Three Quick and Accessible Books
- elanorwexler
- Apr 26
- 5 min read
This month members of the Education Team have been looking at new books available from the publisher Search Press who specialise in arts and crafts publications. These releases are aimed towards ‘beginner and intermediate’ artists and offer short, accessible exercises to develop general technique and illustration skills.
The Colour Mixing Guide, Watercolour Botanicals
Julie Collins
Article by: Emma van Klaveren, Botanical Illustrator and ABA Committee and Education Team Leader
Hot off the (Search) press comes this handy guide on how to mix watercolour for the painting of plants, by an extremely well qualified colour-mixing expert. As she says “This is not an extensive book about colour in flowers but aims to cover most colours seen in different plants.” The first five chapters explain colour, tools and also watercolour techniques including wet on wet, wet on dry, washes and lifting off.
This is followed by four sections on flower, leaf, seed head and bulb painting. They are interspersed with step-by-step projects on how to capture the geranium, the hydrangea, the maple leaf, cardoon and allium bulbs. A helpful glossary is also included at the end for technical terms.
This is a petite book packed full of useful information for the emerging artist and generously illustrated. I would have been grateful for this when I started my watercolour journey. It’s not too overwhelming and lays down the foundation for very good practice, handling watercolour and capturing the essence of plant matter in watercolour.
The Kew Book of Drawing Flora and Fauna
20 stunning step-by-step tutorials
Joy-Louise Robinson
Article by: Elanor Wexler, Botanical Illustrator and ABA Committee and Education Team Member
This book contains a very accessible set of 20 nature tutorials allowing the reader to progress through progressively harder challenges. You begin with illustrations of relatively simple plant forms, for example a single snowdrop, and work your way through to more in-depth drawings including insects, moths and even a rabbit.
Joy-Louise works in fineliner ink pen and introduces some useful tips for mark making and shading at the start of the book as well as her knowledge of the types of pens to choose for this style of work. She also offers ideas for watercolour washes to add if you wish to add colour. If you preferred, you could work in pencil to follow the steps of the tutorials.
Every page is set out clearly and I like the fact that there is not a lot of text – you are simply invited to follow the steps of her drawing process. I would suggest that this is a good choice for someone who wants to build some basic confidence with drawing from nature, or for a young person who would like these tutorials to follow. I am lucky to work in a school where we have a lovely group of pupils who come into the artroom to work on their own projects. One pupil loves to draw flowers for me and so I gave her this book to try. She found the tutorials easy to follow and had presented me with the completed snowdrop by the end of the first lunchbreak!
Snowdrop illustration from the book, and snowdrop by Georgina, Moon Hall School Reigate; images courtesy of publisher and Georgina
A book like this may develop confidence when starting to work with fineliner pen and allow you to begin to explore a different, illustrative style of working.
Draw in 10 minutes Botanicals
Emma Tildesley
Article by: Annie Morris, BSc , Botanical artist and RHS medallist, ABA committee and Education Team member.
If you have little or no experience of drawing plants, then you will find this slim volume helpful. Each of the fifty botanical subjects are set out on a double page spread with a step-by-step guide to creating the finished drawing. For each subject there is also a simple guide to colouring the subject and in the introduction the author has given a basic guide to watercolour painting.
The strength of the book lies in the clear and easy to understand line drawings which beginners will enjoy following and they may even be able to complete a subject in ten minutes. The tutorials cover four main areas: fruits and vegetables; flowers; cones, berries and foliage; and cacti and succulents. Along with the step-by-step drawings, a ‘colour me’ section for each plant subject is well set out and, in each case, gives details of the colours used by the author. It will possibly be difficult for beginners to achieve the same results as the author without more instruction in watercolour techniques - this book does not delve into that detail but is intended instead to develop drawing skills and offer short activities that can build confidence.
So if you are just starting out or are developing your range of skills, these books offer quick and achievable tasks that you can progress through. And, having copied some of these 2D drawings, we’d encourage you to begin to draw from a live plant next and put those improved techniques into practice.
Author Biographies:
Julie Collins studied Fine Art at The University of Reading and has been an artist, writer and teacher since then. She has written a number of colour mixing guides and artists’ problem-solving books and also writes for The Artist magazine. She works from her studio in Hampshire, UK where she explores her passion for painting, drawing and crafts. Julie has received numerous prestigious awards for her painting, including from the Royal Watercolour Society, the Royal West of England Academy and ING Discerning Eye. Julie was also elected a Member of the Society of Women Artists and on to the SWA Council in 2022. Julie is also the author of Colour Demystified, published by Search Press in 2021.
Joy-Louise Robinson has been drawing for most of her life. She has almost a decade of experience working in the creative industry, with a background in fine art, graphic design and illustration.
Joy-Louise believes that anyone can learn to draw with practice, and loves to bring out the artistic confidence in others. Since 2019 she has been helping others with their drawing through her successful online tutorials, classes, tips and e-books. See more from Joy-Louise at her website: www.felicityandink.com
Emma Tildesley is a popular and talented watercolour artist specializing in botanicals. For as long as she can remember she’s been captivated by the intricate beauty of plants, and her journey as a botanical illustrator is one dedicated to capturing the essence of the plant and translating it onto paper.
Emma started posting tutorials on her YouTube channel nearly 10 years ago. Since then she’s amassed nearly 6.5k subscribers, a number that keeps on growing; she also has over 60k dedicated followers on Instagram, where she shares news of her latest tutorials and special watercolour commissions.
Biographies sourced from Search Press website
To purchase these books:
Visit Search Press publishers
Also available internationally online and in bookshops
