MONTHLY PAINT-IN Botanical Drawing and Illustration
Saturday, September 9
9:30 am-3:30 pm (set-up 9:00-9:30)
Coordinators: Margaret Bock ms-bock@sbcglobal.net and David Muegge 713-645-8711.
Join WAS-H for its first ever class in botanical drawing and illustration for a one day paint-in on September 9, 2017 taught by Elizabeth Wagar, a former botany major at the University of Michigan and currently an active participant in WAS-H programs. Botanical illustration is more than just painting flowers. It reflects a long history of scientific illustration. Botanical illustration was, in fact, the first art form where women were independently employed as artists and traces back to Maria Sybilla Merian, an artist in Amsterdam in the 1600’s during a time of global adventure and scientific exploration.
Join a brief journey through the art of discovery at this session. The specifics of detail drawing from live botanical materials, the use of hot-pressed watercolor paper, and the unique color spectrum of botanical illustrations will be discussed. Learn how to use white space in your botanical compositions. The rules of this art form as developed over centuries will be described (but you don’t have to follow them)! Also, helpful references will be provided as well as an introduction to national activities in this important area of watercolor painting are included. Live botanical subjects and publications to introduce the Association of Botanical Artists to Houston will be provided. If you are a gardener, you already know half of what you need to know! Come join the fun.
