in varying shapes. Brushes for acrylic
in petals or leaves, smaller brushes are
paints need to be sturdier than brushes
needed. A No. 1 or No. 2 quality brush will
for watercolor. They’re available in both
be a good investment.
natural (stiff hog or sable hair) and
Always rinse your brushes when you’re
synthetic (nylon or polyester) bristles.
finished painting and reshape them into
Natural bristles won’t last as long when
a fine point.
using acrylics.
When painting with watercolor, I
recommend using a natural sable
brush. The hairs are soft and will hold a
surprising amount of paint. I only use
round brushes for acrylic and watercolor.
Though it’s tempting when looking at all
The miniature Series 7 brushes

have shorter hairs and the
standard brushes have longer
hairs. Both are available in
a range of sizes.
72

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PAINTING
SURFACES
The surfaces used to paint botanicals
are most often very smooth in order
to facilitate the even flow of paint and
create exacting detail. Acrylics may be
painted on a smooth paper or wood or
composite board. The smoothest papers
for both acrylic and watercolor are
hot-pressed or hot-pressed with a plate
finish. These may be a paper or a paper
surface on board often called illustration
board. A paper’s thickness is indicated by
weight. A heavier, thicker paper will have
a higher number. For example, a 400 lb.
(850 gsm) paper is thicker than a 200 lb.
(540 gsm) paper. A heavier weight paper Various surfaces to paint on include paper,
will resist buckling when wet and will be illustration board, and masonite.
easier to handle. It’s important that your

paper is archival or acid free so that it
won’t yellow over time.
Many accomplished botanical artists
also use vellum, which is a natural
calfskin material. It’s archival and gives
the work an additional translucence, but
it can’t get too wet, which can be tricky
when using watercolor!
Note that I use the same techniques
for layering and drybrush on paper as I do
when working on vellum. The important
thing with vellum is not to let puddles of
water sit on the surface, which causes
buckling; this should be avoided on
paper as well. When layering on vellum,
move around the painting, letting each
brushstroke dry before adding another.
Usually a pale cream color, vellum is translucent.
The single most important thing to
remember when painting on vellum is to
not let it get too wet!
Note that I use the same techniques paper as well. When layering on vellum,
for layering and drybrush on paper as I do move around the painting, letting each
when working on vellum. The important brushstroke dry before adding another.
thing with vellum is to not let puddles of The single most important thing to
water sit on the surface, which causes remember when painting on vellum is
buckling; this should be avoided on to not let it get too wet.

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essential painting
techniques
What makes watercolor and gouache unique is that we are able to
move and manipulate the paint on the surface unlike oil or acrylic paint
which, once dry, cannot be moved.
Layering washes, making even gradations, lifting paint and drybrush are
all techniques used to manipulate the paint.
Mapping a
subject’s COLOR MAPPING
separate, yet Color mapping is an expression used
often subtly
distinct, areas of to describe the technique of placing
color should be
different colors in different areas of your
done before you
begin painting. drawing or painting. Some subjects won’t
need as many diverse colors as others.
An autumn leaf may have many colors,
while a solid green leaf might have less.
Using distinct colors in your piece will
create interest, and your subject won’t
look flat. This mapping is especially
important with watercolor because it’s
a transparent medium. If you cover the
entire surface of a leaf with green and
then decide you need to add red at the
edges on top of the existing green, you’ll
end up with more of a brown color. So
mapping is important to create clean,
pure color (such as the red edges of
the leaf). As layers of color are added,
the edges of these mapped areas get
overlapped and gradually blurred so that
they don’t end up looking too distinct or
like sections of a patchwork quilt.

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“Balloon Flower” (Platycodon grandiflorus)
The finished artwork, with the edges of the mapped colors softly blended

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WASHES
Washes are made by diluting your paint
with water. Touch your wet brush to paint
and make a little puddle with water in
your palette. Do the same again with a
different amount of paint and water. The
mix that has a higher concentration of
paint to water will make a darker wash of
color on your paper. Play around with this
and get a feel for how much paint and
water is needed for the value you want.
This is something you’ll do continuously
as you paint. I always keep a scrap paper
next to my palette to test the color and
value before applying it to the painting.
One thing I should mention here is that
this technique can differ depending on
each artist’s individual style of painting.
Some artists are very timid with their
paint and washes, which makes them
barely visible on the paper, and other
artists are too generous, which means
some paint may need to be removed, or
lifted. It takes practice to get a feel for
the mix of paint needed for the value you
want. This is an important procedure to
master because it will save you time and
help to avoid mistakes, such as needing
to add more paint layers because the
color is too light or removing and cor-
recting paint when the area is too dark.
“Fading Coral Charm” (genus
Some watercolorists prefer to wet
Paeonia); watercolor on vellum.
their watercolor paper with plain water
before applying paint. By doing this, the
paint feathers and diffuses into the wet
area and can create beautiful effects.
Because I use a hot-pressed very
smooth paper, I don’t do this, but instead
begin with a light wash and then I layer
on top of it.

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LAYERING
After your initial wash has completely
dried, you can apply a second wash on
top of it. This consecutive wash should
not be too wet or it can move and
remove the paint below it. The best way
to ensure that you don’t apply a wash
that is too wet is to blot the side of your
brush on a paper towel before applying
the wash. This way, you have the correct
value loaded in your brush but excess
water is removed. Pass the brush quickly
over the first, then dry wash and don’t go
over that area again. You might want to
soften an edge, but avoid the temptation
to fuss with an area that’s wet. Once it’s
completely dry, you can apply another
layer in the same way by blotting and
applying quickly. Apply layers in different
areas of your painting so that you can
keep working while other layers dry. If
the value you’re trying to achieve is
dark, the layers you apply should have
a dense concentration of paint. Make a
mix and test it on your scrap paper. Keep
applying layers until it’s almost but not
quite the value you want. You’ll be adding
more paint when you smooth these
layers by drybrushing.
Washes of Scarlet Lake were

layered one on top of another
to show how layering increases
value and depth. The top section
has one layer of paint, and it
progresses to the bottom section,
which has seven layers of the
same mix of paint.

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at the lower-left side of the previous
brushstroke, catching the bottom edge
with your brush and making another left
to right stroke, allowing the paint to flow
down from one stroke into the next. After
a few strokes with the dark mix of paint,
change to the medium mix of paint,
catching the bottom edge and once
again moving left to right. After a few
strokes with the medium mix, change
to the light mix for a few strokes. Don’t
be concerned if this does not look neat;
instead, just let it dry completely.
Once dry, you may repeat this
same process on top of what you’ve
already done. In this way, the values are
intensified until they are where you want
them. You can keep adding layers until
you have the darkest value that you
want in your gradation. With watercolor,
remember that it’s always easier to add
paint than to remove it. Layering
the paint builds darker values to bring
out shape and form in your painting.
After you’ve added layers of paint to
your gradation, it will still be uneven. This
is where the technique of drybrushing
One beginning exercise
is to draw a series of GRADATIONS comes in to even out and make your
1-inch (2.5 cm) squares gradation smooth.
When making a gradation with
that you’ll fill in from
dark to light. watercolor, it’s best to have a few wells
of paint premixed because we want to
Gradation Exercise
An essential practice exercise for
apply the paint quickly. In one well, make
painters is learning how to make
a mix of paint and water that has a good
gradations.
amount of paint the consistency of a light
cream. Take your paint-filled brush, dip it
Supplies
in water, and make a second well of paint.
• HB pencil
Add another brushful of water to it. Your
• Hot-pressed watercolor paper
third well of paint should be mostly water
• No. 1 sable watercolor brush
with a hint of your paint color. The dark
• Paper towel
well of paint should give you a dark wash,
• Scrap paper
the medium mix a medium wash, and the
• Water
light mix a light wash. Test these mixes on
• Paint palette
scrap paper and adjust them by adding
• Winsor Violet (Dioxazine)
more or less paint and water as needed.
watercolor paint
Prop the paper you’re going to paint
on at a 45-degree angle. Gravity will
help the wash to pool at the bottom
edge of your brushstroke. Load the brush
and make a horizontal stroke left to
right. For the second brushstroke, begin

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1 2A: Dark
2B: Medium
1. Make three wells of paint with different

concentrations of dark, medium, and
light pigment.
2. Begin with the paint from the well

with the darkest value and move to the
medium and then lightest value.
2A: Light
Values in Watercolor
In watercolor, highlights are created with barely any paint in your mix so that only a hint of color shows and the light
is created by the white paper beneath. The darkest shadows are created with many layers of paint. To create a full
range of tonal values, differing amounts of paint and layering are applied in different areas.

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3
3. Next, do this without the squares and

move quickly, dipping your paint from
one well to another, touching the bottom
edge and drawing the paint down.

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DRYBRUSH IN You’ll want to have enough pigment in “Autumn Dogwood Leaf”
WATERCOLOR
watercolor on vellum
your brush to make a slight difference 6" x 7" (15.2 cm x 17.8 cm)
when painting over your already dry
After you’ve applied layered washes
painting. By dipping your brush in the
and the value is almost to where you
paint solution and blotting the side of
want it to be, a drybrush technique
the brush on paper towel, you’ll remove
is used to even the tone. Drybrush is
most of the liquid and be able to draw
important because it can give you a
with the tip of the brush. With a good
deep saturation of color as well as
quality brush, you’ll be able to draw like
minute detail. This is important especially
this for several minutes before having to
in botanical painting since our subject
go back for more paint.
is often small, and a large brush using
If the paint has the right consistency,
a wash of color won’t work. To have
it will lie flat on the surface and dry
control of the paint in a small space, it’s
within seconds. If there’s too much water
important not to use too much water.
in the brush, the paint will form a wet
The amount of water and pigment in
bead, which can dissolve paint already
your brush will be trial and error at first,
on your surface. If this happens, you can
but with practice, this will come naturally.

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color. You’re building up saturation of
color slowly, while defining contours.
Thick paint and heavy brushstrokes
are avoided because they can be too
obvious and might need to be removed.
When you’re looking to achieve a deep
saturation of color, apply the paint in
small quick strokes and change the
direction of the brush. To even out an
area, use lines, crosshatching, or dots.
For example, if you have a series of
vertical brushstrokes with a lighter
area between the strokes, a series of
vertical strokes should be used to fill in
those lighter spaces. Similarly, if there
are small round areas that should go
darker to even a flat tone, small dots can
be used to fill in this space. Notice the
lighter space you need to fill to even out
the tone and apply the size and shape
brushstroke to fill it.
Drybrush is also used when making
minute detail after washes and
gradations are completed. Small
imperfections in a leaf, texture in a
branch, or a flower’s filaments all need a
drybrush technique to be created. Once
again, after testing the paint’s value on
scrap, detail is drawn with the point of
your brush.
“Bartram’s Franklinia“ remove the excess by touching the tip Drybrush is the opposite of traditional
(Franklinia alatamaha)
watercolor on vellum of a blotted brush to the bead of water watercolor, with repeated washes of
10.5” x 12.5” to soak it up. Apply the second stroke
(26.7 cm x 31.8 cm)
paint and where speed is a desirable
only after the first stroke has completely quality. Above all, this technique takes
dried. Because so little water is used, it practice and patience, but you’ll find it
will dry almost immediately and you’ll feel relaxing and meditative.
like you’re drawing with the paint. In the
beginning, strokes can be made a little bit
wider, but as the brush dries, it feels like
you’re barely tickling the surface of the
paper with the tip of the brush.
It’s better to have too little pigment
on the brush than too much. You can
reach the correct saturation of paint
by layering. This is what is so time
consuming because there are MANY
layers, but these layers are also what
gives you so much control and depth of

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Drybrush Exercise: Sphere 1
This sphere, using a single color (French
Ultramarine), demonstrates light and
shadow, gradations, and drybrush.
Supplies
• HB pencil
• Kneaded eraser
• Paper towel
• Scrap paper
• Water
• Paint palette
• French Ultramarine watercolor paint
1. First, cover the entire surface with a

light wash.
2
2. Place a second crescent-shaped wash

where the darkest values are.

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3 4
5 6
3. Erase the pencil line around the edge 5. Add and soften another crescent-
with the kneaded eraser before too much shaped layer.
paint is placed on top of it. Then, place
another wash over the entire sphere, 6. Add a few more layers and crescent
avoiding the highlight area. shapes to define the highlight. At this
point, smooth the gradations and even
4. Quickly apply another layer to the the tone using the drybrushing technique.
entire surface, except the areas with the Start drybrushing when the value is
highlights. Use a clean wet brush to go almost to where you want it to be.
around the hard edge that’s surrounding
the highlight and quickly diffuse it.
Everything is done with quick motions to
avoid leaving rigid edges.

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7 8
9 10
7. Add lots of curving lines, working 9. Test the value of the color on
around the sphere to even the scrap paper and blot on a paper towel
gradations. Use a thinner mix of paint before tickling the surface with the tip
near the highlight; use a thicker mix in of your brush.
the shadows.
10. When using drybrush to make a
8. To determine whether the tone is even, gradation smooth, think of it as though
look at what you’re painting in different you’re filling in lighter spaces with lines
ways. Perhaps take off your glasses off, or dots to fill the required shape. The
put it up to a mirror, or look at it from goal is to have an even value and
a distance. Use a No. 0 brush to fill smooth gradation so that the surface
in the little lighter dots of the texture looks smooth.
of the paper.

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Drybrush Exercise: Columns
On these two pages are some additional
practice exercises that can help you
perfect your drybrush technique.
In the example for the Columns
exercise, note that the gradation on the
left isn’t yet smoothed with drybrush,
and the one on the right has been
smoothed. The more even you can get
your washes, the less time will be needed
to smooth with drybrush.
Supplies
• HB pencil
• Kneaded eraser
• Paper towel
• Scrap paper
• Water
• Paint palette
• Sap Green watercolor paint
Drybrush Exercise:
One-Color Leaf
This practice leaf uses only one color
(Sap Green) and shows small gradations
going in all different directions.
Supplies
• HB pencil
• Kneaded eraser
• Paper towel
• Scrap paper
• Water
• Paint palette

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Drybrush Exercise:
One-Color Berry
The berry shape uses only Scarlet
Lake to bring out this smooth form.
Supplies
• HB pencil
• Kneaded eraser
• Paper towel
• Scrap paper
• Water
• Paint palette
• Scarlet Lake watercolor paint

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Masking fluid is applied, left
to dry, and then painted LIFTING where the paint sits more on top and
over. When the paint is dry, isn’t absorbed into it will be easier to lift
the masking fluid is rubbed paint from. That said, the process is the
off to reveal the white Supplies
paper beneath. same with all papers.
To lift, use either a damp brush, paper
(preferably plate finish)
towel, or erasers. The size of the brush
• No. 1 sable brush
used depends on the size of the area
• Paper towel
you want to lift. To remove a very tiny
• Eraser: electric or Tombow
dot, use the point of a small brush that
MONO precision
has been dipped in water and the excess
blotted on a paper towel. Move the tip
Paint can be lifted and manipulated at
of the damp brush in the small area to
any stage, although it’s preferable to add
loosen the paint and quickly press down
paint gradually and avoid having to lift
with the paper towel to blot up the paint.
it, unless in small areas. Whenever lifting
Don’t swipe the paper towel to the side
watercolor, the surface will become
or it can pull the softened fibers in the
uneven and need repair. This creates
paper. Usually, this process will have to
unnecessary steps for you, which is
be repeated frequently in the same area,
why it’s best instead to add the paint
wetting and blotting until enough paint
gradually as you go.
is removed and the spot is light enough.
It should be noted here that the
Many artists use a masking fluid when
success of lifting paint is very much
they want to keep small areas white.
dependent on the paper you’re painting
It’s not something I use often, but it’s
on as well as the color of paint you’re
another tool that’s available and worth
using. Some color paints are staining and
mentioning. Masking fluid is a product
will be more difficult to lift. A traditional
applied with a brush before paint is applied
watercolor paper is absorbent, and it can
to the surface. When dry, you can paint
be difficult to lift paint from the surface.
over it and later remove it with your
A paper with a very smooth surface
finger to reveal the white paper beneath.

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An area of paint can be
lifted by wetting the
desired shape and blotting
it with a paper towel.
Paint is also lifted by lightly scrubbing paper, you may be able to gently scrub
with a damp brush and blotting with a the surface with a stiff bristled brush to
paper towel. This can be done in spaces remove paint until it’s the desired value.
both large and small. Wet the area with Erasers are another way to lift paint. At
a damp brush. Quickly blot down with a all times, this should only be done when
clean paper towel. Try to do this in one the surface is completely dry. Erasers
swift step. If more paint needs to be are most helpful when you’ve already
removed, repeat this process. You don’t done the wetting and blotting method
need to let it dry between blottings, but and have lifted as much as you can but
remember not to swipe sideways with would still like the area to be lighter. When
the paper towel or work on it so much the paper is completely dry, the electric
that the paper tears. Once this area is eraser can lift tiny spots, often removing
the value you wish, let it dry completely, the paint to the white of the paper. A
and any evening of tone will be done Tombow MONO zero precision eraser can
with drybrush. also lift a small area. A kneaded eraser
If the area you want to remove paint will lift a wider area and will probably not
If you want to remove paint from a lift as much paint, but will be more gentle
large area, a larger brush would be used. to the paper’s surface.
Generally, removing paint from a large
area is something we want to avoid, but
it can be done. Gauge the size of the
area you want to pick up and choose
the brush accordingly. The same wetting
and blotting with paper towel is done,
although with a large size area, more
water will be needed in your brush. Turn
the paper towel as you blot. If you’re
using a heavy weight tough watercolor

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OVERLAPS edge on top, you might lift a fine line
of paint to highlight it and make it look
Often, students ask about how to make
lighter. Or, perhaps it’s the petal on top
a leaf or petal look like it’s overlapping
that’s darker. There should be enough
another. This is done by defining the
contrast between the petal on top and
edge of the leaf or petal that’s on top
below to show separation. When making
and often, but not always, making
the shadow on the petal beneath, the
a shadow along the leaf or petal it
shadow should be darkest at the edge
overlaps. This is dependent upon how
where it meets the petal on top, then it
the flower or leaf is lit. To define the
fades gradually away from it.
Supplies
• No. 1 sable brush
• Paper towel
• Scrap paper
• Water
• Paint palette
These are the same leaves painted only with Winsor & Newton Sap
Green. Here are the first layers blocking in paint.
The illusion of depth can be created by

Differing values at the leaves’ edges convey one leaf on top of another. overlapping one petal over another.

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CORRECTING remove a leaf and hoping to get back to The original painting.
MISTAKES AND
the original white of the paper. Even if
MAKING REVISIONS
you were able to remove all the paint,
the water and scrubbing will leave a
Watercolor is very forgiving and mark. But other lesser mistakes can
adaptable. It can be pushed around, usually be corrected.
layered to adjust color, and lifted
so correcting mistakes and making
adjustments are easy once you get the
feel for it. I would not recommend trying
to remove the large areas you’ve already
painted in—such as trying to completely

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On the bottom middle leaf, veins
and the surrounding area are
removed by wetting and blotting.
A subtle shift in color can be made by

adding a layer on top. If your leaf is too
yellow, try adding a blue to your wash.
This is best accomplished while you’re
building up layers early on, but subtle
shifts can be done later too. Do a little
test on your scrap paper where you have
the color green you’ve already used in
your leaf. Layer different blues on top
and see which one you like before adding
it to your finished piece.
Veins in a leaf can be lifted and new
veins painted in. First, remove the vein by
repeated gentle scrubbing and blotting
along the vein. You may not be able to
pick everything up using this technique,
so be careful not to overdo it and end
up damaging your paper. Next, fill in the
old vein that you want to get rid of using
drybrush. Go back into the new vein
with a sharp point of a small brush and
adjust the value and clean up the leaf’s
new vein. If the veins you wish to remove
were made with dark lines, they can be
picked up as well. These leaves are used
as an example of how to move veins.
The middle leaf has veins removed by
repeated wetting and blotting.
Drybrush is used to even

the tone before adding the
new veins.

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New vein placement is
indicated with lines.
Gradations with drybrush are

added, being mindful of how
the contours are lighted.

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How to Change a Petal ’s Shape
A blotted damp brush with a sharp point is applied over the line and a paper towel is
pushed into it. Make sure when doing this that your clean paper towel is dry. I keep one
folded paper towel next to my water cup to blot excess in the brush and a clean paper
towel in my left hand to blot paint from the paper. After these small lines are picked up,
the area can be smoothed with drybrush and new veins added.
Edges of petals can be moved and changed as well. It’s easy to make the petal’s
edge larger when you’re expanding it into a white background. With graphite, lightly
draw the new petal’s shape. Wet and blot the edge that’s going to be expanded to
soften if needed. Then, add washes and complete the petal in the new area. The
contours of the expanded petal should flow seamlessly from old to new.
A petal’s shape can be changed

and expanded into a white
background.

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If the petal you wish to enlarge encroaches into a dark area, the paint in the dark area
needs to be picked up. If you want to paint a pink petal where there had been a green
leaf, you’ll need to remove as much green as possible. The success of this depends on
the paper and paints used, but it’s possible to do. A color change from dark to light will
be more successful in a small area than a large one. Wet the area you wish to pick up
and blot with your paper towel. A dark color may need gentle scrubbing, blotting, and
perhaps erasing when the surface is completely dry. Carefully paint in the new petal.
Drybrush will be needed to make smooth gradations.
A petal’s straight edge can be

made more undulating by lifting
and adding paint as needed.

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DETAILS AND
“Halsey Farm” Green Apple
watercolor on paper 9.5" x 10.5"
FINISHING
(24.1 cm x 26.7 cm)
Details such as veining, spots, mottling,

and texture are added at the end of your
painting after gradations, contours, and
values seem correct. They are done with
smaller brushes (No. 000, No. 00, No. 0,
and No. 1) with sharp points. Detail is
added by either adding or taking away
paint. The darkness of an added line is
determined by how much paint is in the
mix you’re using, the same as for a wash.

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Veining
Veining is found in both flowers and
leaves and, depending on the subject,
can be numerous, few, pronounced, or
subtle. By observing the subject, you
may need to either add lines of paint
or lift and blot to take paint away.
Here, veining is added by both lifting lines of paint by wetting and blotting or
drawing lines in. Dots large and small may be added or taken away.

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In the “Toad Orchid”
(Paphiopedilum henryanum),
Spots When spots curve around a surface,
some spots are raised while Most often, plants will have small they should look as though they recede
others lie flat on the surface. in space. The spots that come most
speckles that lie flat on the surface.
They can be of varying sizes or uniform, toward you will be rounder and fuller.
depending on your specimen. They’re As they move towards the edge, they
created with the tip of a small brush become more and narrow.
without much water in it. Occasionally, a spot is raised, as in
the Toad Orchid above. You can portray
this by the way the light falls across it.
There will be a gradation and a highlight.

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Little dots of varying sizes are made with the tip of a brush. A raised spot’s contour is shown with a gradation and highlight.
Splotches or areas of irregular patterns will probably have soft edges. Spots or any markings curving back in space get smaller and narrower.

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Since we’re adding an
orange tone first, green is
Mottling
lifted with blotting as well You can also add and adjust mottling
as the electric eraser.
in a leaf towards the end of the
painting. Here, additional splotches
are painted into the leaves. Drybrush
lines in different directions to build
up color in an irregular pattern. This
often has a messy look, so once again,
mimic what you see and capture the
unevenness of it.

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A red/orange/brown mix was
added with drybrush to create
splotches of color where the
green was lifted out. Spots in
the apple were also adjusted
and darkened to make them
more subtle.

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“Ferrari Amaryllis Bulb”
(tribe Amaryllidaea)
Texture
watercolor on vellum Texture is an important quality that
9.5" x 14" (24.1 cm x 35.6 cm)
will add realism to your work. By using
different techniques, one can create
the illusion of any surface texture.
By incorporating a variety of textures
within one piece, you can enhance the
effectiveness of each by way of contrast,
particularly when the different surfaces
are next to each other. For example,
the outside of a fuzzy peach will seem
fuzzier when shown next to the wet juicy
inside of the peach.
To put it simply, you have to think
tactile. When painting something that’s
rough, think rough. When painting
something smooth, think smooth. Avoid
drawing all surfaces with the same
texture. When the texture is rough, a
darker value will be useful.
Patient observation goes a long way
in learning to paint textures. You want
to get the tactile sense of what that
texture feels like and then translate
that feeling through the paint onto
your surface. This requires very close
observation to determine what makes
each texture unique.

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The subtle texture of this leaf was created with
many tiny spots of color, usually by adding paint but
occasionally by lifting. In the close-up, you can see
fine lines created by the No. 000 brush.

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There are various textures in this
magnolia pod.
White paint with a No. 000 brush was used for the tiny hairs.
This magnolia pod (Magnolia grandiflora)

uses different textures within the one
image. The shiny red seeds are created
by using contrast between the smooth
red surface and the white highlight. The
spirally arranged carpels have a fuzzy
texture that’s created with many little
lines to indicate hairs. This was a rare
instance where white paint was used
to create the tiny hairs because the
painting is so small at 7 inches (17.8 cm)
high. It was more effective to add
paint than to pick out and blot such
minute lines.

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Birch Bark; watercolor on vellum.
Crepe Myrtle Bark; watercolor on paper.
The bark on these two trees, crepe The crepe myrtle bark is much
myrtle (Lagerstroemia indica) and smoother, with an almost felt-like
birch (Betula alleghaniensis), are good texture. Smooth gradations show the
examples of differing textures and how roundness of the trunk and its irregular
they are created. markings and help to portray the bark’s
The birch has raised peeling and soft feel. The sharp edge around the
curved layers of bark. Sharp edges help green section of bark makes it look
to define one layer from another and raised. This is created by a dark shadow
make them look like one layer is on top behind the green bark and a lighter
of another. Special attention is paid to outline at the edge.
how each curl is lit to make it look three
dimensional and create realism.

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ADDING
PERSONALITY
Every single one of us has our own
artistic style.
It may seem surprising, but personal
style is very evident in botanical
painting. Even if a few artists are
painting the exact same rose, they
will look different and individual to the
artist. They may all be realistic and
scientifically accurate, but each artist
has their own recognizable style.
From teaching classes, this has
become very clear to me. After a couple
of days, I can usually guess which
student has done what. Someone may
have a heavy or light touch, make lyrical
curves, or include lots of detail.
One student I had always drew
beautiful lyrical curves whether she
was drawing stems, leaves, or petals. Of
course, this only works if these shapes
are similar to your subject, but she
made it work. This student already had a
beautiful style.
The key to having your own style is to
recognize what comes naturally to you
and work with it. Don’t fight with your
natural tendencies and try to imitate
another artist. Build on your own natural
strengths so that your style is visually
pleasing, while also remembering to
capture the necessary characteristics of
“Spring Bouquet” watercolor on vellum. botanical art: scientific accuracy, detail,
good composition, and so on.

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Knowing When Your
Painting Is Done
When finishing your painting, everything has to come
together. Is the composition good? If something seems
wrong, ask yourself, “Is there something that can be
changed or added that will help it?” Notice if the values
in the painting seem correct. Are there dark medium
and light values that transition smoothly from one to
another? Are gradations smooth where they should be?
An artist’s hand often shows distinct personality, which may be If not, spend more time with a drybrush and even them
expressed in curves, sharp lines, and heavy or light pressure. out. Make any adjustments to the edges. Remember,
if your image has a line going around the edge, it will
look like a cut out. Pick up some edges by wetting and
blotting so that it looks like the edges go in and out
of space. Do the highlights look correct? Do they look
too white or do their edges look too defined? Is there
enough detail in the focal points of the painting or
where your eye goes to rest?
There are some tricks to help you to figure out what
the painting needs. First, put it away for a day or two
and don’t look at it. When you take it out again, often
something will stand out that needs to be changed. You
can also ask someone, friend or family member, that
has a good eye for a critique. My mother, also an artist,
and I used to critique each other’s work and it was very
helpful. Another trick is to hold the painting up to a
mirror and look at it in reverse. It’s amazing how some
glaring little thing will stand out. Go back to the drawing
board, fix it, and check again in the mirror to see if it’s
better. Anything you can do to look at the painting in a
new way will be helpful, even if it’s just walking away and
looking at it from a distance.
Curving stems, leaves, and petals can be worked out in the sketch stage.

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painting subjects
If the flower is the “star” in the painting the leaves may be thought of as the
“supporting role.” They can be used to round out the composition and be an
important element in the design. Many botanicals however may be mostly or
all leaves, and it is important to know how to portray them.
A leaf’s
edge may be
smooth, toothed
or serrated,
or lobed.
PAINTING LEAVES Because in botanical art we’re being

scientifically accurate, our initial sketch
Before painting a leaf, be aware of the
shouldn’t stray from the leaf structure as
different variables that distinguish
we see it.
one leaf from another. Leaf shape and
It’s important to have the actual
arrangement, edges or margins, and
subject as reference in front of you and
veins or venation patterns are all things
not only a photo, which may not show
to consider. Is the leaf shiny, dull, thick, or
the important details you need to see.
thin? We want to convey the feel of the
leaf in the painting.

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1 2
Magnolia Leaf in Watercolor 1. An autumn leaf won’t wilt as quickly as

The shiny magnolia (Magnolia a flower, but take a photo just the same.
grandiflora) leaf has a white highlight,
even gradations, and lots of spots. 2. Choose the colors for your leaf. For
this exercise, use Cadmium Yellow
Supplies Medium, Naples Yellow Deep, Yellow
• Hot-pressed watercolor paper Ochre, Quinacridone Gold (Daniel Smith),
• No. 1 and No. 2 sable Burnt Umber, and Perylene Maroon.
watercolor brushes
• Paper towel
• Scrap paper
• Water
• Paint palette
• Watercolor paints in the following
colors: Cadmium Yellow Medium,
Naples Yellow Deep, Yellow Ochre,
Quinacridone Gold (Daniel Smith),
Burnt Umber, and Perylene Maroon

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3 4
3. Apply the first washes, leaving highlight areas without 4. Soften the white highlights with a pale wash.
any paint at all. Layer on color only in the areas you see
colors in. As you define the edges, notice how some will
be darker and sharper than others.

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5 6
5. When a leaf has many speckles, you don’t have to be 6. Add any additional spots and darken them and refine,
too concerned with excessive smoothing of gradations soften, and deepen any shadows.
because adding the spots will make it look mottled
anyway. Add large speckles at the same time as the
shadows and contrast with a No. 2 brush. Add these
dotted areas with a drybrush. Emphasize the little dots
by adding paint to the darker areas already there.

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1 2
Autumn Dogwood Leaf 3. Transfer the sketch to a Canson Hot

in Gouache Press Illustration Art Board. Keep the
The autumn dogwood (Cornus florida) graphite lines very light because you
leaf will make a good subject for ultimately don’t want to see them.
practicing gouache techniques because
it has so many colors in a small space. 4. Make a mix of your paint the
Obtaining a large even tone in gouache consistency of cream. Be bold and begin
can be difficult. color mapping (see page 74). Since this
leaf has many of these small areas, use
Supplies a No. 2 brush. A solid color leaf would
• HB pencil need a larger brush. Applying where
• Hot-pressed drawing paper each area of red, yellow, green, or orange
• Canson Hot Press Illustration goes in the beginning will prevent you
Art Board from losing your place when you begin
• No. 1 and No. 2 sable painting. At first, it can be frustrating
watercolor brushes and like trying to solve a puzzle. But with
• Paper towel practice, accurate color mapping will
• Scrap paper become quicker and easier.
• Water
• Paint palette 5. When you’re finished mapping the
• Gouache paints including Indigo, entire image, it may look messy or, as
Permanent Alizarin Crimson, Primary in this example, quite colorful. Don’t
Yellow, Olive Green, and Permanent let the temporary chaos discourage
Light Green you—instead, continue on! I often find
students want to give up too soon and
1. Take a photo before you start. don’t realize their work is salvageable.
2. Make sure to take close-up photos to

capture all the details.

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3 4

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6 7
6. Make a mix of paint for the darkest of shadows. 7. Intensify the values and make the veining darker.
Mix Indigo with Permanent Alizarin Crimson (bluish-red) With gouache, the colors don’t blend together as easily
to add in the deepest veins. Use small dots of color as with watercolor, so there’s more of a defined line
and fine lines and go section by section, beginning between brushstrokes and it’s more difficult to blend.
at the top of the leaf.

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This leaf with its many
colorful segments was a
great specimen to practice
attaining the deep rich
colors that gouache offers.

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“Spring Orchids” watercolor
on vellum 9" x 14"
(22.9 cm x 35.6 cm)
The ruffled lip

of the showy
Lavender Cattleya
Orchid has lots
of veining and
gradations in a
small area.

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PAINTING FLOWERS
AND PETALS
Flowers, often the “star” of a botanical
painting, always need special attention,
as they’re usually what the viewer
focuses on.
Painting Flowers: Lavender

Cattleya Orchid in Watercolor
The Lavender Cattleya Orchid (Cattleya
mossiae) in the painting Spring Orchids,
opposite, is a good flower to recreate
and practice gradations, layering, and
drybrush. Form, shadows, and a rippled
texture in the petals give us a bit to work
with. And the ruffled edge of the central
lip is just fun to paint! The symmetrical flower comprises basic cone and triangular shapes.
The paper of choice for painting
botanicals is a hot-pressed or very
smooth, heavyweight paper. For this 1
demonstration, I used Canson Hot Press
Illustration Art Board.
Supplies
• 2B and 6H pencils
• Tracing paper (optional)
• No. 1 and No. 2 sable
watercolor brushes
• Paper towel
• Scrap paper
• Water
• Paint palette
colors: Winsor Violet (Dioxazine),
Cobalt Blue Deep, Permanent Rose,
and Jaune Brilliant (Holbein)
1. Use 2B and 6H pencils to lightly on your surface carbon-side down,

transfer a sketch to your paper in one place the drawing on top of it, and then
of two ways: (1) outline the back of the trace. The transferred drawing should
drawing with the 2B pencil and then turn only be a light indication because we
it over, place it on your paper, and trace don’t want it to show through the paint,
over the front with the 6H pencil; or, (2) and eventually, we’ll be erasing them
place a sheet of transfer paper (Saral) completely.

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2 3
4 5

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2. Test your paint mix on a scrap of the lip. Focus on the darkest shadow areas,
Drybrush
paper you’re using. such as the recesses of the lip, to
enhance the form. Let dry.
3. Use a No. 1 sable brush to block in the
variations of Winsor Violet (Dioxazine), 5. Continue to layer and adjust colors
Once the values, form,
Cobalt Blue Deep, and Permanent while adding more detail. Small, soft
veining, and ruffled edges
Rose. Alternate between applying wider gradations indicate indentations in the
are to your satisfaction,
washes and determining where the darker petals. Add a brighter yellow and green
a tiny brush with the
shadows are in the creases. This helps to the flower’s center. Mix the creamy
sharpest of points can be
establish a color map, so you won’t lose yellow of Jaune Brilliant into both the
used to drybrush. When
your way among the subtle changes in blue and purple to gray or dull down
using this technique,
color and value. Load your brush with larger areas of the petals and help to
minute details can be
the color of water/paint mix that you soften the colors. This layering is done
added and gradations
think is the correct value needed for the while also using the tip of the same No.
further smoothed.
area you’re going to paint. Blot the tip of 1 brush to make gradations smooth and
Drybrush is important
your brush on a paper towel to remove add details.
because it can give you a
most of the water so you won’t leave a
deep saturation of color
puddle on your paper. After applying, move
and minute details.
to another area while this area dries.
Layering and drybrush
takes many hours, but
4. When the paint applied in the previous
it can be meditative
step is completely dry, gently erase the
and relaxing. Don’t feel
pencil lines. Add a pale yellow (Jaune
as if it’s a race. Just
Brilliant [Holbein]) to the blue and violet
concentrate on what
to create the shadows in the three
you’re doing and little
sepals and center of the cone-shaped
by little, the painting will
take shape. Patience
and practice can’t be
underestimated. When
contours and form are
evident, there are a range
of values (dark, light,
and various in between),
colors are accurate, and
details are added, the
painting is complete

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“German Iris” (Iris germanica)
watercolor on paper 10" x 16"
Painting Petals: German Iris
(25.4 cm x 40.6 cm) Petals are often the showiest part of
a botanical painting and so deserve
special attention. I usually think about
where the observer is going to take
the most time looking at a painting
and spend some extra time in this area
getting accurate details, such as the
petals, a visiting insect, or the shape
of the center of the flower. When you’re
painting, think about the area where you
might look as an observer and make sure
you include a great deal of detail there.
The texture of your petals should
have the right feel. If they are particularly
thin and delicate, light washes may
be appropriate.
Are you noticing the veining and
contours of the petal? Is the petal fuzzy,
smooth, bumpy, rippled, or velvety? The
goal is to convey all the texture you see
in your painting.
If petals are thick, the edges might
have a harder line and maybe even some
shadow. Edges that come toward the
viewer the most should be sharper
than receding edges. Similarly, leaves
that recede may have less contrast than
those in the foreground. In this way, you
can play around with the atmospheric
perspective. You might compare this to
a landscape that has more clarity and
definition in the foreground and less
contrast in the background. The ochre
petal in German Iris (at the right) can
be a helpful reference to reproduce
and practice technique.

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The curved petal enables us to
create gradations to bring out
form while the dark and light
veining that curves around that
form adds detail. Shadow at the
petals’ edges creates a bumpy
look. The yellow German Iris (Iris
germanica) has lots of texture.

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Supplies 3. Once the first few washes are in, use
• 2B and 3H pencils a kneaded eraser in a circular motion
• Hot-pressed drawing paper with gentle pressure to remove most of
• Tracing paper (optional) your pencil lines. You can use a Tombow
• Canson Hot Press Illustration MONO zero precision eraser to remove
Art Board any stubborn lines.
watercolor brushes 4. Continue this layering to bring out
• Paper towel the form of the petal while beginning
• Scrap paper to add darker veining. To build up the
• Water value, make many parallel lines in the
• Paint palette same direction as the veining. A good
• Watercolor paints in the following quality brush will hold a lot of paint, and
colors: Cadmium Yellow Deep and you can layer in this fashion for quite a
Naples Yellow Deep while before needing to load more paint
• Kneaded eraser in your brush. As you near completion,
• Tombow MONO zero precision eraser hold the painting up to a mirror to see it
• Reducing glass (optional) in reverse. Looking at it in another way,
you can often see things you would like
1. First, do some color matching by to correct. You can also use a reducing
looking at your color charts and assess glass or simply just look at the painting
which colors are needed for your subject. from a distance. When your petal has
volume; dark, medium, and light value;
2. Transfer the iris petal to a Canson Hot and detail, it’s complete.
Press Illustration Art Board and then
apply a wash of Cadmium Yellow Deep
to the entire surface. Note that the same
color isn’t usually applied as an overall
wash. It’s possible in this case because
successive colors won’t clash with but
will instead deepen this beginning wash.
Next, add Naples Yellow Deep to darker
areas of the petal. Let the washes dry in
between before adding the next.

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1 2
Cadmium Yellow Medium
Naples Yellow Deep
Quinacridone Gold
Winsor Orange
Burnt Umber
3 4

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Red peppers have a smooth even
tone and shiny looking highlights.
Red Pepper in Watercolor 1. Draw the outline sketch on a Canson
This red pepper (Capsicum annuum) is Hot Press Illustration Art Board.
a good way to practice simple areas
of flat color and gradations because it 2. Choose Scarlet Lake, Permanent
only uses three shades of red. They are Alizarin Crimson, Permanent Rose,
applied in separate areas and gradually Antique Seedling (Holbein), Sap Green,
blend together while layering. and Indigo to paint the red pepper.
Supplies 3. Map the three distinct areas with

• 2H pencil Scarlet Lake, which is a true red;
• Canson Hot Press Illustration Permanent Rose, which is more pink;
Art Board and Permanent Alizarin Crimson, which
• No. 1 and No. 2 sable is darkest, for the shadows. Apply wide
watercolor brushes bands of color with vertical strokes.
• Paper towel Leave the highlight free of paint to let
• Scrap paper the white of the paper show through.
• Water
• Paint palette 4. Add additional layers of paint, keeping
• Watercolor paints in the following the same red, pink, and crimson areas.
colors: Scarlet Lake, Permanent
Alizarin Crimson, Permanent Rose,
Antique Seedling (Holbein), Sap Green,
and Indigo

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1 2
3 4

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5 6
5. As you smooth out the colors with a No. 2 brush,

7
they’ll blend and overlap. The brush tickles the surface
and the paint will dry as you draw with the point. Lift
the paint around the edge of the whitest highlight
(made only with the white of the paper) so there are no
hard edges. Then, go back into these edges with barely
any color in the brush to gently smooth the gradation.
Darken the areas of reflected light at the pepper’s sides
with Permanent Alizarin Crimson, which is a red color
that has more blue in it. The value of this reflected
light should be dark enough that they look as if they’re
receding, which will help the pepper look rounded.
6. Add the Antique Seedling (Holbein) and Sap Green

paints to the stem. At first, the gradations are done as
though it’s a cylinder shape.
7. Add the details to the stem.

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“Beach Lane Pumpkin”
watercolor on paper
11" x 10" (27.9 cm x 25.4 cm)

Text Page: 127
Green Apple. “Halsey Farm”
PAINTING FRUITS to convey that texture in your painting.
AND BERRIES
watercolor on paper
9.5" x 10.5" (24.1 cm x 26.7 cm) The dull bloom on a plum often is a light
blue color. Notice the irregularly shaped
Besides their shape and color, it’s of
transition between the bloom and the
utmost importance to capture the
dark purple of the plum. Some areas
various textures seen in berries and
of bloom may be clearly defined, while
fruits. Highlights may be very light and
others may fade away gradually.
almost white on a shiny blackberry
(genus Rubus) or more subdued on the
dull surface of a banana (genus Musa).
The rough texture on the outside of a
pineapple (Ananas comosus) needs a
different approach than the bloom on
the skin of a plum (Prunus domestica).
Really look at the texture of the fruit’s
surface and determine what is needed

Text Page: 128
Plum in Watercolor 1
A painting of fruit with bloom is both
beautiful and challenging. Bloom is a
natural waxy dusky blue protective
coating on the surface of some fruit.
Touching the bloom can remove it, so
handle your specimen carefully. The
plum’s purple and red colors contrasting
with the blue bloom make for an
interesting image.
Supplies
• Kneaded eraser (optional)
• Water dropper
• Water
• 2H pencil 2
• Tracing paper (optional)
• Canson Hot Press Illustration
Art Board
watercolor brushes
• Paper towel
• Scrap paper
• Paint palette
colors: Cerulean Blue, Lapis Lazuli
Genuine (Daniel Smith), Permanent
Magenta, Indigo, Rose Madder Genuine,
Naples Yellow, Sap Green, Indian Red,
and Sepia
• Electric eraser (optional)
1. Wedge a couple of small pieces of

kneaded eraser under the plum to hold
it in place.
2. Add water drops to the plum. Water

drops add realism to your subject. They more realistic if you have good reference
can be fun to paint, but also a little photos. The highlights on a small drop
tricky. Taking and using photographs change a lot, and of course, the drops
for reference will be very helpful. I took drip and move quickly on the fruit’s
photos both with and without water surface, which would be very frustrating
drops added to the plum’s surface. The to replicate without a photo.
best way to add water drops is with a
water dropper. You can place the water
drops where you want them and control
the size. Don’t try to visualize what you
think a water drop looks like! You’ll have
more success and your drops will be

Text Page: 129
3. Look at your color chart and Sometimes, when the color looks right
after studying the subject, make an on the scrap paper, you may even be
educated guess as to what colors can able to pick it up from there to use in
be combined to accurately portray the the painting. Pencil lines are still visible
subject. For this exercise, use Cerulean under the light washes of paint but can
Blue, Lapis Lazuli Genuine (Daniel Smith), be erased with an electric eraser when
Permanent Magenta, Indigo, and Rose the paper is completely dry.
Madder Genuine.
6. Build up layers of color with wide
4. Use a piece of the same type of paper washes using the side of the brush. Use
to test your color mixes on. a relatively large brush (No. 2 or No. 3)
and apply slight pressure, which will
5. Draw the plum with a 2H pencil on spread the hairs in the brush to cover
a Canson Hot Press Illustration Art more surface. Make sure to continue
Board. Include the details of the irregular moving around the painting to allow the
contours of the bloom in your drawing. sections to dry. If the surface isn’t dry,
The reason this must be defined right you’ll end up removing the existing paint
from the beginning is that you don’t instead of adding to it. Another way to
want reds or purples going where that add and build up color is by making lines
light blue bloom should go. Also indicate with a more condensed mix of paint.
where the water drops are placed at this You can alternate making wide washes
beginning sketch stage. When blocking of color and then lines. In this way, you
in subtle colors, look at the color you’ve continually add pigment. In this stage
created and tested on your scrap paper of the painting, you can see the lines of
before applying it to the painting. paint going in various directions.

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3 4
5 6

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7. Once the values are almost to where a highlight that isn’t very white. It all
you want them, you can switch to a depends on how light falls over the
smaller No. 2 brush. A good quality brush surface of your subject and the water
will have a very sharp point. Use the point drops. Since the highlights were created
at a more vertical angle to drybrush and by letting the white of the paper show
fill in and even the gradations. Remember, through and not with white paint, if
this can take a long time. Begin to paint does flow into the highlight, you
indicate the shadows that the drops can use a clean, damp, small, and sharp
create. Feel free to make adjustments to brush to scrub out the small area. Then,
your colors as you go. For example, you quickly blot with a paper towel. This can
may now see a yellow cast at edges of be repeated until the highlight is light
the plum, which was not something you enough. As previously noted, photos will
noticed when choosing the paints on your be immensely helpful as reference when
palette. Imperfections and a mottling of painting water drops. It may seem crazy
the surface is also added at this stage. to go into such detail about painting
Draw small lines with the tip of the brush tiny drops of water, but they can lend
to create these shadowed areas. At this realism and that special something to
point, you haven’t taken any paint away, your subject!
you’ve only added it. Don’t use any white
paint; let the white of the paper show 9. Paint the stem of the plum using Naples
through instead. Yellow, Sap Green, Indian Red, and Sepia.
8. Each of the water drops you paint 10. This plum has a lot going on for its
will be of differing shapes and sizes. The small size. Reflected light on the right
highlights should be accurate to the side, a dark gradated shadow, changing
curving round shape of the surface the colors showing bloom, and water drops
drops are on. The drops at the sides of all add to the realism. The challenge is
the plum have a light blue tone, while having everything come together in a
the drops where the plum’s highlight balanced and cohesive way.
is will have whiter highlights. These
highlights will be more elongated at the
sides and rounder at the front. Some
drops will have more detail than others.
A more detailed drop may have a dark
shadow, whiter highlight, and mid tones.
Others might have a dark shadow and

Text Page: 132
7 8
9 10

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PAINTING STEMS Supplies
AND BRANCHES • HB, No. F, and 2H pencils

• Dividers or clear ruler
Stems and branches might easily be
overlooked but once again they should
• Kneaded eraser
always represent the subject accurately.
Stems might be ribbed or hairy and
watercolor brushes
branches gnarly or smooth.
• Paper towel
• Scrap paper
Mixed Media Branch
• Paint palette
Some subjects lend themselves to using
• Watercolor paints
more than one medium in a single piece
of art. Often, graphite and watercolor
1. To begin, determine the thickness
are combined so that the subject is
and length of the branch. Note any
drawn with graphite, then an interesting
predominant details like peeling bark
or colorful element is highlighted in
or irregular edges.
color with watercolor. Other times, a
subject is painted with watercolor and
2. Add texture and shadows from left to
elements of the composition that are in
right. By working this way, you can note
the background are drawn with graphite
how the branch changes as you move
so that they appear to fade into the
along. Indicate where the darkest areas
background. This creates an atmospheric
are and where there are little holes and
perspective and gives depth to the piece.
irregularities.
This branch has very little color except
for the pale green lichen, so graphite
3. Once the graphite areas are completed,
is used for the woody branch and pale
create pale green lines to mimic the way
green watercolor for the lichen.
the lichen grows. The fine curving hairs of
In this exercise, draw directly on the
lichen should look soft.
hot-pressed drawing paper without
a preliminary sketch. This will give a
spontaneous and irregular feel to the
drawing much like the subject itself.
Wiggly lines and an unsteady hand
will work to your advantage with this
imprecise subject.
The completed drawing will have detail,
form, and a touch of color for interest.

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1

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Final Thughts
Paintings exhibited in major botanical exhibits are Most artists, however, once they learn the basics,
completed to the utmost exacting standards. Many are also able to enjoy this relaxing and meditative
aspects of the painting are considered, including practice of botanical painting. After reading through
scientific accuracy, composition, color, form, and detail. this book and completing the exercises, you’ll have
Works at this level take countless hours to complete and learned valuable tips and tricks while considering the
many hours of practice invested before that. If you ever composition, accuracy, and detail that will make your
have the chance to see one of these exhibits, please do! botanical artwork a success. With further practice, you’ll
You’ll be amazed by these artists from all over the world, find your work will become even more refined. Thank
all sharing the same love of painting botanicals. you for following along on this journey with me. I wish
you a fulfilling practice of creating your own beautiful
botanical works of art.
“Watercolor Anemones”
Ranunculaceae
watercolor on paper
9" x 12.5" (22.9 cm x 31.8 cm)

Text Page: 136
Page: 137
“Jim’s Peony”
watercolor on vellum
10” x 13” (25.4 cm x 30 cm)

Text Page: 138
Resurces
The materials and supplies I like to use, and have shown in this book, can be found
at your local art or craft store as well as online.
Organizations and websites

American Society of Botanical Artists www.asba-art.org
Society of Botanical Artists www.soc-botanical-artists.org
Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation www.huntbotanical.org
Guild of Natural Science Illustrators www.gnsi.org
Botanical Artist.com www.botanicalartists.com
Also see your local botanical Gardens website
Facebook groups
Botanical Art for Beginners
Botanical Artists
The Society of Botanical Artists (SBA)
American Society of Botanical Artists (ASBA)
Books
The Art of Botanical Painting by Margaret Stevens—in association with the Society
of Botanical Artists, published by UK Collins
Botanical Sketchbook by Mary Ann Scott with Margaret Stevens, published

by Smithsonian
Botanical Painting with Coloured Pencils by Ann Swan, published by UK Collins
The Joy of Botanical Drawing: A Step by Step Guide to Drawing and Painting Flowers,
Leaves, Fruit and More by Wendy Hollander, published by Watson-Guptill
Rosie Sanders Flowers: A Celebration of Botanical Art by Rosie Sanders,

published by Batsford
Billie Showell’s Botanical Painting in Watercolor by Billie Showell, published

by Search Press
Botanical Artistry Plants, projects & process by Julia Trickey, published

by Two Rivers Press
The Modern Flower Painter: Creating Vibrant Botanical Portraits in Watercolor

by Anna Mason, published by Search Press
139

Text Page: 139
Acknwledgments
I would like to acknowledge my wonderful art teachers.
The beloved Mr. Travis who let students run wild in the art
room, the enthusiastic booming voice of Bob Munford,
and Marvin Mattelson who helped me to refine what the
others started and coached me as an illustrator.
Abut the Authr

Karen Kluglein began her career as an illustrator after
graduating from the School of Visual Arts in 1980, with
Dannon, Ragu, Pillsbury, Nabisco, The Atlantic Monthly,
IBM, and Calvin Klein among her varied list of clients.
After attending an American Society of Botanical Artists
exhibit in the 1990s, Karen knew that her experience
painting detailed food illustrations (such as berries and
herbs) and her style were a great fit for the genre. In
addition to teaching in-person workshops at the New
York Botanical Garden and on eastern Long Island, and
selling original art, prints, and instructional downloads
and DVDs on her website, Karen also licenses her work,
which can be seen on Celestial Seasonings packaging
and on paper goods by Caspari Inc. Karen has won Best
in Show and Best Painting in Show at the International
Exhibition, and the Dianne Bouchier Award For Excellence
in Botanical Art in 2010. She lives on Long Island, in
East Hampton, New York. To see more of her work,
visit botanical-paintings.com.

Text Page: 140
Index
A dividers, 30 Beach Rose in Fine Point
acrylics, 71 drawing techniques Marker, 48–50
ambient color, 68 Beach Rose, 48–50 Blackberry in Colored Pencil,
apples, 96, 100–101, 128 berries, 51–53 52–53
atmospheric perspective, 120, 134 branches, 54–61 Drybrush: Columns, 86
autumn dogwood (Cornus florida), flowers, 45–50 Drybrush: One-Color Berry, 87
81, 112–115 fruit, 51–53 Drybrush: One-Color Leaf, 86
gradations, 38 Drybrush: Sphere, 83–85
B highlights, 36, 39 German Iris, 120–123
Balloon Flower (Platycodon lamp arrangement, 31 gradations, 78–79
grandiflorus), 75 leaves, 40–44 Japanese Anemone Leaf in
Bartram’s Franklinia (Franklinia lifting graphite, 39 Colored Pencil, 41–44
alatamaha), 82 live specimens, 26 Lavender Cattleya Orchid in
Beach Rose in Fine Point Marker, loose gestural drawing, 28–29 Watercolor, 116–119
48–50 measurements, 30–34 Lily Petal in Graphite, 46–47
berries, 51–53, 128–133 mixed-media branch, 134–135 lifting graphite, 39
Blackberry in Colored Pencil, 52–53 petals, 45–50 lifting paint, 88–89
branches photographs, 27, 31 Magnolia Leaf in Watercolor,
drawing techniques, 54–61 shadows, 30, 36 109–111
painting techniques, 134–135 stems, 54–61 Mixed-Media Branch, 134–135
burnishing pencils, 41, 52 values, 35, 36 overlaps, 90
volume, 52–53 Plum in Watercolor, 129–133
C Dried Wild Clematis (Clematis Red Pepper in Watercolor,
cold-pressed paper, 24 virginiana), 17 124–126
color charts, 66–68 drybrush, 81–87, 199 revisions, 94–95
colored pencils, 18–19, 25, 38, 41,
52–53 E F
colorless blenders, 38, 41 erasers Fading Coral Charm (genus Paeonia),
color mapping, 74–75, 112 colored pencils and, 41 76
color mixing, 68 kneaded erasers, 25, 30, 39, Ferrari Amaryllis Bulb (tribe
Columns exercise, 86 41, 89 Amaryllidaea), 102
crepe myrtle (Lagerstroemia indica), lifting graphite, 39 fine point markers, 20
105 lifting paint, 89 finishing, 107
critiquing, 107 Sakura electric eraser, 25 flowers
SumoGrip® EE-3000 Electric Beach Rose in Fine Point
D Eraser, 25 Marker, 48–50
details Tombow MONO zero precision drawing techniques, 45–50
mottling, 100–101 eraser, 25, 39, 89 German Iris, 120–123
spots, 98–99 exercises Lavender Cattleya Orchid in
texture, 102–105 Autumn Dogwood Leaf in Watercolor, 116–119
veining, 97 Gouache, 112–115 Lily Petal, 46–47
141

Text Page: 141
live specimens, 26 edges, 42 layered washes, 77
photographs, 27 Japanese anemone, 41–44 leaves, 108–115
surface texture, 45 magnolia, 109–111 lifting, 88–89
watercolors, 68 painting techniques, 108–115 mistakes, 91–93
fruits, 51–53, 128–133 variables, 40, 108 mixed-media branch, 134–135
lichen, 59, 134–135 mottling, 100–101
G lifting overlaps, 90
garlic bulb, 21 graphite, 39 personality, 106–107
German Iris (Iris germanica), paint, 88–89 petals, 120–123
120–123 Lily Petal in Graphite, 46–47 revisions, 91–93
gouache, 70–71, 112–115 live specimens, 26 spots, 98–99
gradations, 38, 78–79 local color, 68 stems, 134–135
graphite loose gestural drawing, 28–29 texture, 102–105
branch exercise, 60–61, values, 79–80
134–135 M veining, 97
lifting, 39 magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora), 71, washes, 76–77
lily petal exercise, 46–47 104, 109–111 paper
mixed media branch exercise, measurements, 30–34 cold-pressed, 24
134–135 mistakes, 91–93 hot-pressed, 24, 41, 117
paper, 24 mixing colors, 68 transfer paper, 24
pencils, 16 morning glory (Convolvulaceae weight, 73
family), 57, 58 pencil sharpeners, 25, 30
H mottling, 100–101 personality, 106–107
highlights, 36, 39 MUJI Manual Pencil Sharpener, 25 petals
Honeygold Apple (Malusn German Iris (Iris germanica),
domestica), 96 O 120–123
hot-pressed paper, 24, 41, 117 observation, 56, 102 overlapping, 90
hydrangea (genus Hydrangea), 32, One-Color Berry exercise, 87 revisions, 94–95
57, 58 One-Color Leaf exercise, 86 surface texture, 45
“Onion,” 71 photographs, 27, 31
I overlapping, 36, 90 plum (Prunus domestica), 129–133
illustration board, 73 putty rubber. See kneaded erasers.
P
J paintbrushes, 72 R
Japanese Anemone Leaf in Colored paints red pepper (Capsicum annuum),
Pencil, 41–44 acrylics, 71 124–126
gouache, 70–71 revisions, 91–93, 94–95
K illustration board, 73 rhododendron (genus
key terms, 10–12 revisions, 94–95 Rhododendron), 56, 58
kneaded erasers, 25, 30, 39, 41, 89 surfaces, 73 rulers, 30
watercolors, 64–69
L painting techniques S
lamp arrangement, 31 berries, 128–133 Sakura electric eraser, 25
Lavender Cattleya Orchid in branches, 134–135 Saral paper, 24
Watercolor, 116–119 color mapping, 74–75 shadows, 30, 36
layered washes, 77, 81 details, 96–105 silverpoint paper, 24
leaves finishing, 107 silverpoint technique, 22–23
autumn dogwood, 81, 112–115 flowers, 116–127 Sphere exercise, 83–85
color mapping, 74 fruits, 128–133 spots, 98–99
drawing techniques, 40–44 gradations, 78–79 stems

Text Page: 142
drawing techniques, 54–61 lifting technique, 88
painting techniques, 134–135 local color, 68
SumoGrip® EE-3000 Electric Eraser, magnolia (Magnolia
25 grandiflora), 109–111
supplies mixing color, 68
burnishing pencils, 41 One-Color Berry, 87
colored pencils, 18–19, 41 One-Color Leaf, 86
colorless blenders, 41 paintbrushes, 72
dividers, 30 painting surfaces, 73
erasers, 25, 30, 39 palette limitations, 64
fine point markers, 20 plum (Prunus domestica),
graphite pencils, 16 129–133
overlaps, 90 tonal color, 68
paintbrushes, 72 values, 79–80
paper, 24 washes, 76–77
pencil sharpeners, 30
rulers, 30
T
Tamora Rose (Rosa ‘Tamora’), 69
texture, 102–105, 128
Toad Orchid (Paphiopedilum
henryanum), 98
Tombow MONO zero precision eraser,
25, 39, 41, 89, 122
tonal color, 68
tracing paper, 24, 28
transfer paper, 24
V
values, 35, 36, 60, 79–80
veining, 97
vellum, 73
volume, 52–53
W
washes, 76–77, 81
watercolors
ambient color, 68
characteristics, 64
color chart, 65, 66–68
color mixing, 68
Columns exercise, 86
drybrush technique, 81–87
German Iris (Iris germanica),
120–123
gouache compared to, 70
gradations, 78–79
Lavender Cattleya Orchid,
116–119
Index 143

Text Page: 143
“Spring Iris” Iris sibirica
watercolor on paper
9" x 11" (22.9 cm x 27.9 cm)

Text Page: 144

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DRAWING & PAINTING

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© 2020 Quarto Publishing Group USA Inc.

First published in 2020 by Rockport Publishers, an imprint of The Quarto Group,

Digital edition published in 2020

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Kluglein, Karen, author.

Design: Samantha J. Bednarek

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DRAWING SUBJECTS AND MEDIUMS 40 PAINTING SUBJECTS 108

Final Thoughts 136

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8 DRAWING & PAINTING BOTANICALS FOR ARTISTS

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KEY TERMS • Background: The part of the artwork that appears to

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• Scientific accuracy: This is artwork that’s scientifically

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GRAPHITE PENCILS pencil is soft and will leave a dark mark;

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Light Cobalt Light Green

Cobalt Chrome White

Phthalo Blue Hooker’s Green

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LIVE SPECIMEN tape. I’ve kept flowers, such as tulips,

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DRAWING loose composition and your sketch

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Supplies PRECISE The drawing supplies you’ll need are

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