botanical watercolours

The study of plants is an ancient science, and as with the oldest sciences, was tied to the mysteries of nature and the body. It was considered essential for anyone of learning to study and record plants and the way they grew. Even children in today's schools are encouraged to draw the parts of flowers and try to grow their own plants from seeds.

Botanical illustration therefore is one of the oldest uses of art. It is both art and science, a study and an appreciation of the beauty of nature. With our eyes and hands, we are analysing the structure of a living thing. Using ink and paint, we are learning to understand a growing thing from the outside in.

Unlike the scientists of the past, wonder | wander | women aren't as attached to the scientific accuracy of the drawing, although we are invested in as much visual accuracy as possible. We want to capture the transient beauty of flowers and plants in permanent ink and lightfast watercolour.

As much as we love taking pictures of gardens and flowers, there's a special joy in capturing them in this slow, focused way. We don't have gardens of our own but find fulfilment in painting flowers too troublesome to raise.

Instead of digging, planting and grafting, we choose the instant (well, not so instant) gratification of recreating the specific bloom that caught our attention. We can "grow" a beautiful rose without the uncertainty of cultivating a garden through difficult seasons.

In botanical illustration, precision is key. The best illustrators work from physical specimens and look at the plant from all angles as well as take photos so they can capture the true colours of the plant when it's fresh. 

The drawing is laid down with very fine lines, often in pencil and no ink, and very thin, transparent layers of watercolour, which have to dry before the next layer is painted on top of it. This painting technique is called glazing.

Glazing builds up the brightness in the colours while maintaining the transparency and luminosity that imitates flower petals. It can be used to create the various textures and light effects that we see in real plants.

It's techniques like these that we strive to master - not to perfectly copy nature, but to reveal what we love most about it, and to save that feeling of inspiration we felt when we first saw the flower. Even the mistakes and imperfections are fun to discover, and each painting is a new lesson - one we're never tired of learning.