Product Description

This charmingly illustrated book is an ideal guide to the art of botanical drawing and painting. Agathe Ravet-Haevermans instructs the reader on how to recognise and draw a wide variety of flowers and leaves and covers the textures and structural elements of a range of different plants including succulents, vegetables, trees and grasses. Practical as well as beautiful, this book should be a welcome addition to the bookshelves of everyone interested in botanical art.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #18368 in Books
• Published on: 2009-01-12
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 96 pages

Review
' This book has great visual appeal ' --Leisure Painter (August 2009)

'...much to inspire...'
--Wild Flower Magazine (Summer 2009)

'...a starting point for the artistically and botanically curious...'
--artbookreview.net (July 2009)

Review
' Ideal for the beginner '

About the Author
Agathe Ravet-Haevermans is a scientific illustrator and naturalist at the Museum of Natural History in Paris where she also teaches botanical drawing to adults.

Customer Reviews

Highly recommended
I know that money is not everything, but this is a very reasonably priced book in a field where it can be easy to spend much more, and get much less. Agathe Ravet-Haevermans has written and illustrated an excellent primer for those wishing to explore botanical painting, although it is a puzzle why she named it "The art of botanical drawing" when it mostly deals with painting. There is sound advice on materials, choice of paints, some basic botany, and a series of projects with instructions. An ideal book for anyone who would like to experiment with this type of painting, as well as for the more experienced student who wishes to improve their skills.

Disappointing
I decided to purchase this book after seeing it several times when browsing through botanical art books. Although the artist is clearly competent, I do not think the illustrations are of the same standard as some of the UK botanical artists and therefore it isn't as inspiring; the illustrations are pleasing to the eye but lack sharpness.
The author does begin with materials needed, basics of drawing, colour etc, but explanation is hindered by the written expression. The book is clearly translated from the French, but the translation doesn't use 'normal' English expressions. For example, a 'wash' is called a 'graduation', 'masking out' is referred to as 'reserving a zone without paint', 'lifting out' is referred to as 'blurring the paint to lighten a zone'; ie the expression is clumsy and not translated using 'English' botanical terminology. I blame this on the publishers.
The other gripe I have is concerning some of the colours used. Azo yellow has been used extensively, also golden green, gold ochre - it would have been useful to know which colours could be used as replacements for these.
I do not dismiss the book out of hand - there is a lot of useful information and assistance in it, and after all, we can all learn and enjoy something from any book. However, I think it would be improved if the above were taken on board.