Botanical Sketchbook Painting, Lessons 1-4

Create the look of vintage natural history illustration

A NOTE ABOUT THIS COURSE

This class grew out of a desire to share one of my favorite techniques with you. I call these artworks “Botanical Sketchbook Paintings” because the finished piece has a strong resemblance to a page in a vintage field sketchbook. They combine painted botanical subjects with black-and-white sketches, hand-lettered labels and written text all arranged together on a rich, stained surface. There are many steps to move through, and each is fun and challenging in its own way.

We’ll focus on four subject areas:

• Paper Preparation - 4 methods for dynamic natural color, plus artfully torn edges

• Drawing - 3 practice demos on preliminary sketching, plus 2 practices on drawing spot art

• Painting - 3 separate gouache botanicals made gentle by layered Prismacolor shading

• Page Design and Lettering - Tips, tricks, ideas and inspiration for hand-drawn verbiage

Don’t rush through these topics. Go slow, spend some time with each one. Practice the techniques but feel free to add your own spin. When you have completed the exercises in all five subject areas, you will possess the basic toolbox of skills to compose and illustrate your own Botanical Sketchbook Paintings.