Botanical Art and Artists

US Fish and Wildlife just proposed to list monarch butterflies as #threatened species. It’s sad to see this coming, but I hope we can find ways to protect precious #wildlife including monarch. I painted a monarch butterfly sitting on a common milkweed flower. I placed two pretty feathers indicating fragile destiny of the monarch butterfly

US Fish & Wildlife has just announced their proposal to list the monarch as Threatened! I hope we can find ways to protect precious wildlife such as the monarch butterfly. It is one of my favorites to paint. #wildlife

Hazel Corylus avellana leaves catkins, and nuts botanical illustration

This is the #Hazel #Corylus avellana. It's often a compositional challenge showing all stages of a plant in one #botanicalillustration; flowers, fruit and sometimes autumn leaf colour too - but having drooping catkins, & twigs you can rearrange helps

Day 11 #artadventcalendar #sciart #🐡

An oil painting of a pink purple iris. The background is distressed to look like paper with several cup ring marks. One ring features a flying cabbage moth that is draw in graphite. From left to right, there are two pointed iris leaves, one with. an ant crawling up the right side. Nest, there is an iris stem with three unopened buds. The largest bud is at top and just about to unfurl, the petals are a deep purple. Two more leaves peek up through the center with a larger flower stem to the right. One unopened bud peeks up from the bottom of the panel with two more going up the stem. At top sits a fully open iris. the top petals are a light pink purple color, with the three bottom petals in a rich purple magenta color with yellow beards. Two more leaves are to the right of this stem and above them flies a bee positioned from behind as it is flying into the painting.

Day 10 #ArtAdventCalendar already?!? These are my fav #irises, but I planted 4 black varieties so that my change. 😉 But for now, they still hold the top spot in my #garden.

Spring Essentials / 18x14 inch oil on birchwood / 2024
#botanicalart #art #flowers

Who says there are no wild flowers in winter?

Inspired by this to look at dye colours in the notebooks of plant biochemist Robert (Robin) Hill (1899-1991), who experimented with plant dyes (and also invented a fish-eye lens for whole-sky cloud photography). MS Add. 9267/B.45 @theulspeccoll.bsky.social @theul.bsky.social

I love the idea of a book about wild flowers - with botanical illustrations - being ordered according to the month they flower in.
"Wild Flowers of the Year" was first published in 1852–1853, and dedicated to Queen Victoria with the monarch's permission
#wildflowers #Botanicalillustration

I've created a Starter Pack for all those interested in Botanical Art, Botanical Illustration and associated artists, illustrators and helpful organisations to know more about.

You can find it here. Enjoy!
go.bsky.app/5VpW7Ko

If you're interested in learning more about the history of botanical art and illustration, a good place to start is the History section on my website www.botanicalartandartists.com/history.html
This includes in-depth reviews of Past Masters of Botanical Art and Illustration

An exhibition of #botanical #photography by RHS Gold Medal Winner Laurence Hill can currently be seen in "The Christmas Show" at the Orleans House Gallery in South West London.

You can also see more of his work at www.instagram.com/botanical_ic...

Maybe it’s akin to the split between those who paint horticultural subjects which have been painted many times before - and those who illustrate wildflowers / grasses / lichens / mosses which do not get the same attention?

However the topic of most importance is #sustainability & feeding people :)

For all those seriously into the technical side of botany and plant classification. Or maybe just wanting to learn more, why not dip a toe in this starter pack?

go.bsky.app/GCP9Um

One of the things I’ve always found curious is how few botanical artists focus on the plants that we eat.

I’m not talking the nice pretty berries. I’m talking commercial crops and veggies

Another account I’m very happy to recommend having followed Lucy for years

Definitely worth following if you’re interested in botanical art and illustration.

Lucy teaches botanical illustration at Kew as well as working with the botanists there and this year had her first book published - about Botanical Sketchbooks (see link to dedicated account below)

A peek at three of the artworks in “Botanical Blues” at the Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art in Kew Gardens

shirleysherwood.com/_Botanical-B...

www.kew.org/kew-gardens/...

I’ll be posting more pics in coming days

Yay! Laurence is now on Bluesky

Below is where I've written this morning about this platform and things to think about before joining.

The most important of which is will the handle you want for your account still be available by the time you get round to registering!

I'm always so very pleased to post examples from Dianne's sketchbooks. They are always a joy to review.
#botanicalsketchbook
#botanicalartist
#botanicalillustrator

Here’s the deal on follow-back.
* I have more than one account & this one focuses on botanical art & illustration.
* I’ll follow artists I know & accounts which are predominantly about botanical art.
* If you’re generally interested in art, I will maybe follow you via @makingamark.bsky.social

Lizzie Harper produces #botanical illustrations for a variety of clients
#botanicalillustration

Botanical art is slow art - it often takes years….

This is an outstanding portrayal of fungi by my good friend Sarah Morrish @naturesdetails.bsky.social - currently on display in New York

Introducing Botanical Art and Artists to Bluesky.social
My handle is @botanicalart.bsky.social
My website is about
* botanical art and illustration past and present and
* botanical artists and illustrators of today and tomorrow - around the world.
...and I personally know rather a lot of them :)