Kew's chief botanical artist, and one of Kew's elite band of practitioners, Christabel King has been working as an illustrator at Kew for 40 years. In 1975 she began painting for their prestigious Curtis's Botanical Magazine (the longest running botanical magazine - first edition 1787), after achieving a degree in botany and scientific illustration. She runs successful workshops and courses at Kew and is highly skilled and acclaimed for her work. This will be her first book.
March 2018 This is a very comprehensive book, full of details of
how to get started, the materials you will need for both drawing
and painting, the best techniques to use and packed with beautiful
inspiring paintings and drawings.
*Hot Brands, Cool Places*
This, as far as botanical illustration is concerned, is pretty much
the tablets of stone, the Authorised Version. Kew do not hand out
their imprimatur lightly and want to approve every stage of the
production. If they sign off, it’s a guarantee that everything is
absolutely right. Having a book like this, and having Kew in the
title, is therefore quite a coup, especially for an independent
publisher. On top of that, Christabel King is one of a very select
band of illustrators who works at Kew itself and can therefore be
regarded as absolutely top flight. I really can’t emphasise too
much how good this is getting. Botanical illustration at this level
is respected and used by botanists around the world for
identification purposes. The work produced is better than
photography as, rather than show an individual example of a
specimen, it can create a typical one, with all the likely
characteristics included. As well as a section on using a
microscope, there is also advice on preserving specimens and
showing spots and markings. At this level, detail is everything and
it gets very minute indeed. For all this technicality, the book is
surprisingly accessible. I don’t mean for a moment that the casual
reader will become a fully-fledged professional as soon as they’ve
read it but, if this kind of work interests you, you won’t feel
swamped. There’s a nice sense of progression to the chapters and
Christabel explains everything clearly and, above all, with worked
examples. If you do get serious, the chapter on Curtis’s Botanical
Magazine, with sample pages and a template for laying out a plate,
will give you an idea of what to aim for. Despite the weight of its
authority, this is not a book solely for the expert, but is
accessible to anyone who is reasonably serious about flower
painting. You may never reach its dizzy heights, but you’ll enjoy
the journey and the attempt.
*Artbookreview.net*
October 2015 This is not the first book to have the imprimatur of
Kew, but they have high standards, so it's not only worthwhile, but
hard to achieve. This is botanical illustration at the highest
level. Christabel King is not just the practitioner in the field
but one of those selected to work at Kew itself. This is flower
painting for the purpose of identification and the results will be
used and trusted by botanists the world over. Such work is not for
including advice on the use of a microscope, preserving specimens
and observing spots and markings. The instruction as a result, is
of the highest quality.
*The Artist*
August 2015 If you are an admirer of those beautiful plates in
books on botany then here is a book that shows you how to produce
them. The author is a celebrated botanical artist at Kew and has
submitted work to Curtis’s Botanical Magazine. I am used to
books on art talking about using “artistic license” and your
imagination to produce works that hold up a mirror to the real
world, but do not exactly reflect it. In this book plants are
copied exactly and are scientific illustrations as much as they are
“art” in the purest sense. This is not a book for the novice
painter, but rather for somebody who is proficient in their chosen
field and wants to try their hand at botanical illustration.
Several types of paint are looked at, including watercolors, pen
and ink and pencils and a suggested palette is given, along with
suggestions for brands. There are sections on deciding what
materials to use, choosing a subject and working from life, as well
as working with a hand lens or microscope, correcting mistakes and
what not to do if you want to be a good botanical illustrator
(rather than just an artist). Full review can be found at:
http://myshelf.com
*Myshelf.com*
September 2015 With 40 year's experience of botanical illustration
working with the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and providing
illustrations for Curtis's Botanical magazine. Christabel King is
ideally placed to share with us her attention to detail when it
comes to painting plants. Not only is she able to portray them with
enviable accuracy but she also gives them what she describes as
their 'poetic element'; something often lacking in scientific
botanical illustrations. Here she shows us how to do it, from the
materials we need, to choosing a subject where to work, drawing
from life to using a microscope and working from pressed flowers.
The book is packed full of practical advice to help you achieve
lifelike botanical paintings and drawings.
*Leisure Painter, The*
Christabel's work is outstanding for its combination of beauty and
scientific accuracy; her lovely paintings have been mainstay of
Curtis's Botanical Magazine for many years, and she has been taught
a generation of young artists who have achieved their highest
awards for their paintings.
*Curtis's Botanical Magazine*
August 2015 This is undoubtedly one of the publisher's best books
of the year in association with Kew. Brilliant botanical and
scientific illustration. You can see all aspects of this art from
study, magnification, looking under a microscope, dissecting
plants, sketching, drawing and portraying plants in different
mediums. See how to draw all plant parts, beautifully illustrated
throughout with many popular flowers such as roses, daylilies,
tulips and geraniums. All the classic stages such as observation,
composition, light, transfer and materials are included. There are
a few step-by-step stages and much information on flower shape,
leaf types and colour, which lends an insight into botanical
illustration. This book is a masterpiece.
www.yarnsandfabrics.co.uk
*Karen Platt Yarnsandfabrics.co.uk/crafts*
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