Plant Structure and Function for Botanical Artists: Flowers, Seeds and Fruits

Class Overview:

As a botanical artist, you have likely encountered plant parts that you weren’t quite sure how to identify. This course, led by Lynne Gildensoph, is designed to help acquaint artists drawing and painting plants with the basic structures of flowering plant bodies and will also address the amazing diversity of form found in nature. Students will learn the terminology of plant morphology (structure) and the physiology (function) of each part, while becoming familiar with the differences that exist in nature as they survey plant families.

Students will dissect living plants — flowers, seeds (and seedlings) and fruits — using dissecting microscopes and magnifying glasses/loupes to get a good look at microscopic structures. They will learn to draw and label these structures in a scientifically correct manner. Learning to accurately depict plant structures is a valuable skill that helps students see and understand their plant subjects more clearly.

In this class you will:

• Identify and understand the basic structures of flowering plants, using botanical terminology with greater confidence.
• Connect plant structure and function, gaining a deeper understanding of how each part contributes to the life and reproduction of the plant.
• Recognize and appreciate the diversity of plant form, comparing structures across different plant families.
• Observe, draw and label plant structures accurately, developing a more informed and scientifically accurate approach to botanical subjects.

Supplies - Students are responsible for bringing their own supplies to include:

• Sketch pad: At least 8.5 x 11 inches, with a smooth surface or hot-press paper. Bristol is a good choice for pen and ink, such as Strathmore Bristol 500 Series, plate surface.
• Drawing pencils: A small range of H and B pencils, such as 3H to 3B.
• Pen and ink: Optional, if you choose to work in this medium.
• Fiber-tipped technical pens: Micron or Copic 0.05 mm sized black or sepia pens.
• Ruler: See-through rulers are helpful for measuring.
• Dividers: If you have them.
• Magnifying device: A loupe and/or magnifying glass.
• Watercolors and/or colored pencils: Optional, if you would like to add color. A typical MSBA watercolor set is appropriate; for colored pencils, Polychromos or Prismacolor are recommended.
• Brushes and painting supplies: Your favorite brushes, paper towels, porcelain mixing dishes or plates and containers for water. 

Recommended texts:  These two texts are especially helpful, particularly Plant Identification Terminology. If possible, students are encouraged to obtain one or both and bring Plant Identification Terminology or another botanical terminology text to class.

• Plant Identification Terminology: An Illustrated Glossary, 2nd ed., by James G. Harris and Melinda Woolf Harris. 2001. Spring Lake Publishing. ISBN 0-09640221-6-8. Approximately $18. Plant structure terminology is arranged both alphabetically and by plant structure, making this a particularly useful reference.
• Botany Illustrated: Introduction to Plants, Major Groups, Flowering Plant Families, 2nd ed., by Janice Glimn-Lacy and Peter H. Kaufman. 2006. Springer Publishing. ISBN 0-387-28879-8. Approximately $38.

Instructor Bio:  Lynne H. Gildensoph is a retired University of St. Catherine Biology Department professor who is also a botanical artist. She taught both plant biology and plant physiology at St. Kate’s and taught Plant Structure and Function for Botanical Artists a number of times at the Minnesota School of Botanical Art. She loves the wide variety of plants (and plant parts) found in nature and is happy passing on that knowledge to others.