If you love botanical art, I'm sure you will love this book by award winning Uk artist, Julia Trickey.
I think the key aspect which drew me to this book is Julia’s interest in ‘fading’ flowers. As you might already know I do love the melancholy feel of old, worn objects, and this love extends to the natural world too. There is a certain beauty that lies in those muted hues, crisp, dry, edges and thin papery petals.
The book is almost like a mini biography of how Julia’s passion for botanical art grew from an early interest in creating and drawing. As such, it is divided into sections covering some of her key interests and achievements. At the end of each section Julia shares some technical information, bringing the reader more insights into how she works and develops her ideas. It also gives you quite a few good tips and tricks, including how to avoid pitfalls when working using some of her botanical techniques.
The book is a square format (20x20cm) and contains 87 pages, many of which have full colour illustrations. The chapters progress from her award-winning ‘fading flowers’ to her interest in seed heads, buds and bulbs onto some of her amazing leaf portraits. There is also a chapter about working with black backgrounds and lastly there are details about some of her commissions, including her botanical postage stamps for the Royal Mail and a selection of private commissions where she has used a variety of techniques.
In conclusion: If you’re looking for a book that takes you by the hand and shows you how to recreate this botanical style step-by-step, then I’m afraid this book is probably not be for you. But if you can marvel in the intricacies and skill that has clearly gone into every petal and sepal, then you cannot fail to be enthralled!
Botanical Artistry Plants, projects & processes
Published by Two Rivers Press 2019
ISBN:978-1-909747-45-6