BOTANICAL ART TALK SHORTS
View short extracts from recent online talks by leading botanical artists
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I first began hosting one-hour online talks during the Pandemic to connect those inspired by botanical art at every level, whether beginner or professional artist, as well as to make a living and support my fellow speakers at an otherwise difficult time.
Every presentation is unique in style, reflecting the personality and interests of each artist and is richly illustrated with examples of artwork and/or technique demonstrations, followed by the opportunity for Q&A. These talks now attract an audience from over 35 countries worldwide.
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Below you can view short extracts from 2024 talks for free. If you have been a regular supporter of the Talks,
I hope these clips remind you of the leading artists introduced to you, from all around the world. And, if you
are not familiar with the Talks, I hope this gives a taster of what they are about.
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If you enjoy these clips why not check out the upcoming speakers HERE, where you can watch the presentations
in full and attend live if you'd like to interact with the speaker or watch a recording during the week following
the live event.
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GETTING GREAT RESULTS FROM COLOURED PENCILS - Janie Pirie
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Janie describes the various coloured pencils techniques used to create her beautiful and very painterly pieces of botanical art. She illustrates her talk with images of finished artwork as well as live demonstrations.
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Here you can see a short extract from her talk, aired live on 8th February 2024.
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Janie specialises in floral and botanical art using coloured pencils. Her meticulously drawn and striking compositions have immensely accurate detail together with great depth and a rich intensity of colour. She has received awards for her work including two RHS gold medals. Janie teaches extensively across the UK
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NATURE PRINT - THE ARTIST AT PLAY- Yanny Petters
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Yanny outlines the history of Nature Print - an old form of illustrating plants by printing directly from the plants themselves. She shares her own explorations, discoveries and processes and delightful results.
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Here you can see a short extract from her talk, aired live on 22nd February 2024.
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Yanny Petters loves to explore different mediums and techniques. While her work is mostly painted on glass, she has been exploring Nature Print as a way of capturing plants for many years. Her paintings are in a number of important collections including the Shirley Sherwood Collection, the Office of Public Works Collection, and The National Botanic Gardens, Dublin.
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www.yannypetters.net | https://www.instagram.com/yannypetters
DEPICTING TREES IN INK - Pamela Taylor
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Pamela has found pen and ink an ideal medium for depicting the contrasting textures of the bark, twigs and foliage. Her talk includes stories behind the depicted trees as she talked about her projects.
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Here you can see a short extract from her talk, aired live on 7th March 2024.
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Pamela trained as a botanist and over the years has used pen and ink sketches to illustrate natural history articles that she has written for local papers and magazines. She is a fellow of the SBA and a founder member of ABA. In 2022 she was awarded a RHS silver-gilt medal for her exhibit Trees: Structure and Form. Her work has been accepted for the 17th International Exhibition of Botanical Art at the Hunt Institute.
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BOTANICAL SKETCHBOOKS - Lucy T Smith
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The botanical sketchbook is an artist’s essential workbook. Lucy discusses the wide range of techniques and projects covered in her book on the subject and details some of the work that went into creating the studies featured in it.
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Here you can see a short extract from Lucy's talk, aired live on 21st March 2024.
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Lucy T Smith is an international award-winning botanical artist and illustrator. A freelance botanical artist for Kew Gardens for the past 24 years, hundreds of her illustrations have been published in scientific journals and books. Her work is held in important collections, including the Shirley Sherwood Collection.
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BOTANICAL ILLUSTRATION FOR PACKAGING - Sarah Jane Humprey​
Sarah talks through a range of projects, explaining the process from start to finish and giving advice and tips for those that might want to work as commercial botanical illustrators.
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Here you can see a short extract from Sarah's talk, aired live on 4th April 2024.
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Sarah has over 25 years of experience working commercially as a professional illustrator. With many clients commissioning her for packaging projects, across a wide array of genres. These have included luxury brands, distilleries, clients in the cosmetics industries, homeware and food packaging.
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EXPLORING BOTANICAL COLLAGE - Penny Brown
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Penny shares the inspiration behind her cut-paper images of flowers and plants and shows us the process and tools she uses to produce her award-winning artworks.
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Here you can see a short extract from Penny's talk, aired live on18th April 2024.
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Penny has always worked as a professional artist, initially as a theatre designer, then as an illustrator. Natural History commissions led her to botanical painting and drawing. She exhibits widely and is a fellow of The Society of Botanical Artists and a tutor on their Distance Learning Course, where her best-selling book, ‘Botanical Drawing’ is a set text.
PAINTING WITH WATERCOLOURS & INK FROM PHOTOGRAPHS - Julia Patience
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Julia explains how she manipulates photographs to make a perfect composition using Photoshop tools and how inks give more intensity to her watercolour paintings.
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Here you can see a short extract from Julia's talk, aired live on 2nd May 2024.
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After a thirty-year career in graphics and illustration, Julia's decision to paint full-time coincided with a move to Hong Kong for six years, where she could devote all her time to painting and where her love of exotic flowers bloomed. She became a Fellow member of the Society of Botanical Artists (SBA) in 2016 and has exhibited internationally with them. She has now spent five years as an SBA council member.
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THE POWER OF PLACE: PLANT COMMUNITIES - Lara Call Gastinger
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Lara encourages us to explore and depict plant communities rather than just single plants, sharing lots of ideas and examples for layered compositions from her own portfolio.
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Here you can see a short extract from Lara's talk, aired live on 16th May 2024.
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Based in Charlottesville, Virginia, Lara was the chief illustrator of the botanical reference book 'Flora of Virginia’. As well as a degree in Biology and a master's degree in Plant Ecology she has two RHS gold medals (2007, 2018) and work in the Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation. Lara has gained international recognition for her inspiring 'perpetual journal’.
LICHENS IN THE LIMELIGHT - Christiane Fashek
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Christiane describes her process of capturing lichens on paper: from collecting and scaling up to identification and rendering.
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Here you can see a short extract from Christiane's talk, aired live on 30th May 2024.
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Lichens are the focus of Christiane’s recent work and coloured pencil her preferred medium. Christiane is an instructor at various botanical gardens and offers workshops virtually and in person. She was awarded ASBA’s 2022 Esther Plotnick Artist Grant to teach primary school students about lichens and botanical art and is the recipient of ASBA’s 2023 Lizzie Sanders New Artist Award.
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www.instagram.com/christianefashek www.instagram.com/lichensinthelimelight
UNDERTONAL DRAWING AND GRANULATING PIGMENT - Mindy Lighthipe
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Mindy demonstrates how she creates an under-tonal drawing to portray form and texture. She then uses granulating pigments to bring the subject to life.
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Here you can see a short extract from Mindy's talk, aired live on 13th June 2024.
Mindy draws and paints the beauty of nature. She believes in protecting the earth and does so by educating people through her art. She works in a contemporary approach similar to John James Audubon, Maria Sibylla Merian, and Mark Catesby to show the natural history and interconnection of plants, insects, birds and mammals.
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RHS SHOW: UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL - Charlotte Brooks
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Charlotte Brooks, Art Curator at the RHS Lindley Library talks through what goes into making the RHS Botanical Art & Photography Show: From the initial selection meeting, discussions with artists, through to the private view and awards ceremony.
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Here you can see a short extract from Charlotte's talk, aired live on 2nd July 2024.
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As well as RHS Lindley Library Art Curator, Charlotte serves as Secretary for the RHS Botanical Art Judging Panel and co-curates the annual RHS Botanical Art and Photography Show. She has published numerous articles and two books about Botanical Illustration.
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THE FRAGMENTS - Úrsula Romero (Inky Leaves)
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In this talk Úrsula discusses how she uses flowers and compositions to tell stories and why she has decided to focus on the Rose. This talk is a chance to see Úrsula in her new studio, learn more about her art school and to find you why she chose ‘Úrsula’.​
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Here you can see a short extract from Úrsula's talk, aired live on 11th July 2024.
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​Úrsula Romero is an internationally recognised artist. self-describing as a 'rebel flower painter'. Úrsula is known for using flowers and leaves as her muse, augmenting their magnifications, scale and negative space. ​
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CAPTIVATED BY COLOUR - Crystal Shin
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Crystal has evolved her own method of discovering the subtle shades beyond and beneath local color. Crystal guides us in observing subtle tones and demonstrates her coloured pencil technique for building rich and radiant coloration.
Here you can see a short extract from Crystal's talk, aired live on 25th July 2024.
Crystal works for the University of Washington’s Herbarium and Paleontology department, and her illustrations have appeared in books, scientific journals and the New York Times. She teaches both online and in person classes.
www.crystalshinart.com
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LET'S EXPLORE THE WILD! - IÅŸik Güner​
Işık describes experiences in the field and her journey finding, sketching and illustrating some of many wild plants of Turkey. She shares tips for working in the field and how such work can lead to a complete scientific illustration.
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Here you can see a short extract from Isik's talk, aired live on 8th August 2024.
IÅŸik has been a botanical artist for many years and has won major awards for her work. She teaches classes and is a tutor, and she has written, edited and illustrated books.
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A SURVEY OF WORK - Susannah Blaxill
Susannah uses a combination of media including graphite, ink, charcoal, watercolour and coloured pencils. In this talk, she shows a wide range of her botanical work from the 1990’s through to the present day.
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Here you can see a short extract from Susannah's talk, aired live on 22nd August 2024.
Susannah's detailed and meticulous work has been shown widely and is held in both private and public collections around the world. Though most of her work is commissioned, in between these commissioned pieces she draws and paints a wide range of subjects.
HOW FLOWERS WORK - IAPI
Roger Reynolds from IAPI uses close-up flower photographs to take a botanical look at the way flower parts act in their collective goal of generating seed for their next generation. This is an opportunity to glimpse how some flowers operate, helping illustrators portray them with greater confidence.
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Here you can see a short extract from Roger's talk, aired live on 5th September 2024.
The Institute for Analytical Plant Illustration (IAPI) brings together both botanical illustrators and botanists.
A MULTI-HYPHEN CAREER - Helen Cousins
Helen opens up about the opportunities and challenges of balancing life as a medical doctor and botanical artist, before demonstrating her painting methods.
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Here you can see a short extract from Helen's talk, aired live on 3rd October 2024.
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Helen graduated as a doctor in 2016, the same year she graduated from the Society of Botanical Artists Distance Learning Diploma, achieving a distinction and the Award for Excellence. She has growing a community of over 100k followers on Instagram.
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THE VERSATILITY OF GOUACHE - Sarah Morrish
Sarah introduces the essentials for using gouache for natural history illustation, as well as demonstrating her painting techniques, using seasonal subjects as the main focus.
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Here you can see a short extract from Sarah's talk, aired live on 17th October 2024.
Sarah is fascinated by the intricacies of botanical and natural history subjects​​​. She is a passionate educator and teaches courses and workshops across the UK, overseas and online. She is also author of the popular book, 'Natural History Illustration in Pen and Ink'.
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FROM JUNGLE TO EASEL - François Sockhom Mey
François has been fascinated with carnivorous plants for the last 20 years. He will share his sometimes difficult journey from travelling to study these plants in their habitat to publishing academic papers, as well as producing scientific illustrations and watercolor paintings.
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Here you can see a short extract from François' talk, aired live on 31st October 2024.
François Sockhom Mey is a botanical artist, scientific illustrator and carnivorous plant taxonomist. He received the Margaret Flockton Award, earlier this year.
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REVAMP YOUR PALETTE! - Sandrine Maugy
Sandrine’s painting style captures the pure, vibrant colours of nature using wet-in-wet watercolour washes, giving this traditional style a contemporary twist. In this session, Sandrine will show you a colour-mixing system that will give you clean, vibrant colours.
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Here you can see a short extract from Sandrine's talk, aired live on 14th October 2024.
Sandrine teaches, has written many magazine articles and two books on botanical illustration. In 2023, Daniel Smith Watercolors released the Sandrine Maugy Palette.​​
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28 November - Guy Eves
12 December - Artists Together
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2024 SPEAKERS
2025 PROGRAMME COMING SOON Speakers include Billy Showell, Ann Swan, Sharon Field, Laura Silburn, Jessica Daigle.
PREVIOUS SPEAKERS INCLUDE: Julia Trickey, Elaine Searle, Laura Silburn, Sarah Gould, Mary Dillon, Ann Swan, Helen Allen, Transylvania School of Botanic Art, Martin Allen, IÅŸik Güner, Sue Wickison, Deborah Lambkin, Mary Ellen Taylor, Lucy T Smith, Simon Williams, Carol Woodin, Chris Thorogood, Sarah Jane Humphrey, Rui Jiang, RHS Show exhibitors, Carrie Di Costanzo, Sarah Morrish, Mariella Baldwin, Katherine Tyrrell, Yanny Petters, Lara Call Gastinger, Gill Condy, Rogerio Lupo, Janie Pirie, Pamela Taylor, Penny Brown, Julia Patience, Eden Project Florilegium Society John Pastoriza-Piñol, Wendy Hollender, Shevaun Doherty, Esmée Winkel, Margaret Saylor, Denise Walsar-Kolar, Asuka Hishiki, Bridget Gillespie, Bobbi Angell, Christiane Fashek, Mindy Lighthipe, Crystal Shin, Susannah Blaxill, Roger Reynolds (IAPI), Helen Cousins, François Sockhom Mey, Sandrine Maugy.