Viewpoint — (not your usual blog)

Last week, purely by chance while conducting a Google search, I discovered that my Echinacea purpurea had been “stolen” by three clipart services and was being offered as a free high-resolution download. Further inquiries revealed that other botanical artists had...

It’s the first week of the new year and, predictably, there’s all the usual talk about resolutions. However, resolutions are just a statement of intent; without specific goals to give effect to the resolutions, intent is unlikely to be implemented. For example, in a...

A student recently told me that she thought that she and some fellow botanical artists in her group were suffering from “technique confusion.” She defined technique confusion as too many teachers with too many techniques and no one apparently able to address anything...

I teach three mediums: graphite; coloured pencil; and watercolour. While they have their obvious differences in technique application and material content, they have one essential aspect in common—the point. In all three of these mediums you simply cannot produce...

How to price a painting has always posed difficulties for botanical artists. Unfortunately, there is no magic formula. In fact, just like botanical art itself, pricing botanical art is a combination of art and science. I had to wrestle with this issue again recently...

I recently received an email from a friend and fellow botanical artist in which she said that she had become so distressed and disgusted at the political news currently on the airwaves, that she’d decided that painting was to be her sanctuary. She called it “unplug...

Recently, in the process of painting the walls of our dining room, living room, and my studio, we had to take down and then rehang the many paintings we’ve collected over the years—most of them botanical art originals. In handling them, it dawned on me that every one...

Fugitive watercolour pigments (those are the ones that can change colour or even fade away completely) can be very seductive. Some are easy to fall in love with. Take Opera Rose, for example. It came up on a social media post this past week and since discussion on...

Today I was scrolling through botanical art posts on Instagram when I felt the kind of spine-tingling sensation described by people who believe they’ve seen a ghost. I was looking at a painting of a white phalaenopsis orchid that appeared to be one I’d completed about...

A recent article by Robert McKinley on www.artistsnetwork.com addressing the topic of blending on paper (or canvas) to merge value transitions, caught my attention. And it’s not just because he references Leonardo da Vinci’s famous ‘sfumato’ blending application but...

I’ve recently received enough questions about exhibiting to warrant an article on the topic. Most artists welcome an opportunity to exhibit, especially if there’s a possibility of selling a piece. And if someone is willing to open their wallet for your work, it’s...

I frequently hear versions of this question: “What does it take to get to the next level? Please review my work and tell me where I need to improve.” I’ve been instructing for a long time now and of course I am in a position to do this. But my advice will not make a...

In my recent Tech Talks on Composition Concepts, I pointed out that Mother Nature seldom, if ever, gifts you with ready-to-go composition. Throughout recorded history artists of all skill levels have wrestled with the best placement of content in their paintings. The...

Some unfortunate offerings for botanical art study have emerged amid the surge in online educational opportunities. One of these is instructors sending their own drawings to students to trace as part of a course on how to create successful botanical art pieces....

In March 2016, I wrote an article about Auriol Batten for the ASBA publication, The Botanical Artist. If you are unfamiliar with her name or work, Auriol was one of the most renowned South Africa botanical artists of her time. Her influence is still apparent today. My...

Sengmany (Seng) Phommachakr of Ottawa has just been announced as the first recipient of the ASBA’s Lizzie Sanders Memorial Award, created in memory of Lizzie Sanders, a widely-admired botanical artist who passed away in 2020. Seng’s work is outstanding and it’s not...

Realism is at the very foundation of botanical art. Ours is an informative genre committed to scientific accuracy with a high degree of detail. Anything less and it’s not botanical art. It’s inescapable. And the fact that it has to be achieved working with the...

It was at an exhibition in 1998 at London’s Tryon Gallery that I first saw Alexander (Sasha) Viazmensky’s mushroom paintings. Aside from the overall quality of the renderings, two things struck me—the less-than-perfect specimens and the seemingly random placement of...

It’s a question that could be mistaken for the beginning of a bad joke . . .  What do an Australian botanical artist, a Welsh botanical artist, a Russian botanical artist, an American botanical artist, and a Canadian botanical artist have in common? The answer is,...

Giovanni Cera's geometric drawing of a quince bud. Giovanni Cera of Florence is a retired architect and botanical artist who sometimes goes by the English moniker he has adopted, Johnny Wax—a direct translation of his Italian name. I first made contact with Giovanni...

The banner on the land-on page of my botanical art educational website is my painting of Armillaria mushrooms. Placing it there was a conscious decision and, inevitably, has prompted questions. “Are you aware, Margaret, that fungi are not classified as plants?” and...

Selecting specimens at a Going Green workshop in Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia. “Botanical art instruction” is in one particular way an unfortunate term. ”Instruction” implies “command”, that is, being commanded or instructed to do something in a particular way.  And...

Yellow is the most problematic primary pigment. So much so that many botanical artists avoid painting yellow subjects entirely. It's problematic for a number of reasons. It’s tough to get yellow to look just right in the layering process because the full colour...

Drawing from a live specimen infuses truth into a botanical piece. To know me is to know that this is not news. I have always strongly believed in drawing from a live specimen. You will find me emphasizing this throughout my workshops and e-booklets. It will also be...

Some of what you'll see about botanical art on social media can be misleading or confusing. Most of the time I ignore it. Recently, however, a post about colour crossed a line. It was time to correct a few misconceptions and share some important colour information. I...

Here's an idea—particularly if you're having difficulty finding time to draw and paint—committing to a leaf a day. I'm suggesting a daily regime of sketching at least one leaf a day. While normal daily commitments can rob us of time to paint, it's not difficult to...

Every time I hand a painting to a courier I do so with trepidation. This week my trepidation was justified. I shipped my painting for the ASBA's Abundant Future exhibition with FedEx Express. En route from my home in Chester Basin, Nova Scotia to The New York...

The invitation I received an invitation to exhibit in an international botanical art exhibition. I felt flattered. And I readily agreed to participate. Exhibiting abroad is an enticing proposition. I'd exhibited outside Canada before in Bermuda, the US, the UK,...

From left to right: sandpaper block from Faber-Castell; wooden pencil sharpened in the regular way; sharpened mechanical pencil; pencil sharpener; wooden pencil with half inch of graphite exposed; Exacto knife for shaving the wood off the pencil. When I'm working in...