Contemporary botanical art captures the beauty of the natural world with precision, and our extraordinary instructors share their expertise in this nurturing yet rigorous program. NYBG offered North America's first formal botanical art certificate program, and remains a leader in the discipline after more than three decades. This program offers a well-rounded array of courses that can be enjoyed singly, just for fun, or lead to a Certificate.
Click here for an overview of the Certificate Program.
Accurate observation translates into sensitive, realistic drawings and is an essential skill for botanical artists. Using basic shapes, fruit, and leaves, learn contour drawing with an emphasis on proportion, and explore techniques such as foreshortening, perspective, and line weight.
Plants
that
"eat"
animals
have
intrigued
naturalists
for
centuries,
from
glistening
sundews
to
vivid,
almost
erotic
Venus
flytraps.
In
this
class,
you'll
learn
why
these
plants
are
carnivorous
as
you
develop
your
skills
to
accurately
render
their
morphology
on
paper.
more...
Examine
the
enormous
variety
of
forms
and
structural
adaptations
of
flowering
plants—the
world's
dominant
plant
group.
Through
lectures,
demonstrations,
and
laboratory
studies,
learn
to
recognize
and
draw
the
many
plant
parts
and
growth
stages
of
the
most
common
plant
families.
more...
Pen and ink, among the most versatile and useful media, can be used to create high quality, easily reproducible drawings. Learn how to produce different strokes and how to create tone by using stipple, line, and crosshatch techniques.
Enhance
the
realism
in
your
botanical
compositions
by
mastering
the
art
of
drawing
the
fine
details.
In
this
class,
you'll
explore
various
graphite
techniques
that
help
to
capture
the
intricate
detailing
of
small,
complex
botanical
subjects
such
as
dried
seedheads,
more...
This intro class teaches you basic botanical illustration techniques to help you make realistic drawings of branches, stems, leaves, and flowers using graphite.
The
focus
of
this
course
is
on
color
theory
and
application.
Colored
pencil
line
and
tone
can
be
applied
to
look
like
either
drawing
or
painting,
making
it
a
versatile
medium
for
creating
botanical
artwork.
Learn
a
variety
of
techniques,
more...
Apply your understanding of contours, perspective, and tone to drawing three distinct types of flowers. The object is to accurately draw a fully toned flowering plant. Explore compositional possibilities, textures, and details.