How to Choose Techniques and Steps in Botanical Art: A Quick Guide
Recently one of my students on Skillshare asked a very interesting question which made me write this post. The question is related to the class - Botanical Illustration - Advanced Watercolor Techniques and the question she asked was : How do you decide which technique you use where when there are more than one option? And how do you decide the order of the individual steps?
When I started writing a reply, it was impossible for me to give her the answer in 1-2 lines. So here is the complete guide I created below to make the decisions when painting botanicals with watercolors.
Deciding which technique to use and in what order to execute individual steps can be challenging for watercolor botanical artists. Whether you're a beginner or an experienced artist, having a clear strategy is essential for creating realistic and captivating botanical illustrations. In this comprehensive article, we'll explore the factors to consider when choosing your techniques, how to structure your workflow, and practical tips to enhance your decision-making process. By the end of this post, you'll have a solid framework to confidently approach your botanical art projects and elevate your creative practice. Here are some tips that might help:
Understanding the Subject:
Observation: Observation is the key to any beautiful illustration. Start by observing your botanical subject closely. Pay attention to the details such as the texture, color variations, and lighting. This will give you a better understanding of the techniques that might work best.
Research:Sometimes researching the botanical subject can provide insights into how other artists have approached similar subjects. Try to collect pictures onilne, or in person and see if you can find any common patterns, textures and shapes.
Choosing Techniques:
Watercolor Techniques: For soft, translucent areas like petals or leaves, use wet-on-wet techniques. For more defined areas like veins or edges, use wet-on-dry techniques.
Layering: Use layering to build depth and dimension. Always start with lighter washes and gradually add darker tones.
Blending: Decide whether to blend colors smoothly or leave them with visible brushstrokes, depending on the texture you want to achieve.
Detailing: Use finer brushes and techniques like stippling or hatching for intricate details such as veins or patterns on leaves.
Order of Steps:
Sketching: Begin with a light pencil sketch to outline the main shapes and elements of your botanical subject.
Base Layers: Apply base layers of color using broad washes to establish the general color scheme and tone. I generally start with wet-on-wet techniques for most subjects except of very small and tiny subjects.
Building Up Layers: Gradually build up layers, starting from the lightest to the darkest. This helps in maintaining control over the depth and contrast. I use wet on wet for at least the first two layers and depending upon the subject texture. This can vary based on the surface texture of the subject.
Details and Textures: Add finer details and textures towards the end. Use smaller brushes and more controlled strokes for this part.
Final Touches: Add highlights and any final touches to bring your illustration to life. This might include adding the brightest highlights or the darkest shadows. For brught highlights, you can use white gouache paint or white gel pen as well
Experimentation:
Test Techniques: If you are scared of starting painting on your final piece, don’t hesitate to test different techniques on a separate piece of paper before applying them to your main artwork. This can help you see which method works best for the effect you want to achieve.
Flexibility: Be flexible and willing to adapt as you go. Sometimes, the artwork itself will guide you towards the best approach.
Experience and Practice:
Learn from Experience: With practice, you’ll develop an intuition for which techniques to use and when. Every piece you create adds to your experience and helps you make better decisions in future projects.
Never Stop Learning: Keep learning and experimenting with new techniques. The more techniques you master, the more options you’ll have to choose from. Dedicate a few minutes of your day for simple experiments and you’ll see the difference.
I hope these tips help you in your botanical art journey! Keep practicing and experimenting, and you'll find your own workflow that suits your style and the specific needs of each piece you create. Happy painting!
If you still have any questions, feel free to connect with me on Instagram or Email Me. I’d be happy to help ☺️
Also, I am offering 1 On 1 FREE CLASS Q&A Sessions. If you have any of my classes on Skillshare and have any follow up questions, you can book a FREE 30 minute call with me and I will be happy to help you and meet you :)
Create Stunning Product Mock-ups on Your iPad with Procreate
Did you know you can create product mock-ups using your own designs on an iPad? You don’t need expensive software to get started. All you need is an iPad, Apple Pencil, and the Procreate App.
I created an easy to follow class on how you can apply your designs on product mockups in Procreate. In this quick 40 minute class, you will see multiple examples from easy to complex of making product mockups in easy steps.
Why Use Procreate for Product Mock-ups?
Procreate is an affordable and powerful tool that makes it easy to create high-quality mock-ups. I’ll walk you through the entire process, from simple to complex mock-ups, including how to achieve realistic fabric textures, curves, imperfect folds in apparel, and even perspective mock-ups.
What is a Mock-up?
A mock-up is a way to showcase your design, pattern, or artwork on end products, helping clients visualize how your work will look in real life. While most designers use Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator for this, Procreate has become a game-changer due to its accessibility, convenience, and affordability.
What You Will Learn in This Class
In this class, you will learn:
What are Mock-ups Understand the basics of mock-ups.
Where You Can Use Them: Discover various applications of mock-ups.
File Formats in Procreate: Learn which file formats work best.
Finding Quality Resource Files: Tips on sourcing high-quality files.
Preparing Your Artwork: Steps to prepare your designs for mock-ups.
Applying Your Design: Techniques to apply your designs on different types of mock-up images.
Examples Covered in the Class
Simple Greeting Card Mock-up
Greeting Card with Perspective
Coffee Cup Mock-up with Seamless Pattern and Text
Canvas Tote Bag with Texture
Pillow Mock-up with a Seamless Pattern
Take Your Designs to the Next Level
By the end of this class, you will be able to create beautiful mock-ups using just Procreate. The best part? You don’t need any expensive software. We’ll be using JPEG files and PSD files in Procreate to create stunning mock-ups.
This class covers all the essential tips and techniques you need to design eye-catching mock-ups that attract more customers and boost your online sales.
Don’t worry if you don’t have a Skillshare account, Using the link below you will get 1 Month Free access to all the classes. You can cancel anytime :)
How to Transfer your sketches on Paper from iPad
Learn how to transfer your sketches from your iPad to paper in easy steps. Tuen your iPad into a light box for improved workflow.
In today's world, iPad is one of the most powerful tools specially when it comes to illustration and graphic design industry. Nowadays, almost every designer owns an iPad which is portable and makes their life much easier. But many of us don't realize its potential when it comes to traditional artwork.
I am a full time freelance botanical and food illustrator and create my illustrations on mpaper with watercolors paints. I bought my iPad in 2018 with a motive to start my digital illustration journey, but honestly speaking traditional media is irresistible for me. But that does not mean, iPad was a wasteful investment for me. Not at all!!!
iPad is such an incredible tool for designers, illustrators and artists. Today in this article I will share one amazing feature of iPad which comes in handy for artists when they need to transfer or trace their sketches on paper.
This lesson is for you if you draw in iPad and want to transfer your sketches and drawings for painting on paper or any creative project you have been working on. I have been using Guided Access feature in iPad since last 2 years and it has completely changed my workflow of painting my Botanical Illustrations.
I grab a lot of images, create a nice composition in Procreate and then finalize a sketch. Once I am ready with a final composition, I can now trace it on a tracing paper and then on the final Watercolor Paper.
Now Why I use iPad for tracing? The reason is I don't have a Lightbox and I did not want to buy one. So after a few hit and trials, I stumbled upon this feature called Guided Access and I was blown away with the possibilities.
So I thought why not share it with you all. If you use an iPad, it will definitely help you in your process.
Steps to Turn Guided Access on:
Open Settings > Accessibility
Under Accessibility , you will see some options on the right hand side of the screen. Go way down to General > Guided Access
Then you can turn the toggle button on to start guided access.
Now when you open any image/sketch in your image gallery, Triple Click the Top Button of the iPad and it will enable the Guided Access.
This will freeze the screen and then you can place your tracing paper on top of the screen and using a soft black pen, you can easily trace the sketch on the tracing paper.
I have a complete process explained in one of the lessons in my Skillshare class - Watercolor Botanical Illustration for Beginners in which I show you my process of painting a botanical illustration suing watercolors from start to finish. You can get access to the full class HERE. If you are not on Skillshare, you can use the LINK BELOW to get 1 MONTH FREE and enjoy thousands of amazing classes absolutely free of cost for 30 days.
The love for Food Illustration
Food illustrations bring so many emotions in our lives. It brings nostalgia, happiness, memories and so much more. Illustrating food has been one of the most favorite part of my career. It has given me a chance to relive my childhood and learn about different cultures from around the world. As a child I was never a food lover until I started working in my mid-20's. At that time, I was living in South India working my ass off at a 9-6 corporate job (usually over time) and never got a chance to cook for myself. The only choice I had was to eat the South Indian food served in our office canteen. But believe me I just loved it. The flavors, spices and the varieties in very single dish was so mouth watering.
But until that time I had never drawn food in my life, not even thought of doing such a thing. Long story short, after a few years when my son was born, I started dabbling with paints and started learning from so many amazing artists on Instagram, youtube and Skillshare. Every day I used to paint something as a practice and guess what always was there as reference for me? My kitchen.
Lay Chips Illustration
I used to pick one thing or two and start painting it. I had no basic goal of why I am painting a particular subject, it was just a way of relaxation for me at that time. Also I never tried to achieve any particular style in my artwork. But slowly I realized that my illustrations were turning out to be quite realistic which made them more popular on social media.
When people started featuring me on their accounts and companies started to reach me out on Instagram for small commissions, that was my calling. I started taking my skills very seriously and started learning even more. It took me a few years, but today here I am working as a freelance illustrator from my home studio. Now I get regular assignments from small publications in the USA for editorial illustrations and I also have been working with a few large clients from branding and packaging labels.
Painting food and botanical subjects is one of the most favorite part my routine. And trust me illustrating each subject is a learning experience because food in any form, whether cooked or raw has so many different textures, shades and shapes which makes it even more interesting. I can confidently say that illustrating food can never be a boring job and specially when one gets paid to do that :)
Never would I have ever thought about becoming a professional illustrator and doing what I love for a living. I hope, one day I will share the long story with you guys and how I landed some of my favorite jobs. Until then, keep creating and if you want to follow along my process, I do share some bits and behind the scenes in my Instagram stories.