RBGE Botanical Illustration Certificate: Unit 5 Reflection

In this portion of the course, I was introduced to the world of botany.

I learned to identifying the basic floral parts, their functions and record the plant through sectional drawings and cross sections. Botany is vital to botanical illustration and plant identification. I noticed the dissections on botanical illustrations before, but had no idea how important they were. My highligt was labeling the different parts of the cyclamen. I found it mesmerizing how intricate a singular flower could be, this both fascinated and excited me.

I enjoyed the terminology and exposure to new concepts of relating different parts of the plant together. I found the dissection process and cross sectioning difficult. I cut open at least four different flowers before finally landing on my chosen specimen on my final try. This resulted in a time crunch so I decided to do a graphite rendering of the cross section because I didn’t have enough time to paint it for submission. I took my time looking at the specimen to decipher the different plant anatomy.

My eyesight is not great, so this portion took a very long time, I relied heavily on my jeweller's loup for referencing the cut flower. Once I was more comfortable with what I was looking at I was able to point out the different elements within the cyclamen. 

I worked on the cross section for longer and allowed myself to take my time. If I were to try this unit again, I would consider more time to dissect the flower fully. Doing this would help in future with my identification standstill. I also found the new scale system a bit confusing and stayed within my comfort zone here and used the 3x3cm(x2) square to make all the elements bigger. If I were to give this another go, I would explore a different scaling system. This unit was challenging, but also rewarding and I enjoyed learning a new skill.