I never would have thought that I would enjoy drawing. But in recent years I learnt that I can draw, that I can create something with a pencil, a bit of colour and that I’m not that bad.

Flowers are my favourite things to draw. I may not be very good at it, but it’s fun. On Youtube and Skillshare there are a lot videos on how to draw flowers and of course there are a lot of books, too. One book I discovered on NetGalley and requested an advanced reader’s copy (arc).

Back to the book itself. „Inking Florals: A Step-By-Step Guide to Creating Dynamic Modern Florals in Ink and Watercolor“ is by Isa Down, an artist and teacher on Skillshare. You can also follow her on Instagram.

The first pages are about the materials you need to start drawing (e.g. ink pens) and there is a colour chart with primary and secondary colours (something we all learnt back in school but I was never that interested).

Isa Down talks also about finding inspiration, like going for walks and taking photos. That’s something I often do myself. Photography is a hobby of mine since quite a few years and I always enjoy walking in the forest or through fields and meadows. Especially now in spring there is a lot to discover.

The reader learns also about watercolour techniques (like wet-on-wet), how to correct mistakes and if he or she should apply the watercolour first and than the ink or the other way round. Isa says that there are no right or wrong ways and I think that’s the beauty with art.

Before Isa takes us step by step through the process of drawing a flower, we learn some basics about flowers, the names of each part.

There are 18 step-by-step tutorials of flowers like snowdrop, anemone and red poppy. The step-by-step guides are very easy to follow because they include drawings belong-side the text.

„Inking Florals: A Step-By-Step Guide to Creating Dynamic Modern Florals in Ink and Watercolor“ is a beautifully made book for beginner with a lot of helpful explanations on everything you need to know about drawing flowers.

This is a glorious book that does, one feels, require a basic level of skill from the wannabe artist to be able to have a go at recreating these floral masterpieces. Sprinkled throughout with the artists own photography, it’s fun, casual style makes the book feel like an artist herself is helping you rather than a how-to book that has to be followed step by step, although for a novice a step by step guide for each flower might prove more worthwhile for the complete beginner. There are several pages set aside to discuss such topics as finding inspiration, elementary colour theory, materials and the like and there are sixteen different flowers explained within this book so that the reader is not relegated to a copier, but rather encouraged to learn, expand and develop additional skills further down the track. In the book introduction, Down also breaks down the parts of flowers, giving a basic anatomy class for beginners who don’t remember year seven science class too well. Down gives the reader a basics class on the how-to of using inks, watercolour paints and the types and sizes of pens and pencils to use the recreate the style of work she produces. With techniques such as for shading, how to blend paint colours to expand the palette range and even what order to do the work in with regards to paint or ink first in which to make the most pleasing results, giving the reader a how-to-draw floral as a basic step by step in one dedicated section.

Athetically pleasing.

received a free copy of this book for review purposes.

I would like to start this reveiw by saying that I am not an artist but I love to create embroidery , crosstitch and fabric projects. I found this book informative and helpful. The most useful sections for me were drawing by measuring and the sections of light and dark contrast and graduations. I found myself challenged to draw my own floral designs for my projects and take up my paint brush to start my watercolour journey.

#IllustrationStudio:InkingFlorals#Beatutiful#Clearand consise#Watercolour

This is a cute step-by-step guide for a couple of flowers.
The best thing is step 0: the author examines the reference image and breaks down the shapes and parts of the flower, and sketches them individually. This is definitely something I will do for my next painting.
The color theory chapter is bad, is has some very misleading photos in it.

I think this is a great library pick, but I don't learn enough from this to want to own this book. The internet has too many better tutorials out there for free.

A really nice book dedicated to drawing beautiful floral pieces. I appreciate that it included different ways of coloring the images as well.

This is a fun read!

The book is surprisingly thorough with the step-by-step instructions from drawing to filling in flowers, bouquets, and animals. The author goes over different techniques (like drawing or painting first) and all the tools you need.

There's also a helpful color guide and information on different painting approaches. Some of the drawings are difficult as a beginner, but there's a variety of beautiful flowers to learn to draw!

Illustration Studio: Inking Florals
A step-by-step guide to creating dynamic modern florals in ink and watercolor
by Isa Down
This book felt more like how-to-draw florals rather than and inking florals book. I liked however that each element for the final project was shown to practice so that it was less intimidating to put it all together. There was not great detail involved with the painting or inking techniques. I personally still enjoyed the book.
I received a copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review shared here.

A gorgeous and expansive guide on illustrating and inking flowers through various mediums, full of tips, exercises and encouragement.

This book covers basic drawing of botanicals and includes many common varieties of flowers. It then goes into painting those drawings and even covers a little bit of color theory.

Thank you NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group for the opportunity to read and give an honest review of this book.

How fortunate I was to be able to read and study the techniques in this small watercolor and ink book. It has certainly added to my toolbox of watercolor ideas and techniques.

The author's suggestion of deconstructing a flower and practicing its various petals and leaves from different angles,
before drawing or painting, was extremely useful.

She shared her ideas about inking before or after painting. Both of these things would be fun to try. Also, her signature spatter effect adds a casual, informal look to the paintings.

This is a small but very useful watercolor book with new and interesting ideas that I have not used before. It is a great addition to the painting bookshelf.

I received an advanced reader copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review via netgalley and the publishers.

This is an absolutely beautiful book of inking and watercolour art in step by step format full of fantastic information. The book goes through equipment needed and colour charts then shows how to draw and paint/ink individual flowers step by step and then shows how to put them all together. This is a fantastic book for starting out floral drawing and painting with.

Illustration Studio: Inking Florals
A step-by-step guide to creating dynamic modern florals in ink and watercolor by Isa Down is a book I requested from NetGalley and the review is voluntary. What a gorgeous book! Plenty of step-by-step instructions, tips, guides, instructions on what to use, how to achieve the look you want, and easy to follow instructions for making beautiful flowers! I am definitely buying this book! Going in my favorite folder too!

This book is so helpful, I was able to draw other flowers not just the ones in the book. I liked the technique the book showed. It's not for complete begginers I think, but it can be helpful to them as well

AUTHOR

Isa Down is the author of Inking Florals find more information about her here.

WHO IS THE TARGET AUDIENCE?

Inking Florals is ideal for novice to intermediate illustrators. Anyone would enjoy the imagery and possibly be encouraged to try illustration for themselves.

SYNOPSIS

A tiny publication that punches way above its weight. Designed as an informal introduction to basic concepts and techniques for creating bright, vibrant and exciting illustrations. The format is simple and clear. Sections are sub-divided into:

Tools

Materials

Techniques

Color Theory

Basic Flower Structure

Step-by-Step to basic florals introduction

CONCLUSION

Isa Down has created a practical guide on how to draw and paint exciting florals. The illustrations are line drawings both colorized with watercolor and monochrome. These are accompanied by precise guidance to assist the artist through the creative process. Alongside some illustrations, there are beautiful full-color photographs. These photographs provide inspiration and act as reference material. I found the wide variety of floral types to be excellent for developing the drawing process. The use of a loose watercolor style to enhance the line drawing worked well. Overall a fun step-by-step guide to creating your own beautiful botanical illustrations.

⭐⭐⭐
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to thank Walter Foster Publishing , NetGalley, and Isa Down for affording me the opportunity to review Inking Florals.

It's a joyful instructional book for painting flowers in watercolor and ink. Tools and some basic techniques, elementary color theory. Step-by-step instructions for painting florals, taking them apart (a sort of anatomy). For beginners. Lovely layout.

This book is a good intro to watercolors or drawing with inks in general. Filled with beautiful art and examples to help the novice, it's as much showing what to do as telling.

The artwork and tutorials in this book are absolutely amazing! I’ve already pre-ordered a copy. This wonderful resource features a variety of techniques including watercolor, inking and basic drawing. The tutorials are inspiring and made me feel like I (with practice) could eventually create beautiful florals of my own. I recommend this book to anyone interested in creating beautiful floral watercolor or ink drawings. I am so excited about this book and I highly recommend it!

I received this book from NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group - Walter Foster Publishing for an honest review.
#NetGalley
#IllustrationStudioInkingFlorals

What a fantastic book! It doesn't just give you really good step-by-step instructions on drawing and painting watercolor flowers, but it's also just a gorgeous book. The flowers are illustrated in a way that you can see the elements in order to really recreate them, and the watercolor effects are stunning. This isn't just a book for people who are already phenomenal artists, but also for regular folks who just want to make something beautiful. Down also gives information on materials, techniques and more. About 16 flowers are presented, along with additional info like foliage. Lovely in every way.

I read a temporary digital ARC of this book for review.

I wanted to read this so bad! I do not have a way to open the file, even on my computer, I cannot get Overdrive, without a chromebook, and the only tablet I have is the Kindle. I really wish i could read this. It looked so fun! I wanted to post a review anyway, but it is hard when I have not really read it.

If you're looking to start a new hobby or if you are looking for more creative things to draw, then this is the book for you. This easy-to-follow book takes you through the steps on how to successfully draw 16 different flowers. In the beginning, Isa introduces the tools that you may choose to work with. I appreciated the illustration showcasing the differences between nib sizes in fine liner pens. In addition, Isa also points out her recommendation for watercolor and the types of watercolor brushes.

If you're a perfectionist like me, you can certainly appreciate the tips for correcting your mistakes. I also like that preceding each of the flowers, the basic shapes are outlined. This will allow you to practice the shapes before diving into creating the flower,

If you're looking into starting a new hobby while you're isolated, then look no further than this book.

Thank you to Isa Down, Quarto Publishing Group – Walter Foster, and NetGalley for this eARC in exchange for my honest review.