Realistic Botanical Illustration: Escape to Nature

Realistic Botanical Illustration: Escape to Nature

“Thank you so much for choosing my course! I hope that you have learned something new and now feel more confident and know how to approach realistic watercolour painting. Now it's time to finish or present your course project if you have already finished it. Remember, you can paint the fruit or vegetable of your choice. I believe that here we have students from all over the world, and painting plants from your native region can be incredibly interesting! Sometimes it's comforting to paint something you know very well, and sometimes you may want to explore and "travel" to exotic places within your work, as I often do. I look forward to seeing your artwork! As a reminder, I have summarised the main steps you should take to complete your project. Studying Your Subject Find photo references and understand the morphology and peculiarities of the plant. Decide on the general composition. Taking Photos Take photos of the fruits using natural light, white background, and a reflector. Make small adjustments to the photo if needed. Tracing the Outlines Trace the outlines of all objects to the sketching paper according to the chosen composition. Make minor adjustments and transfer the sketch onto the watercolour paper.

Painting the Elements Paint the fruits using multiple layers. Work on the general shape and realistic texture. Paint leaves and smaller details like the branch. Make sure that the artwork looks complete in terms of tonal values. Adding Realism Add realistic water drops to the fruits. Paint flying bumblebees using the wet-on-wet technique. Don't forget to upload your finished illustration to the forum! You can do so by clicking on "Create your project". Remember to share both the final result and the steps that have led you to it, adding a brief explanation about what you have done in each one. Domestika has a great community where we all want to grow and learn. So join in, share your process, ideas, and doubts, and comment on others' work. I will be more than happy to answer any questions you might have along the way and give you feedback whenever I can. Explore your own creativity and enjoy!”

Partial transcription of the video

“ Final Project Thank you for taking my course. I hope that you have learned something new and that now you know how to approach a realistic watercolor painting. Let's review the main steps to do the final project. In the beginning, study a subject, find the photo references of the plant, and find out its peculiarities and morphology. Decide on the general composition by making a small sketch. Step number two, take photos of your references using natural light, white background, and a reflector. Slightly adjust the photograph, bring up the exposure and increase the saturation so that your p...”

This transcript is automatically generated, so it may contain mistakes.

Course summary for: Realistic Botanical Illustration: Escape to Nature

• Level: Beginner
• 99% positive reviews (120)
• 4727 students
• 5 units
• 25 lessons (5h 58m)
• 7 downloads

• Category

  Illustration

• Areas

  Botanical Illustration, Naturalistic Illustration, Painting, Watercolor Painting