illustration

Botanical Illustration

Draw Plants the Way a Botanical Illustrator Does

12 lessons4 modules10h 0m durationbeginner level

Instructor: StretchLearn Faculty

About this course

This beginner course teaches the discipline of botanical illustration from direct observation of living specimens. You will measure and draft accurate graphite studies, then render them in transparent watercolour and pen-and-ink. Throughout, you balance the scientific demand for botanical accuracy against the compositional and tonal choices that make a plate beautiful.

Curriculum

Module 1: Seeing and Measuring the Specimen3 lessons

The Botanical Illustrator's Workstation and ToolkitPreview45m
Choosing, Conditioning, and Keeping a Specimen🔒45m
Measuring: Dividers, Sight-Sizing, and the Grid🔒50m

Module 2: Graphite Rendering of Plant Form3 lessons

From Landmark Plot to Confident Line Drawing🔒45m
Value, Light Logic, and the Five-Tone Scale🔒50m
Rendering Botanical Textures in Graphite🔒50m

Module 3: Watercolour and Pen-and-Ink Techniques3 lessons

Transparent Watercolour: Washes and Layering🔒55m
Pen-and-Ink: Line, Stipple, and Cross-Hatch🔒50m
Combining Media and a Working Watercolour Plate🔒55m

Module 4: Botanical Accuracy and the Finished Plate3 lessons

Reading a Plant: Structure, Venation, and Phyllotaxy🔒50m
Flower Dissection and Depicting Floral Parts🔒50m
Composition, Annotation, and Finishing the Plate🔒55m