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Written by Margaret Stevens, in association with the Society of Botanical Artists (SBA), this book complements The Art of Botanical Painting (2004) also published by Stevens and the SBA. In their first book, the SBA provided instruction on drawing techniques, colored pencil techniques, watercolor techniques, and gouache painting techniques. Stevens and SBA contributors gave instruction on the painting of fruit, vegetables, and foliage. In their follow-up work, they focus on colors specific to the botanical palette. They give special attention to the following colors: white, yellow, green, blue, purple, red, brown, and black.

Each chapter is dedicated to one color and contains instruction on how to create this color and how to apply this color in a painting. Instruction is supported by example as Stevens leads artists through step-by-step demonstrations in each chapter. No detail is left out and the methodical processes narrated by Stevens are easy to understand. Each chapter includes a line drawing artists can transfer to paper to immediately apply what they’ve learned. In response to the growing interest in colored pencil, five demonstrations address the creation of colored pencil paintings.

The five colored pencil demonstrations included in this book are:

• Day Lily (yellow; demonstrator Ann Swan)
• Madagascar Jasmine (green; Ann Swan)
• Iris (blue; Susan Christopher-Coulson)
• Red Rhododendron (red; Susan Martin)
• Tulip (black; Susan Christopher-Martin)

Watercolor demonstrations featured in this book include:

• Lily (white; demonstrator Margaret Stevens; how to create form)
• Rhododendron (yellow; Kay Rees-Davies; how to work with a plant whose flowers fade quickly)
• Sunflower (yellow; Paul Fennell; how to create highlights and the spiral pattern of disc flowers)
• Plantain Lily (green; Janet Wood; how to paint variegated leaves)
• Himalayan Poppy (blue; Brigitte E. M. Daniel; painting multiple stamen, leaf hairs)
• Delphinium (blue; Vicky Mappin; how to build an inflorescence)
• Columbine (purple; Valerie Baines; how to use grey and violet)
• Clematis (purple; Brenda Watts; how to create glowing purple)
• Cyclamen (red; Jennifer Jenkins; how to create leaf patterns and distinguish between old flowers & new flowers)
• Poppy (red, orange; Sandra Wall Armitage; how to make orange from red; painting flat hairs)
• Peony (red, burgundy; Susan Hillier; how to make burgundy using four shades of red)
• Bearded Iris (brown; Barbara McGirr; how to make brown)

The eight watercolor projects included in this book are:

• Lily (how to work with white)
• Sunflower (how to work with yellow)
• Hosta (how to work with green)
• Delphinium (how to work with blue)
• Clematis (how to work with purple)
• Poppy (creating orange with reds)
• Peony (creating burgundy with reds)
• Bearded Iris (how to work with brown)

Stevens’ chapter about color charts is an invaluable tool that will help artists resist the urge to buy every tube of color they see on every materials list they receive in every class they take. Artists can save money by consulting these charts comparing and contrasting yellows, greens, reds, blues, purples, and browns produced by the following manufacturers: Daler-Rowney, Schmincke, Sennelier, and Winsor & Newton.

Stevens closes this book with a gallery of artwork created by members of the Society of Botanical Artists.
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The Botanical Palette: Color for the Botanical Painter
Margaret Stevens, in association with the Society of Botanical Artists
9780061626678
September 16, 2008
$29.95, Hardcover

http://www.soc-botanical-artists.org/

Now Available at ArtPlantae Books