The Beauty and Science of Botanical Art
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The Beauty and Science of Botanical Art
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In this series of slides we experience Mary LaPatka's watercolors illustrating the English mode of Botanical Art. Early on she explains the painstakingly complex steps involved in these paintings.
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The Beauty and Science of Botanical Art
- 2. The Beauty and Science of Botanical Art The botanical works presented in this exhibition are painted in the traditional English style of watercolor. I work primarily in a limited palette of transparent watercolor paint. The six watercolor paints I use are Cadmium Red, Quinacridone Gold, Cerulean Blue, Permanent Alizarin Crimson, Lemon Yellow, and Ultramarine Blue. On rare occasions, a specialty color may be used. Any color can be mixed from these six tubes of paint. No black or white watercolor paint is used. By using washes, glazes and dry brush techniques, watercolor paint is applied layer upon layer to achieve transparency and luminosity. The slow, methodical work of building up color and painting in the identifying details of a subject are enjoyable and satisfying. As you view the exhibition, please know that photographs simply cannot capture the luminosity, vibrancy, depth, and transparency of watercolor.
- 6. What's the difference between botanical art, botanical illustration and flower painting? “One basic difference between a botanical artist and a flower painter is intention: the botanical artist wishes his (or mostly her) work to be useful to the scientist. Each painting here is botanically accurate, often displaying roots, seeds and buds as well as flowers and leaves.” 1 In botanical illustration/plant illustration, the emphasis is on the scientific record and botanical accuracy to enable identification of a plant.2 1The Spectator - review of "A New Flowering: 1,000 Years of Botanical Art" at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford 16 July 2005 2https://www.botanicalartandartists.com/what-is-botanical-art.html
- 13. The botanical art tradition combines science and art Botanical art encompasses a range of styles and may take the form of scientific illustration or realistic drawing and painting of botanical subjects. Botanical artists seek to understand the structure of plants and to communicate this knowledge to their audience in an aesthetically pleasing manner. The subject plant must be the prominent feature of the work. All images should be of work executed by hand in traditional botanical media. Image Policy / Gallery Guidelines of the American Society of Botanical Artists
- 20. Botanical Art • Botanical accuracy is a requirement of all botanical art. However paintings as opposed to illustrations - particularly those of flowers - do not always identify every feature of a plant • A white background - typically but not always used for botanical paintings. This helps isolate the subject matter so the focus is on the features of the plant • Painted in watercolor - this convention is typical of work produced in the past and is still the dominant media used for botanical art. However other media are now used as well • Painted on vellum - vellum is more archival than paper
- 25. Tessellations Consisting of repeated patterns of shapes, tessellations are found in human-made objects like quilts, soccer balls, tile floors, and the image seen through a kaleidoscope. They also occur in nature as the patterns in honeycombs, snakeskin, spider webs, and pinecone scales. With the aid of a microscope, tessellations can even be observed in a plant’s vascular structure, the tissues that move water and nutrients throughout the plant. Botanical tessellations can be found in wallpaper, textiles, ceramic tiles, etc. Designer William Morris (1834-1896) used tessellations extensively in his home products and furniture collections and is one of the most outstanding figures of the Arts and Crafts Movement.
- 35. Why include insects? “Another type of (botanical) illustration is the florilegium style, usually done in watercolor or color pencil. This brings vibrant, lifelike color to the plant being illustrated and varies with each artist’s personal style. Details such as a close-up of the flowers or seed, a cross section of the fruit, a sketch of the habitat, growth habit of the plant, and even associated organisms such as herbivorous insects or pollinating birds or butterflies may be included in the illustration.” —Alice Tangerini, Staff Illustrator at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History, Department of Botany
- 36. 22-spot Lady Beetle Broken-dashed Lady Beetle (Psyllobora vigintiduopunctata) (Myzia interrupta) Watercolor on paper 2020 8 x 10 inches Watercolor on paper 2020 8 x 10 inches
- 37. Hieroglyphic Lady Beetle Striped Lady Beetle (Coccinella hieroglyphica) (Micraspis frenata) Watercolor on paper 2020 8 x 10 inches Watercolor on paper 2020 8 x 10 inches
- 38. Convergent Lady Beetle Twicestabbed Lady Beetle (Hippodamia convergens) (Chilocorus orbus) Watercolor on paper 2020 8 x 10 inches Watercolor on paper 2020 8 x 10 inches
- 39. Seven Spotted Lady Beetle Parenthesis Lady Beetle (Coccinella septempunctata) (Hippodamia parenthesis) Watercolor on paper 2020 8 x 10 inches Watercolor on paper 2020 8 x 10 inches
- 47. In appreciation Buds, flowers, seeds, pods, leaves, stems bulbs, tubers, roots, and watercolor paint, what more could I ask for? Botanical Art combines beauty, nature, science and painting into one art form. My watercolor paintings focus on what I love best: drawing, watercolor painting, science and nature. Through chance attendance at a lecture at the Minnesota School of Botanical Art, I discovered Botanical Art watercolor painting and fell in love with this historically significant and almost forgotten art form. I want to express through watercolor, the beauty and form of nature around us.