Helen Birch

Renowned botanical artist and professional gardener, Carolyn Jenkins combines her love of art and gardening to create stunning compositions (often very different from traditional botanical painting) with vibrant colours that leap from the page. The first part of this book – Botanical: Grow – explores time well-spent in the garden and covers much of the traditional details of botanical painting, from observation to capturing light, colour and texture. The second part – Contemporary: Paint – explores how Carolyn works with photography, using the computer to help with crop and composition, achieving maximum impact and creating luminous paintings that shine from the page. Her stunning illustrations are full of vibrant colour, and her larger-than-life artworks have gained an enthusiastic following on Instagram. This practical guide contains all the techniques and practice you need to create beautiful botanical art, plus step-by-step photography, crop, composition and photoshop demonstrations, to bring luminous colours, textures and impact to your own work.

Petite in size but packed with inspiration, Just Draw Botanicals presents 90 beautiful, contemporary botanical artworks in a range of media and styles.Each spread includes a stunning work of art paired with a discussion of the artist’s approach to creating it, including the techniques employed. At the bottom of the page, find tips on the tools, materials and methods used to make the piece. A hyper-realistic blackberry, a watercolour sketch of a bunch of mint in a glass, a detailed scratchboard study of three pussy willow twigs, a tribal-style pattern inspired by different leaf shapes, an abstract image-transfer print of a milkweed plant… the techniques and subjects covered are diverse. With these and more artworks – created in a variety of media, including watercolour, coloured pencils, oil, pen and ink, mixed media and pencil – explore: Shape, form and lightHarmonious coloursContrasting elementsFine detailCapturing movementCropped compositionsUsing negative spaceAnatomical accuracyA visual index is included at the front of the book so you can easily skip to a style or colour palette that interests you. At the back of the book, find an overview of materials and tips for using them; a list of further resources, including books and websites; and two additional indexes, one by artist name and the other by subject. Whether you are an artist looking for fresh ideas for creating botanical art or simply enjoy looking at nature-inspired images, this portable volume is a rich resource.

El arte de la ilustraci n bot nica, nacido hace siglos para registrar y conservar el conocimiento sobre el reino vegetal, est resurgiendo en la actualidad con aportaciones art sticas de lo m s brillantes. En este libro, Helen Birch nos introduce en l con su f rmula infalible ya probada en sus anteriores bestsellers Dibujar, Acuarela y Dibujo del natural: mostrando m s de 90 t cnicas de dibujo a partir de las fascinantes ilustraciones de algunos de los artistas m s importantes del momento. Una gu a esencial de arte bot nico en la que encontrar s un cat logo completo de t cnicas y recursos, una galer a incre ble de artistas y estilos y una tentadora fuente de inspiraci n y creatividad.

Drawn from Life offers bite-size lessons that will help anyone master the classic practice of life drawing. Over 100 pieces of art by contemporary artists illustrate fundamentals such as line, contour, and color, plus surprising and innovative techniques that will take your drawings to the next level. Showcasing a wide range of styles and methods, this is a refreshing new guide to a timeless art form.

In this handy guide to figure drawing, tutor Helen Birch explores 100 life drawings and portraits by contemporary artists. Of practical use to beginners and experts alike, Drawn from Life is a celebration of the most playful, personal, and experimental approaches used by modern artists and illustrators. Traditional techniques sit alongside new media in neatly organized entries so you can dip in and out for advice or flick through for inspiration and ideas. This is the perfect book to give you the confidence to try new techniques and explore unfamiliar styles. The human body is one of the greatest subjects in art, and one of the most varied. Drawn From Life highlights and examines the different techniques, qualities, and effects of each piece. Offering a bold, refreshing change from other run-of-the-mill figure drawing books, it adopts the unique approach of teaching drawing via the images themselves, focusing on the way portraits can be treated using a whole range of different techniques, rather than looking at how to master one single style. Practical tips are provided throughout the book on topics such as tone, perspective and colour. Readers are encouraged to discover the ways in which similar subjects and styles are executed by different artists, while also being inspired to use the tips in the book as a way of building on existing skills. Organised into chapters according to the technique exemplified - line, tone, colour, wash, shading and mixed media—artwork is featured large and luscious, accompanied by extended captions, insightful tips and practical advice. A visual index at the front of the book ensures easy navigation.

A beautifully illustrated, easy-to-navigate guide to creating contemporary watercolors, pairing full-page paintings with insights and tips for artists. Featuring 200 of the best works of young, modern watercolor painters, paired with bite-sized painting tips and art instruction, Just Add Watercolor gives aspiring artists access to information about--and examples of--top work in the medium. Artist and instructor Helen Birch breaks down each painting by techniques, subject matter, and tools, providing art enthusiasts and painters with a one-stop resource and gallery of the best that modern watercolor has to offer. Its small trim size with one painting per spread provides a bold, but user-friendly alternative to traditional, process-heavy painting instruction texts. Just Add Watercolor shines the spotlight on featured paintings, while still giving readers all the insights needed to get started painting in this popular medium.