Ink and Wash Florals: Stunning Botanical Projects in Watercolor and Ink

by Camilla Damsbo Brix

Your Ultimate Guide to Mastering Linework and Watercolor Through Elegant Flower Compositions

Immerse yourself in the world of ink and wash with these dazzling floral projects that will have you falling in love with both mediums. With Camilla Damsbo Brix’s expert guidance, you’ll learn the fundamentals of each art form, from layering washes of color to capturing ideas in loose but evocative ink drawings.

Then, you’ll marry both mediums in 17 radiant compositions that highlight the immense versatilities of both art forms, as well as each flower’s unique beauty. Want to capture the delicate nature of the Poppy? Start with watercolor and complement it with barely-there lines of ink. Looking to bring out the lively colors of the Iris? Make bold fineliner strokes, heightened with a touch of watercolor. Switch between pen and paint as you go for an equal fusion of both in the Sunflower and Hibiscus projects. Then bring it all together by combining different flowers into one composition, like A Dancing Bouquet of Cosmos and Daisies.

These projects will expand your artistic skills, whether ink or watercolor is your medium of choice, or whether you have never picked up a pen or paintbrush before. With this gorgeous book, you’ll create floral masterpieces in no time.

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, Crafts

199 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 20, 2022

Reviews

[LuAnn Reinders · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a wonderful 'how-to' to develop your style as a watercolor botanical artist. She provides excellent explanation of each step along the way. Each project provides the details on materials, execution and a new technique. I really appreciated the pacing of introducing a new challenge with each project, she made it comfortable to try new approaches.

[Courtney · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was exactly the type of book I was looking for, since I love the look of fineliner and watercolor together, especially with the delicate nature of flowers.

Questions to ask yourself while sketching flowers:
• Is the flower made of different shapes?
• How many petals are there? Do they overlap? Do they curl? Are some of them foreshortened?
• What does the center of the flower look like? • How fat is the stem?
• How do the leaves fall, and how are they placed on the stem?

Flower drawing tutorials included (17, in progressive order of difficulty):
Daisy, plumeria, iris, gerbera, cosmo, tulip, anemone, magnolia, sunflower, snowdrop, dahlia, poppy, lilac, rose, hydrangea, peony, hibiscus

Also includes 5 tutorials focused on composition of multiple species of flowers.

[Earla · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent! Very good job of breaking down flowers to draw and the process of adding colour.

[Judith]

After seeing reviews that mentioned issues with readability of the print book, I read this one via the Kindle App on my phone. I feel like I learned a lot, but I didn't practice drawing and painting the way I did with the other art books I have in print. Call me a Luddite, but I like drawing from a book and not a screen. I plan to purchase the print version when my bank account is once again flush with green. I'll re-review and rate at that time.

[Barbara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great reference and addition to any art library. I love the step by step directions and examples of the many botanical projects in this book. I cannot wait to try them and make them my own.

[Lori Palen]

Cool style! Way ahead of where my illustration skills are, and the painting was a little more abstract than my style.

[Robbin Vokes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Disappointing once you try to duplicate the paintings. Her own works are beautiful, but the instructions she gives can in no way result in the images she shows.

p. 52 this is impossible to do in one step!
Then there is hardly any difference in the first three illustrations. Why not say what the actual steps are?

Also, I feel there are way too many inking steps compared to painting steps. I find the inking to be straightforward; it's the painting steps I want to know more about. And the size of the fineliner is not so critical on watercolor paper.