Casting Flowers: A Step-by-Step Guide to Creating Beautiful Botanical Art by Rachel Dein

Artist Rachel Dein introduces readers to botanical bas-relief, an innovative and exciting technique developed by the author, one that anyone—gardener, parent, weekend crafter, or artist—can try at home in every season. Casting Flowers introduces botanical bas-relief as a rewarding method that encourages even the most basic beginners to revel in the ability to record a plant's texture, pattern, and delicacy in fine detail, creating compositions as small as a single stem or as complex as a field of wildflowers. All it takes is clay, flower, plants, and plaster. Artists can leave a finished piece bare and elegant, or experiment with painting on its surface, bringing the plants to life in color. From small plaster tiles featuring a single flower portrait to large panels that suggest an entire garden full of blooms, botanical castings reflect every artist’s desire to capture the ephemeral in nature. A meditative activity that encourages artists to explore their gardens and natural spaces for materials, botanical bas-relief teaches readers how to track the progress of the seasons, immortalizing the plants at the moment when they are most alive. With accessible instructions, stunning photography of the process from start to finish, and insights into the artist's own garden, readers will discover: ·Step-by-step guidance on the tools and equipment needed to set up a simple workspace ·What plants work best in botanical casts, and which to avoid ·How to arrange flowers and stems to make well-balanced artistic compositions ·Tips on creating unique pieces of artwork as mementos of a season or records of special occasions Read more

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From the Publisher Artist Rachel Dein introduces readers to botanical bas-relief, an innovative technique that anyone—gardener, parent, weekend crafter, or artist—can try at home in every season. Like a fossil of long forgotten flowers, each finished cast is an act of remembering: a summer day in the garden, a perfect magnolia, a wedding bouquet, or the memory of the first daffodils in spring. Step-by-step guidance on the tools and equipment needed to set up a simple workspace. What plants work best in botanical casts, and which to avoid. How to arrange flowers and stems to make well balanced artistic compositions. Tips on creating unique pieces of artwork as mementos of a season or records of special occasions. Botanical Art Techniques: A Comprehensive Guide to Watercolor, Graphite, Colo... Black Flora: Inspiring Profiles of Floriculture’s New Vanguard Lavender for All Seasons: A Gardener's Guide to Growing and Creating with Lav... The Ultimate Flower Gardener's Guide: How to Combine Shape, Color, and Textur... The Insect Artist: How to Observe, Draw, and Paint Butterflies, Bees, and More Add to Cart Add to Cart Add to Cart Add to Cart Add to Cart Customer Reviews 686 46 33 77 68 Price $25 48 $19 35 $16 10 $24 83 $17 42 “This comprehensive work covers the gamut of techniques… will take students from beginner to expert.” —The English Garden “Black Flora lifts up our ancestors' relationship to the earth while profiling today's most exciting florists and farmers with zing, curiosity, and a depth that's long overdue." ―Chantal Aida Gordon “The ultimate guide to cultivating and utilizing lavender throughout the year, penned by passionate gardener and sustainable farming expert Paola Legarre.”―Sunset “From bloom shape to colour and more, this book gives you the knowledge to design your flower borders for maximum effect.” —The Garden, RHS “Substantial (a whopping 344 pages) and thorough. There are plenty of different subjects, a lot of exercises and demonstrations, and some pleasant changes of pace as new topics and ways of working are introduced.” ―Art Book Review