Book Review: Botanical Drawing in Color:
A Basic Guide to
Mastering Realistic Form and Naturalistic Color, written and illustrated by
Wendy Hollender
by Maria Reidelbach
Surrounded by nature, as we
in the Hudson Valley are so lucky to be, it's easy to be swept away by the
beauty. We pick flowers, grow vegetables, and hunt mushrooms to sustain both
body and soul. All so ephemeral! We've all wished that we could save
particularly beautiful specimens forever. Now, there's a new how-to book that
can show you how to do just that, by learning the art of botanical drawing.
Before you say “drawing is
best left to the professionals,” consider the following:
Drawing is a skill anyone
can learn. In this digital, keyboard-driven world, drawing has fallen into a
group of skills that is used less and less. Most of us were never even given
good drawing lessons as children. So it might be surprising to hear that
drawing actually takes no more eye-hand coordination than handwriting. After a
few hours of instruction and practice almost anyone can make a very good
representation of a natural object. The keys are observation, practice, and a
good teacher.
Drawing helps you understand
your subject. Drawing requires you to closely examine the structure and every
detail of an object, leading to many new insights.
Drawing helps you remember
your subject. Slowing down, looking, and then drawing imprints all elements
more durably in the mind's eye than mere observation alone.
Drawing creates a beautiful
and accurate record of what you've seen. That's why the best books about plants
include drawing as the primary or secondary type of illustration. With drawing
you can capture details and structure that no camera can.
Drawing is a way of slowing
down and appreciating nature. For slowing yourself down, there's nothing like
taking a pencil in hand and slowly, gently, and sensitively attempting to limn
the likeness of a natural object. You become absorbed in sensuous detail and
the flow of echoing that detail on paper.
Wendy Hollender is a
skilled, patient, and amusing teacher who is the coordinator of botanical art
and illustration at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. She and her daughter, Abby
Goldfarb, are the proprietors of Hollengold Farm, a CSA in Accord. She is in
the thick of biological ferment!
Botanical Drawing in Color focuses on the use of colored pencils, a convenient
medium that can be easily carried along into the field, if desired. She shares
with us her own favorite tools and materials, including specific brands and
colors of pencils, paper, and other materials, so that her exercises can be
reproduced exactly, if you wish.
Reassurance for the timid:
her instructions begin with the basics—how to sharpen a pencil! She then
explains and shows how to create shades of gray, and then how to draw simple
three-dimensional geometric forms. Slowly she introduces more complex form. She
discusses how light affects a subject, and how to imagine lighting that more
clearly brings out detail. There's a very thorough overview of the latest color
theory, and an explanation of how to depict texture. Perspective and
composition are covered in several chapters. Each new element is taught with
accompanying exercises. Hints and tips, including common mistakes, are all
given their due. Hollender takes us all the way through to finishing the
drawing by burnishing the pencils to make them glow.
Botanical Drawing in Color is beautifully and profusely illustrated with
Hollender's own gorgeous illustrations of plants and flowers. The printing and
full color reproductions look almost as beautiful and detailed as original
drawings. Most moving is the preface, where Hollender shares with us the
spiritual virtues of the practice of drawing from nature, which she learned as
she was experiencing aggressive cancer treatment, spending hours drawing a
single plant while she recovered from therapies more painful than cancer
itself. Although she begins the book mentioning her own health, she ends the
book with a short discussion about the importance of flora, fauna, and fungi to
the health of the planet. Learning to honor nature by portraying it can't but
help to make us all more aware and careful.
Posted by Chris Hewitt
on 10:01 AM.
Filed under
Arts & Music
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