The Botanical Art Files Narratives (volume 2) [Paperback]

This book looks at various approaches a botanical artist can take. Whether it is from the traditional classical style that most students are taught to more contemporary approaches such as detailed enlargements or taking on more unusual subjects. It looks at the varied history of botanical illustration and its sources in horticulture, science and art. There are many reasons to want to be a botanical artist and there is more than one path to follow, and more than one goal to aspire to.Botanical artists naturally have different objectives and enthusiasms. Some simply want to paint flowers, the more colorful and exotic the better. But there are also those who are fascinated by fungi, and others who are inspired by their local indigenous species and then there are some who much prefer to draw than paint. But the book goes beyond the choice of subjects and looks at various treatments and their sources in the worlds of horticulture, commerce and science. Various ways that are open to us all to explore and develop in the contemporary field of botanical art. This book explores the various narratives that exist in botanical art. It explores their roots in the traditions of botanical illustration, along with the people that pioneered its techniques, conventions and styles. It looks at others who have the power to inspire us, and considers what made them so unique. Its aim is to look at the scope of the botanical genre today, and considers its current development from the diverse functions it fulfilled in the past.