EVERY ARTIST’S MASTERPIECE BEGINS AS A SKETCH
Betts, Judi. 2005. Sketches of color. Watercolor Basics. March 2005. p 21-23.
If you are successful at finding time to spend outdoors, consider leaving the neurotic detailed ways of botanical art inside your studio. Take your sketchbook outside and throw color all over it. This is what Betts encourages artists to do in her article. She also suggests that artists work on a colored ground and gives helpful suggestions on how to let color loose in your sketchbook.
Fletcher, Adelene. 2000. The Flower Painter’s Pocket Palette, Book 2. Chartwell Books, Inc. ISBN: 0-7858-1173-7
The description to Harden (1996) applies to this follow-up book as well. Fletcher’s preliminary sketches are informative and she discusses techniques which were not discussed in the first book. Contains over 70 examples of flowers, berries, and leaves.
Friend, Trudy. 2002. Drawing Problems and Solutions. David & Charles. ISBN: 0-7153-4195-5
Feel the need to hide away and to draw peacefully off in a corner somewhere? Then take this book with you. You will learn a lot about sketching and drawing in pencil. If your life is comprised of mostly responsibilities not related to art, hiding away with this book for an hour a couple times per week will be a real treat. This book is a must-have for any journaler’s backpack. Artists will learn how to execute marks to create the following: trees & woodland, landscapes & skies, water in landscapes, buildings in landscapes, village houses & cottages, gardens, plants & flowers, vegetables, textures, pets, horses & ponies, and portraits.
Friend, Trudy. 2002. Watercolor Problems and Solutions. David & Charles. ISBN: 0-7153-1457-2
Although the title of this book refers to “problems and solutions,” this book is a great addition to any artist’s journaling bookshelf. Friend’s book is filled with instructions on how to execute marks and brush strokes that artists can use to create the following: skies & water, trees & foliage, flowers, fruit & vegetables, animals, still life scenes from the landscape, still life paintings of a variety of objects and buildings. Avid journalers will have lots of fun practicing the marks and brush strokes taught by Friend. This 127-page book is small enough and light enough to fit in any journaler’s bag or backpack. Consider keeping this book with your sketchbook.
Galison. 2002. Nature Journal. ISBN: 0-7353-0576-5
This small journal contains room for 45 two-paged entries. On the left-hand page, journalers can record the following information: Date, Time, Location, Weather, Companions, and Notes. Sketches can be drawn on the opposing page. Because of the type of paper used in this book, sketching in graphite or colored pencil is recommended. This handy 7″ x 5 1/4″ x 3/8″ paperback journal fits easily into a fanny bag.
Goode, Douglas. 1989. Cycads of Africa. Struik Winchester. ISBN: 0-947430-12-1
Obsessed with cycads since 1964, Goode has described, drawn, and painted 54 African cycad species. If you get a charge out of seeing art and data together on the same sheet of paper, you’re going to like this book too.
Harden, Elisabeth. 1996. The Flower Painter’s Pocket Palette. Chartwell Books, Inc. ISBN: 0-7858-0578-8
The strengths of this small book are the eight pages dedicated to flower shapes and the many pages of painting demonstrations. Nature journaler’s may be especially interested in this book, as each of the featured flowers were painted in no more than three easy-to-follow steps. The step-by-step demonstrations are good examples of how to see and think more quickly. If you would love to loosen up (and are looking for instructions), then browse through this book. Contains over 70 examples.
Johnson, Cathy. 1997. The Sierra Club Guide to Sketching. Timber Press. ISBN: 0-87156-932-9
Johnson provides all of the tools and inspiration one needs to begin sketching their world. Johnson’s instruction and advice is very practical and is the result of years of living the life of a sketchbook artist. Her motto is simple, Just draw! She says it best when she encourages readers to “delight in the simple coordination of hand and eye and mind and the magic of nature appering suddenly from blank paper.” In this book, Johnson discusses: Tools & Equipment, Getting Started, Putting the Basics to Work, Capturing the Illustion of Light Field Sketching, Sketching in Color, Watercolor as a Sketching Medium – and Beyond, The Landscape, Plants and Flowers, Trees, Sketching in the Animal Kingdom, and Sketching as a Means to an End.
Leslie, Clare Walker. 2003. Nature Journal: A Guided Journal for Illustrating and Recording Your Observations of the Natural World. Storey Publishing. ISBN: 1-58017-296-2
This journal is the companion book to Keeping a Nature Journal by Clare Walker Leslie and Charles E. Roth. In this companion book, Leslie provides drawing instruction and guidance for both first-time artists and experienced artists. Most of this book is comprised of blank pages containing quotes and tips for guidance and inspiration. This book contains an appendix in which Leslie offers her tips on how to draw the following subjects: leaves, twigs, and buds; deciduous trees; evergreen trees; things on the ground; small wild animals; small domestic animals; large animals; birds; insects and spiders; reptiles and amphibians; collections of objects; animal tracks; indoor flowers; outdoor flowers; wildflowers and wild plants; weather; and landscapes. Leslie also created a table of journaling suggestions arranged by season. The paper in this journal is too thin for watercolor. Pencil and colored pencil would be best. Pen & ink might be okay too.
Leslie, Clare Walker and Charles E. Roth. 2000. Keeping a Nature Journal. Storey Publishing. ISBN: 1-58017-306-3
A book for all journalers, both new and experienced. Leslie and Roth do a beautiful job at explaining the many different ways that journals can take shape. Educators will find the chapters addressing teaching and learning especially helpful.
Moleskine Notebook. The Legendary Notebook of Hemingway, Picasso, and Chatwin. Imported from Italy.
ArtPlantae Books is pleased to be a retail provider of Moleskine notebooks. Do you have a favorite Moleskine that unleashes your creative energy? If so, please tell us! The following items are available from ArtPlantae Books: Moleskine Pocket Sketchbook, Moleskine Large Sketchbook, Moleskine Pocket Watercolor Notebook, Moleskine Large Watercolor Notebook.
Olmstead, Adrienne. 2000. My Nature Journal: A Personal Nature Guide for Young People. Pajaro. ISBN: 0-9672459-1-5
Designed for young naturalists 8 and older, Olmstead provides activities that encourage children to explore the natural world around them, that teach children ecological principles, and that inspire children to reflect about nature and their feelings towards nature.This books contains dozens of activities, as well as many blank pages for sketching and for journaling.
