Please use this opportunity to complete a botanical illustration as simple or complex as you wish. You may use the class presentation and demonstration as your guide, or watch these short videos that I created for the my drawing classes.
If you would like to try the shading exercise demonstrated in class, you'll find a more thorough (8.5 minutes) demonstration HERE
(You may work from one of the photos provided, or first-hand observation, or any other 2D reference)
If you would like to develop a more complete sketch or illustration, you could watch the review of compositional considerations found HERE
If you would like to provide a written response, choose one plant and answer the following:
Where did the plant originate?
If the plant is grown in the US, how and when did it arrive here?
Which part of the plant is edible (seeds, fruits, seedpods, flowers, roots/tubers, stems)
How many varieties of the plant exist today? (click here for explanation of cultivar, variety, and selection)
What is its economic importance?
Each week, you'll have the option to create a visual or written response to the prompt provided in class. Please keep in mind that if your written response is more than 250 words, we may not have time to read it in class. If you are submitting a written response, you can create a link to a pdf in google drive and post the link to the slideshow.
(I'll show you how to upload images to the slideshow during class if you don't know how)
BEFORE PHOTOGRAPHING YOUR ARTWORK, please do the following:
take a few minutes to find the best lighting for your artwork
hold your camera parallel to your artwork so that it is not foreshortened
crop your image
adjust lighting if necessary
adjust file size and save as jpeg (a large file will take a long time to upload and will slow down our class discussion)
REMEMBER to include your name with your submissions.
ALSO: In order to help you, I need to see the source that you are working from so that we can compare them (when applicable). Please be sure to include a photo of the object that you are working from (in the same light that you are working from) next to your art submission on the slideshow. If you are working from a photo, master print or drawing (an etching, for example), be sure to include that image next to your own work.