The ultimate how-to guide to the essential botanical art techniques from the people who know it best, the American Society of Botanical Artists. Helpful tutorials covers watercolor, graphite, colored pencil, vellum, egg tempera, oils, pen and ink, and printmaking. -- adapted from back cover.

Foreword / by Diane Bouchier, Founder, American Society of Botanical Artists -- Introduction -- Getting started. Caring for cut flowers ; Wild plants in the field ; Working in a back country location ; Setting up a studio ; Basic botany for botanical artists -- Drawing botanical subjects in black and white. Graphite skills ; Pen and ink -- Botanical subjects in color. Colored pencil ; Watercolor on paper ; Watercolor on vellum -- Specialized techniques and composition -- Composition. Getting started. Caring for cut flowers ; Wild plants in the field ; Working in a backcountry location ; Setting up a studio ; Basic botany for botanical artists - Part 1. Drawing botanical subject in black and white. Graphite skills. Applied tutorials : Shaded flowers ; Leaves ; Fruits, vegetables, and branches ; Drawing spiral and diagonal patterns - Advanced tutorials : Drawing an inflorescence with many flowers in graphite ; Illustrating a plant portrait from roots to tips - Pen and ink. Applied tutorial : Drawing a thistle head in seed - Advanced tutorials : Depicting cactus spines ; Making a scientific ink dissection drawing with technical pens ; Scientific botanical illustrations in pen, brush, and ink - Part 2. Botanical subjects in color, Colored pencils. Applied tutorials : Three flower types in colored pencil ; Depicting leaf texture with colored pencil ; Fruit and vegetables in colored pencil - Advanced tutorials : Grisaille techniques on rose hips with colored pencil and watercolor pencils ; Kiwi vine n colored pencil and graphite ; A crabapple branch in colored pencil on film - Watercolor on paper - Properties of watercolor paints - Palette philosophies - Transferring a drawing onto paper or vellum before painting begins - Watercolor wash and wet techniques - Applied tutorials : Drybrush layering, glazing, and detailing ; Flowers ; Leaves ; Stems, twigs, and roots ; Painting a leaf in sepiatone - Advanced tutorials : Painting a slipper orchid using wet techniques and masking fluid ; Painting gloss, bloom, and reflected light in grapes ; Drybrush watercolor and color mixing ; Creating an in-situ painting ; Painting a magnolia with watercolor washes ; Drybrush tomato with masking fluid - Watercolor on vellum. Applied tutorials : Drybrush lines, washes, and crosshatching on Kelmscott vellum ; Painting a dried leaf on vellum ; Painting bloom on fruit - Advanced tutorials : Achieving deep, rich color in watercolor in Kelmscott vellum ; Using opaque watercolors on dark vellum ; Painting a flowering cherry tree bough - Specialized techniques and composition. Field sketchbook and journal ; Egg tempera, gouache, and casein: a comparison ; Etching techniques ; Painting a branch with lichens in gouache and watercolor ; Gouache on paper: spruce needles and cones ; Metalpoint ; Painting in acrylics ; Painting on Oils - Composition. Composition in practice ; Elements and principles of composition in botanical art ; Different approaches to botanical composition.