An inspirational guide to drawing plants An intimate understanding of botany will help any artist create vibrant and realistic art. Sarah Simblet's masterclass provides you with an awareness and appreciation of plants and flowers and shows how to apply that knowledge to your art. Covering every type of plant, from the tiniest mosses and lichens to sumptuous flowers and trees, Sarah shows how to evoke their beauty on your canvas or page. Drawing on the rich history of botanic art and combined with Sarah's practical drawing classes, over 350 beautiful illustrations and vivid photographs, provide an in-depth look at roots, stems, leaves, flowers and fruits and explain how to create life-like drawings. For anyone wishing to master the art of drawing plants or for all those passionate about plants and how they are portrayed in art.

About the Author

Dr Sarah Simblet teaches at the University of Oxford, has drawings in national and private collections, including the Royal Academy of Art, London and Ashmolean, Oxford, and has had three solo shows of her large-scale work. Her broadcasting work includes interviews on BBC Radio 4, acting as a consultant for Watchmaker and for Discovery Channel's Art-Science documentaries, while she has also appeared on BBC3 and Channel 4.

Reviews

This is a sumptuous, stunning book by a widely exhibited artist and teacher at both the Royal College of Art in London and Oxford University. Simblet's drawings are paired with luminous plant portraits by photographer Sam Scott-Hunter. Simblet begins with essays on the history of botanical illustration and the various styles of the art and proceeds to detailed chapters on roots, stems, leaves, flowers, and fruit. Ann Swan's Botanical Portraits with Colored Pencils (reviewed below) is a fine but narrower work for experienced botanical artists who want to focus only on colored pencil. Copyright 2010 Reed Business Information.