A new book on the block for 2026!

‘Floral Botany and Dissection for Botanical Artists’ Written, designed and printed by Jackie Isard.

When I began my project work for the RHS botanical exhibition I became very interested in botany. It was important to me to paint a true likeness in accurate detail. I wanted my exhibit to look like a series of botanical plates in colour. Each painting included the plant’s lifecycle from bud to seed and because of this my research was done throughout the seasons. Once you start looking at plants, with botany in mind, you just want to know more. It’s very addictive!

I started to teach basic botany to botanical artist students soon after my RHS Gold medal award in 2022. Throughout my RHS studies I learned a great deal about plant botany. I couldn’t have done it without having a professional botanist to hand to check my drawings. It became clear to me that botanical artists really needed to know a little botany in order to understand the plant they were painting. This knowledge helps the artist to make a more accurate and detailed painting. At my basic botany workshops many students would tell me how much their eyes had been opened. It was enlightening for everyone. Knowing a little botany allows you to see or understand important plant details that are typically hidden, distant or unnoticed. Until you start looking more carefully, you really don’t see all the curious and interesting features of a plant!

Later, whilst looking at the course notes for my basic botany workshop, I thought about writing a basic botany book. This was too vast a subject and as I am not a trained botanist, I decided to focus on one of my favourite parts, floral botany and dissection. With my professional botanist at hand, I finally made it to the finishing post and created the book you may well be holding in your hands soon. This tutorial book will teach you a great deal about flower botany and give you an understanding of how to draw a flower dissection accurately and in detail. It is packed full of information with plenty of illustrated diagrams and photos. There is also a reference section at the back on flower botany and terms.

What’s in my book

•  Learn about the different parts of a flower.

•  Learn how to draw a flower dissection to a measured scale.

•  Follow a detailed step-by-step Fuchsia flower dissection. 

•  Explore other more complex flower dissection examples.

•  Examples of flowers with unusual botanical features.

•  In-depth floral botany section to help you understand the detailed botanical features of flowers.

•  Learn how to draw scale bars.

•  Understand plant naming and nomenclature.

Here are some internal page images. The book has 86 pages and is 20cm x 20cm in size. A nice size to carry around without being too cumbersome.

The book…

£18 + postage (UK and worldwide)
Written, designed and printed by Jackie Isard

Please note: This book is only available to botanical students and botanical artists/tutors worldwide (it is an educational book and is not for sale in the public domain).
Email me to buy: jackieisard@googlemail.com

I hope you find the read enjoyable and do please pass your knowledge on to your students and other botanical artists.

If you do buy the book I would love to hear your feedback, thank you!