PHILADELPHIA SOCIETY OF BOTANICAL ILLUSTRATORS
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Resources, Articles, and Links

What Is Botanical Illustration?

The goal of Botanical Illustration is to accurately depict the details of plant morphology, color, form and function for the purpose of scientific study. A botanical illustration can convey fine detail and provide a vision of the subject that may be lost in more general, less visually discriminating images, such as photographs. In addition, the skillful illustrator arranges the drawing or painting with an eye to creating an artistically pleasing composition and achieves artistic depth and vision. Thus, Botanical Illustration is both art and science; a thing of beauty in its own right.

In addition to a requirement for scientific accuracy a significant distinction between Botanical Illustration and more general floral painting (or Botanical Art) is the absence of supports such as vases, tablecloths, other still-life objects, background images or landscapes. Frequently roots, bulbs, seeds, fruits and other distinguishing features are included, providing a more complete record of the plant in a single image. Occasionally, birds or insects are included, if they pertain in a significant way to the plant’s life-cycle.

Many great artists, from the seventeenth-century Dutch masters to the French Impressionists, such as Monet and Renoir, to modernists like Georgia O'Keeffe, portrayed flowers, but since their goal was primarily aesthetic, accuracy was not always necessary or intended.

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artwork © Melissa G. Olson
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Helpful Links:
  • The Barnes Foundation: Barnesfoundation.org
  • Pennsylvania Horticultural Society: phsonline.org
  • Pennsylvania Horticultural Society MacLean Library: phsonline.org/learning/the-phs-mclean-library
  • New York Botanical Gardens: nybg.org
  • American Society of Botanical Artists: asba-art.org
  • Chanticleer Gardens: chanticleergarden.org
  • Bartrams Garden: bartramsgarden.org
  • Jenkins Arboretum & Garden: jenkinsarboretum.org
  • Botanicus, an online portal to historic botanical literature from the Missouri BotanicalGarden Library: botanicus.org
  • Biodiversity Heritage Library: biodiversitylibrary.org

Books and Publications:  
  • Botanical Illustration Painting and Watercolours, Siriol Sherlock
  • The Botanical Palette: Color for the Botanical Painter, Margaret Stevens
  • Watercolour Flower Portraits, Billy Showell
  • The Art of Botanical Illustration: An Illustrated History, Wilfrid Blunt
  • Botanical Illustration for Beginners, Meriel Thurstan
  • Botanical Sketchbook, Mary Ann Scott & Margaret Stevens
  • Contemporary Botanical Artists, Shirley Sherwood
  • How to Draw Plants: The Techniques of Botanical Illustration, Keith West
  • Botanical Illustration: The First 10 lessons, Valerie Price
  • The Art of Botanical Drawing, Agathe Ravet-Haevermans
  • Botanical Drawing in Color: A Basic Guide, Wendy Hollender
  • Botanical Illustration Course: With the Eden Project, Rosie Martin
  • Botanical Illustration in Watercolor, Eleanor Wunderlich
  • Contemporary Botanical Illustration with the Eden Project, Rosie Martin & Meriel Thurstan
  • The Golden Age of Botanical Art, Martyn Rix
  • Botanical Illustration, Valerie Oxley
  • Flora Illustrata: Great Works from the LuEsther T. Mertz Library of the NY Botanical Garden,  Susan M. Fraser & Vanesse Bezemer Sellers
  • Garden Eden, Masterpieces of Botanical Illustration, H. Walter Lack

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©2023 Philadelphia Society of Botanical Illustrators. All rights reserved. All artwork is copyrighted by the artist. Use of artwork is prohibited without permission of the artist.