Abstract

"Botanical Diary" is a casual and fun style of drawing with a felt tip pen in a notebook, based on the drawing method of botanical art, where you sketch plants like a diary and occasionally color them with watercolors. The author, Michiko Shibata, is a botanical artist who studied botanical art at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, England, and has been teaching botanical drawing classes in Tokyo since 2009 after returning to Japan. This book is an introductory book to botanical diaries. Chapter 1 explains the basic rules of botanical art, as well as points and tips on drawing, three-dimensional expression, coloring, composition, and scientific names, in order to enjoy botanical diaries. Chapter 2 gives a detailed explanation of the points to observe → think about the composition → draw using three types of flowers, rudbeckia, juneberry, and rose. Chapters 3 to 6 introduce 24 botanical drawings of spring, summer, autumn, and winter plants, explanations of the plants, tips on how to draw them, and 20 ideas for items to enjoy in your daily life.

Author’s Information

Botanical artist. After working as a flower designer for 12 years in a wide range of roles, including wedding decoration and teaching, she lived in Ascot, England for three years in 2004 when her husband was transferred there. While in the UK, she studied botanical art under Annie Farrar of the Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew. In 2008, she won the Gold Medal at the London Show organized by the Royal Horticultural Society. In 2009, she opened a botanical art class in Tokyo and began teaching botanical art. In 2010, she set up an atelier in Lake Yamanaka and began gardening. She currently also keeps Japanese honeybees, and aims to create gardens that are in harmony with nature, not just plants. In 2021, in addition to classes on authentic botanical art drawn with watercolors, she started a class on "botanical diary" drawn with pen drawings. She proposes ways to enjoy botanical art in a lifestyle with plants and in daily life.