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Book Signings for Gardeners & Children

Posted in ArtPlantae Books, gardening, Learning Opportunities, Special Events on April 6, 2009|

Please join us for a sunny weekend at the Festival of Flavors, May 1-3, 2009 at the LA Garden Show. This year we are hosting book events celebrating five authors and illustrators. We will also be hosting a botanical art demonstration.

Please see the details below. We hope to see you there!

SATURDAY, MAY 2

10:30 am – 12:00 pm:
Attention Young Gardeners! Meet the author and the illustrator of Wiggle and Waggle, Caroline Arnold and Mary Peterson. Each purchase at the booksigning will include a Wiggle and Waggle activity kit.

1:00 pm – 2:30 pm:
Meet author, illustrator and educator, Marianne D. Wallace and learn about her illustrated books addressing America’s forests, deserts, wetlands, prairies, mountains, and seashores. Marianne teaches educators and parents how to introduce children to botanical illustration.

SUNDAY, MAY 3

10:30 am – 12:00 pm:
Meet the authors of The Urban Homestead. Kelly Coyneand Erik Knutzen will be signing their guide to self-sufficient living in the urban landscape.

1:00 pm – 2:30 pm:
After you learn how to grow your urban garden, be inspired to draw and paint your harvest with botanical artist, Sally Jacobs. Sally’s notecard collections celebrating fruit, vegetables, and flowers will be available for purchase.

Visitor Information: Los Angeles Garden Show, L.A. County Arboretum & Botanic Garden, May 1 – 3, 2009

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Celebrate New Harvests with Billy Showell

Posted in ArtPlantae Books, Education, Special Articles & Interviews, Special Events on March 30, 2009|

ArtPlantae Books is hosting a meet-n-greet event in honor of the release of Billy Showell’s new book. Below is the timeline for this special online event:

March 23 – Review of Watercolor Flower Portraits at ArtPlantaeToday.com

March 30 – Review of Watercolor Fruit & Vegetable Portraits at ArtPlantaeToday.com Online author event with Billy Showell to launch Watercolor Fruit and Vegetable Portraits, at ArtPlantaeToday.com. You are invited to ask Billy questions about botanical art, her books, and her art. Send
questions to AskTheArtist@artplantae.com. Submit “Ask The Artist” questions anytime before April 13th.

April 13 – All “Ask The Artist” questions are due today.

April 20 – An Interview with Billy Showell at ArtPlantaeToday.com.

April 27 – “Ask The Artist” Q&A published ArtPlantaeToday.com.

WCFruitVeg_Jacket2.indd
Pre-Order Now!
(available April)

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Paint A Vibrant Harvest

Posted in ArtPlantae Books, book review, botanical art, botanical art books on March 30, 2009|

Watercolour Fruit & Vegetable Portraits is a comprehensive resource for all artists. Billy Showell provides how-to instruction addressing the colors, shapes, textures, and patterns observed in fruits and vegetables. This book is for anyone who has ever wanted to paint the fruit and vegetables in their home garden.

Right from the start, Billy teaches readers how to observe patterns and how to think about the placement of various botanical elements. In her discussion of the drawing process, she does away with drawing’s “mythical status” and ensures readers that everyone is capable of learning how to draw. Billy takes the anxiety out of composition and patiently offers detailed instruction on how to mix browns, greens and dark washes. In a 4-page section that all painters will appreciate, Billy shares color combinations that will enable readers to mix the unique colors of 28 fruits and vegetables.

Demonstrations of ten essential watercolor techniques are presented. Techniques include wet-into-wet, color blending, color lifting, and dry brush. There are also demonstrations of how to glaze over shadows, how to use lifting preparation, how to scratch out highlights, how to use masking fluid to create the illusion of a shiny surface, and how to apply layers of paint to achieve color strengthening. Readers are also shown how to create highlights and shadows.

Several technique tips and small projects are presented in this book. Tips and projects include:

How to paint white vegetables
How to paint flowers and the veins on petals
How to paint patterns and highlights on sweet corn
How to paint patterns found on zucchini
How to capture the texture of artichoke bracts
How to create and apply the appropriate colors when painting black bean pods
How to paint corn husks
How to paint the changing colors of an asparagus stalk
How to paint roots
How to paint small fruit

The last four projects in the book are detailed step-by-step tutorials about how to paint kohlrabi, pumpkins, lemons, and assorted berries. Tutorials range in length from 42 to 59 steps.

Watercolour Fruit & Vegetable Portraits by Billy Showell contains many practical tips, step-by-step tutorials, and examples of finished studies. Throughout Billy discusses mistakes often made by artists and provides solutions along the way. Billy’s thorough approach ensures that even the most timid watercolorist will feel at ease applying what they learn from this comprehensive resource.

This book will be released in the U.S. in mid-April 2009 and will be available at ArtPlantae Books. You can pre-order this book here.

Related articles:
The Beauty Is In The Details

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Observe, Connect & Create at the L.A. Garden Show

Posted in ArtPlantae Books, gardening, Learning Opportunities, Special Events on March 30, 2009|

Do you want to grow your own fruit and vegetables?

Are you looking for new ideas in garden design?

Would you like to turn your home into a cozy self-sufficient paradise?

What are you waiting for? Block off May 1st, 2nd, and 3rd on your calendar. Do not schedule other commitments for this weekend because you’ll be plenty busy at the 2009 L.A. Garden Show. Attend lectures, meet with landscape designers and fill your wagon with plants! ArtPlantae Books joins nurseries, plant societies, artists, and home & garden specialty merchants in the Marketplace to celebrate A Festival of Flavors.

ArtPlantae Books will encourage you to Observe, Connect and Create when you visit us. We have made arrangements for unique learning opportunities and activities. Here is a snapshot of what we have planned:

Saturday, May 2: Attention Young Gardeners! Meet the author and the illustrator of Wiggle and Waggle, Caroline Arnold and Mary Peterson. You will also meet author, illustrator and educator, Marianne D. Wallace.

Sunday, May 3: Meet the authors of The Urban Homestead. Kelly Coyne and Erik Knutzen will be signing their guide to self-sufficient living in the urban landscape. After you learn how to “grow food anywhere”, be inspired to draw and paint your harvest with botanical artist, Sally Jacobs who will be demonstrating her craft this afternoon.

See you in the garden!

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The Beauty Is In The Details

Posted in ArtPlantae Books, Special Events on March 23, 2009|

watercolourflowerportraits_lg1

Details, details.

Botanical artists chase details. They are obsessed with them. Fortunately, there is no shortage of instruction about how to capture details on paper in Billy Showell’s Watercolour Flower Portraits.

Artists reap the benefits of Showell’s hard work and experience as she generously shares what she knows about painting flowers, painting leaves, and painting stems in detail. Beginners will appreciate learning how to view specimens from a proper perspective, how to see patterns in nature, and how to approach drawing flowers, leaves and negative space. All levels of artists will appreciate the section dedicated to color mixing and the color combinations Showell recommends to paint 21 specific flowers and twelve specific shades of green.

Differentiating Billy Showell’s book and her upcoming book, Watercolor Fruit & Vegetable Portraits (April 2009), from other instructional botanical art books is the detailed instruction in each step-by-step demonstration. Short tutorials contain 3 – 5 photographed steps, while the four featured projects contain up to 39 photographed steps. Artists can learn a lot by completing the featured projects. They can learn how to place stripes and strong veining on the flower of a slipper orchid and how to paint the spotted pattern on a slipper orchid’s leaves. The lily project will test artists’ abilities to mix and manage shades of green and the rose project will turn artists into experts on how to paint stamen, serrated leaves, and prickles. The delphinium project requires artists to master a delicate touch in order to recreate the slight and elegant features of this plant. Showell’s clear explanations and descriptive photography about executing these and other essential techniques are the next best thing to being in a classroom.

Showell’s patient and thorough instruction ensures beginners and experienced artists alike will develop and refine the skills necessary to create their own flower portraits.

Purchase Watercolor Flower Portraits at ArtPlantae Books.
Are you a fan of Billy Showell’s artwork, books, and classes? Check out the current Ask The Artist event at ArtPlantae Today.
Next Week: A review of Watercolor Fruit & Vegetable Portraits

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“Ask The Artist” with Billy Showell

Posted in ArtPlantae Books, botanical art, Learning Opportunities, Special Articles & Interviews, Special Events on March 23, 2009|

Billy Showell is the author of Watercolor Flower Portraits and a five-time recipient of the Certificate of Botanical Merit, an honor awarded by the Society of Botanical Artists. ArtPlantae Books is pleased to host an author event celebrating the publication of Billy’s second book, Watercolor Fruit & Vegetable Portraits.

You are cordially invited to participate in a question-and-answer session with Billy Showell. Billy looks forward to receiving your questions. If you would like to ask Billy a question pertaining to botanical art, her books, her painting techniques, etc., please send your question to AskTheArtist@artplantae.com no later than Monday, April 13, 2009.

Learn more about Billy Showell at www.billyshowell.co.uk.