Do you also feel inspired by hand painted botanical illustrations or even herbals? Today we will draw botanical in an easy way. The possibilities are endless. Will you draw you page full of your favorite roses, only herbs or make a testimonial on what is growing in your garden at present? Let’s be the illustrators today, head out and find drawing inspiration in our garden or in your surroundings.
Inspiration to draw – your personal botanical page
What will be your source of inspiration today? Herbs, a mixture of botanicals or what about a full page of different leaves ?
This is a collection out of my garden today, in June! The cherries are ripe and many flowers are blooming. This is going to be so much fun to draw all this. Head out, to create a little testimonial of your fantastic day today. If you don’t have a garden, I am sure you will find some inspiration in a park or even on your balcony.
Let’s start the illustration – step by step
I am going to make a illustration that is a mixture of drawing with pencil, pen and waterco
How to start a drawing
Planning the composition
Before I start a drawing, I like to trace with my finger where I want to place the flowers or plants. Imagines different layouts and what it could look like. You can draw the main shapes with a pencil. Keep it simple. Break it down to circles, ovals etc.
Since it is hard to see on my sketchbook just an example how simple the main layout can be.
Draw botanical but simplifying details
When you have any subjects with a lot of details, you can draw a few details precise and for the rest try to imitate the movement and characteristic of your subject. Big leaves, small once, pointy or round, look for what is typical.
Just some details, what I was trying to explain above. A few petals can be drawn one by one, but the rest is just the impression the leaves give me.
I also added just a bit of shading by hatching, cross-hatching or simply drew thicker lines. If you do not add any color afterward you might want to work more on shading.
Different ways of adding texture or shading. You can use that with the fine line pen or also with a pencil.
Adding watercolor to your flowers and leaves
Feel free to draw with pencil, pen or even color pencil. I will leave the cherries in pencil but add some shading.
In my sketchbook I simply use watercolor to give my drawing some color without trying to make a proper watercolor painting. Try to work in two layers, for example using a light green and than adding a darker one to give the drawing some depth.
Finishing touches
I added some grey shading along the flowers with a Tombow pen. I find it very useful to have this pen in grey, I can quickly add some shading to my drawings also when I am sketching outdoors.
At the moment I am practicing some hand lettering…there is still a long way to go but I am having fun. For the names of the plants I used my own handwriting and just stretch it out! Do you have any easy hand lettering idea for a botanical illustrations? Share it with us!
As you can see I was not able to name all the flowers, maybe you can help me out…..?
Congratulation, we are done! It would be so much fun to see your creation. Please share it..
Adopt the pace of nature. Her secret is patience.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Materials I used for this botanical illustration
Use whatever you have. It could be in color pencil, a simple pen or even with gouache.
I personally used a automatic pencil B2, a black uni pin fine line 0.1 and a thicker one called brush, for the grey shading a Tombow light grey and I have a golden Watercolor set. (artist quality)
Read more about Creative Drawing Practice to have a blast
