'If you don’t succeed the first time, scrap the drawing and start again and perhaps try it from a different angle. The more drawing you do the faster you will improve.If you’re new to acrylic painting, this is the blog post for you! With 101 easy acrylic painting ideas for beginners on canvas, there’s no reason not to start your journey today. 'To start with, drawing the details seems a daunting task but practice brings confidence and if your subject stays the same for a reasonable time you can work in a more relaxed manner. 'Further into studying botanical drawing, a potted plant is probably the best option for a flowering subject, or a cut piece of an evergreen shrub with leaves that last in water, such as holly ( Ilex), or Cotoneaster, which has lovely fruit in the autumn. It is easy to draw and enables people to study drawing and painting techniques without worrying whether it will look the same later. 'When I gave regular classes for beginners I used to start them off with just an apple. 'A detailed botanical drawing or painting takes a long time to do, so the best type of plant subject for beginners is something which does not change too quickly, especially if you can only work on it in short sessions. 'Finally, dried woody fruits such as pods and capsules are good for practising the rendering of form and tone as, unlike living plants, they will not change before your eyes as you work on them.' 'Choose a plant which is plentiful in supply and has flowers at all different stages of development so that you have plenty of material to study. 'In autumn, we like to draw branchlets of late cotoneaster ( Cotoneaster lacteus) as its leaves and venation are a classic shape, and its red berries are fun to draw and paint. 'Spring bulbs offer not only simple flower structures, but also the lovely three-dimensional shape of the underground bulb. Flowers such as these are radially symmetrical and therefore good for drawing. 'In our spring Kew Botanical Illustration classes we often use common cowslip ( Primula veris) or primrose ( Primula vulgaris). 'Look for simple leaves, and attachments and structures which are clear to see. 'Choose a plant which is readily available for the season. 'That said, the process of studying, drawing and painting any plant will draw you into its unique form and can lead to deep satisfaction. 'Rather than recommend a specific plant for botanical artists who are starting out, my first piece of advice is: find a plant that you can fall a little bit in love with. Primrose ( Primula vulgaris) and late cotoneaster ( Cotoneaster lacteus) Whether you are drawing them in ink, or coloured pencil, or painting them in watercolour, they make for an ideal subject for beginners.' 'Stargazers are bold and beautiful flowers. They may challenge you with depiction of parallel lines, but the venation (the arrangement of veins in the leaf) is simple compared to many other plants The lance-shaped leaves have distinct margins and a rather flat structure making them easy to draw.Some varieties have dark spots on the petals which add interest and are ideal for improving your observational drawing technique.There's no need for a microscope or hand lens The floral structures, such as anthers and stigmas, are large and can be viewed easily by the naked eye.The petals have lovely organic, curving lines.When creating your composition I suggest using a pair of dividers to measure the petals and structures and placing measurement markers on your paper to guide you Because of their size you can draw them at a 1:1 scale which will make things far easier. If you look at them closely they have both vibrant and delicate colours.'I would recommend going down to your local supermarket or florist and getting a bunch of stargazer lilies. 'So you want to start exploring botanical art and you’re looking for a good subject to start practising with?
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