This is first and foremost a beautiful book. More importantly, the techniques demonstrated are actually very helpful and were presented clearly. Nicely done.

The book instructs the reader in the basic artistic skills and techniques required and then elaborates on them with applied and advanced techniques as they relate to botanical illustrations. Each step is helpfully portrayed with photographs of the techniques and finished artwork.

A stunningly beautiful, vibrant and comprehensive guide and resource for artists interested in botanicals!

The artwork is stunning in this book, everything clear and crisp with a lot of visuals, which is just what I hope for in an art book. It was great to see different entries from different artists, as even with realistic drawings, people approach things differently.

The art was beyond my abilities, so it wasn’t something I felt comfortable following along with like I hoped initially. But it can be something I work towards and could keep on hand for inspiration. It did make it seem a bit slow.

Beautiful and detailed. I liked that the book includes different types of media and a variety of techniques. It shows that the book is a work by multiple artists with each of them bringing something important to the table. For artists who draw their inspiration and muse from nature, this is a great primer book.

This book is informative, inspiring, and easy to understand. The botanical illustrations cover a multitude of techniques and media that all skills levels can take something away from.

I received this book as an ARC from Netgalley and have a personal policy of only posting public reviews of four and five stars. However, for this one I want to provide feedback that relates more to the publisher than the author. Firstly I love botanical art and the graphics in book were lovely. I enjoyed leafing through the illustrations as much reading the clear accessible text. Where I struggled was with the file format. It didn’t appear to be mobile responsive which made it difficult to adjust from page to page and relate an illustration with its caption. Perhaps this was a technical issue or one of layout decision. For this reason I give this book a 3-star rating and would prefer it as a hard copy and not recommend it for purchase as an eBook.

I was provided an advanced copy of this book by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This art book does not mess around. It is for serious artists and to illustrate my point (no pun intended) - it starts out with a history of botany. However, the lessons in the book range from beginning to advanced, and also range in supplies, so you can go through this book with just a pencil, or a basic set of colored pencils if you'd like.

There are step-by-step instructions for different ways to make plants and flowers in watercolor, granite/pencil, colored pencil, vellum, ink, egg tempura, oils, printmaking, and more (from the cover)! There are over 1000 pictures in this tome (this is a compendium from the American Society of Botanical Artists, THE EXPERTS on drawing plants!), so you won't be left behind a step wondering where that leaf went.

If you're looking for a good resource for drawing flowers, plants, or even just a book about botanical art, this is the definitive guide.

I received an ebook copy via @netgalley for an honest review. I am not an artist but I do enjoy creating art-doodles as a hobby. I wanted to learn more about drawing and watercoloring and this book seemed like the perfect tutorial for it.

I really enjoyed the division of this book with an introduction to each technique in the chapters. It was well thought out to have introductory/basic tutorials followed by more advanced ones for each medium mentioned in the book. The stunning and detailed graphics helped with understanding each step in the creation proccess. It was also a huge plus that for each segment there was a comprehensive list of all the materials needed for that specific artwork.

We also receive some tips on how to look after our real plant babies, which i think was a very cute bonus.

My only negative comment about this stunning book is that it is not for complete beginners. Even with all the extensive detail that was put into this large edition there is a certain extent of basic knowledge required for you to be able to understand and follow the guides.

I am definitely thinking about purchasing the physical copy of this book since it was so helpful and stunning :)

I took visual art all 4 years of high school as one of my electives, and I enjoyed every minute of it. Art is something very dear to me, so when I saw this book on Netgalley I was incredibly curious about it (and eager to see the art within its pages).

The book covers techniques like printmaking, vellum, sketching with pencils, coloured pencils, watercolour, gouache, acrylic, and oil painting. A lot of these mediums I’ve used myself, so it was both a refresher and a good learning experience as the book covers both beginner information and information for those who are more experienced. There’s background on botanical art and the various mediums used to create it as well as tutorials to follow if you want to try your hand at botanical art or practise to hone your skill.

I found the tutorials to be very helpful, though sometimes repetitive and too-wordy. I didn’t actually try out the tutorials myself since many of these techniques I am already familiar with so it was a refresher for me. (And I didn’t want to dig out all my art supplies). I think if you followed along with the book with the intention of doing every exercise within it, you’d learn a lot from the book. It has a lot of exercises I did in art class so I do think it’s valuable. As the book also covers a variety of mediums, it will also be a nice way to explore what you like. For me, I personally really enjoy acrylics and watercolour.

I do think the book is a little biased in terms of what it thinks are the best ways to use each medium and the best ways to render the subjects. For instance, one of my art teachers was absolutely against smudging your sketches when done with sketching pencils, but I liked the softened look of it when used properly. So just be aware of that if you’re a beginner with any of these mediums.

The art itself within the book is actually really stunning as well. I found myself admiring their beauty, and appreciating how it made the design of the book really stand out. I find myself drawn to flowers and nature, and botanical art seems vintage and delicate in the way it’s often presented.

There’s a lot to appreciate about this book, from the art within to the information and the exercises. Some of it can be a little dry and repetitive, and there’s a clear bias in terms of what the book claims is the right way to do art or use a specific medium. But overall I think the book is really lovely, and both beginners and experts alike will find the book worthwhile.

I have always loved botanical art, but not being an artist, had never given them a go.
This book has step-by-step guides, and makes it very understandable to learn.
Really loved it, and managed to complete some drawings myself.
There are different sections, playing with different materials and means, so I think it would also be a great book for those who already know how to draw.
Definitely recommend!

I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

This was a good book to have during quarantine - I found using the techniques very meditative. It was detailed, had varying levels of experience to work up to, and extremely beautiful to look at. Even just looking through it without following the instructions was soothing and fun. The instructions are clear and concise. Definitively recommend to anyone stuck inside with endless days of nothing to do,.

A stunning book that carefully goes over different techniques for making art with MANY different mediums. I've worked with the watercolor, colored pencils, and pen, and can't wait to work on some printmaking!

A truly beautiful book, full of techniques and tips I am extremely excited to put into practice.

The colors and imagery are so pretty and I'd likely go out and pick this up for a gift.

What an easy, charming book! As things get rough or I need to clear my head, I've found myself reaching for this book and itching to draw. The beautiful illustrations, clear explanations, and lovely colors are absolutely enchanting. Somehow this book is exactly what I needed right now. I can't sing its praises enough.

"Botanical Art Techniques" provides abundant inspiration for artists who wish to create botanical drawings. Basic as well as advanced techniques are provided in detailed steps, with color photos for every step. Applied Tutorials are found throughout the book. The most outstanding feature of the book is the many instructional color photos, and the reproductions of botanical art works. Many different botanical artists contributed their expertise to the creation of this book.

Part I includes rationale, ideas for setting up a studio and for working in the field, and selecting tools and materials, beginning with basics of botany and basic art techniques. The focus in this part of the book is drawing with graphite and pen and ink.

Part 2 of the book focuses on botanical subjects rendered in color, beginning with colored pencils and continuing to multiple media, watercolors, oils, acrylics, embossing, etching, and other media and methods.

The final section includes specialized techniques, making a field sketchbook and journal, principles and approaches, a reading list for additional reference, contributor biographies, and an index.

From the back cover: "This definitive guide is the most thorough how-to on every major technique of botanical artistry."

I would highly recommend this book as a source for artists desiring to become skilled at creating art work featuring botanical subjects.

This was a treasure trove of a book inspiring and educational on both botany and art. I read a digital version, but I think it's definitely one to get in print and flip open for decades to come. Would be a beautiful gift for an art lover.

Thanks to NetGalley for the digital ARC, all opinions are my own.

an excellent art book, that is not only very detail in the different type of medias in which you can create botanical art, BUT, it also spends a great deal talking about the plants, how to take care of them, some things about their composition, very interesting information. It is a great guide, very clear when explaining and with a generous amount of images to use as examples.
My only critique is the quality of the photos, I assume that the low resolution of most of the images is because i was lent an arc, and that in the final rendition these are going to be of a better quality, but that slight difference made it at times difficult so see the line work in the illustrations.

I adore botanical art and this book is a must have for everyone who enjoys pretty illustrations.

It is a practical guide to botanical art techniques and the book is filled with a lot of comprehensive information and beautiful illustrations. The book covers tutorials using pen and ink, colored pencils, watercolor (on paper and on vellum) and specialized techniques using gouache, acrylics, oils and graphite.

This was a very detailed book on drawing and painting flowers. As an artist, I found this book a very helpful reference I plan to keep with my art books.

This book is full of beautiful, color photos of flowers. It would also make a great coffee table book.

I received this galley from NetGalley.