Introducing the Graphite Study Page

When you have completed the first part of the course, withthe line and tone exercises, you will move on to the study page in graphite. This will be your research page for your final drawing.

Typical study page made in a large sketchbook but this could also be completed on loose paper, ideally use the same as the paper for both study page and final drawing.

If you’ve never made a plant study page before, you’ll find it a fascinating and valuable process. It’s an essential practice for all botanical artists, as it combines your observation and understanding of the plant with your drawing skills.

A good study page is the foundation for any successful botanical illustration.

This process helps you in several ways: it develops your accuracy in drawing, gives you confidence in your approach, and helps you choose the most suitable techniques and pencil grades. It also deepens your understanding of the plant itself - its structure, form, and key component parts.

You may choose any plant that appeals to you, but do keep in mind that it needs to last long enough for your final drawing project. Learning how to manage your plant material without running out of time is an important skill for every botanical artist.

Don’t worry if this doesn’t come naturally at first — it’s something you’ll improve with experience. Having more than one specimen can be helpful, and long-flowering plants such as orchids or other tropical species can last for months and are often easy to find.

Your study page is a place to gather all the key features of your chosen plant in a relatively short time. It doesn’t need to look “finished” and parts may be simple line drawings, with others tonal. Make notes directly on the page, including measurements and observations as you go.

What to Include n a Study Page, Cyclamen persicum cultivar unknown

I like to start by selecting a few key parts of the plant and arranging them loosely on a sheet of paper - this includes flowers at different stages, bud and open flower, stems and leaves showing both the upper (adaxial) and underside (abaxial) surfaces. You probably won’t be able to include everything at once, since you might need to wait for a fruit to develop or want to add a dissection later, but try to record as much information as you can early on. You can also record additional rough sketches in your sketchbook.

If possible, begin by laying the plant parts directly on the paper to get a sense of how they fit together. Use your judgment to decide how large the paper should be — and remember, you can always continue on another page if needed. You may overlap some elements to make the best use of space.

And be sure to take photographs at every stage — they’ll be invaluable references later on.

Starting point: If possible, arrange parts on a piece of tracing paper and look at the order of parts, play around with the arrangement until it shows everything that you want to include. Here I show the developing stages of the flower from bud to flower and finally the developing seed capsule ( the natural order of parts) . I include leaf front and backs well as various sizes and ages of leaf. More will be added later, this could include the tuber and a flower dissection. I measure and make initial line drawings for the whole page of the available parts, and then refine the outline drawing. Notes on measurements and parts are gradually added to the page.

Here’s a video explaining how to begin: from selecting which plant parts to study, arranging them on the page, and researching, to measuring and making your initial line drawing with notes. This part of the work took around 2 hours to complete. That's 2 hours from initial observations and reading about the plant, to deciding on which parts to include, cutting and laying parts on paper, and finally drawing them and then refining the line drawing.

This vide shows the first stages of documenting a plant in a study page

The drawing was completed on paper approximately A3 Saunders Waterford HP white. I used a 4H for initial sketching and H for the refined drawing -you may wish to use different grades but don't use grades that are too soft as they soon become smudged on the page.

Remember, this is just an overview - your approach will naturally vary depending on the plant you choose and whether you can cut it up, but I suggest having more than one plant or a plant with multiple blooms and leaves - this will make the task of learning the study page process much easier.

The initial line drawing stage of the study page is complete, more elements can be added later if needed and when available, a dissection will be added and a separate post will be created for this task. Tone can be added at this stage.

Thereafter, you will need to add tone to the drawing and at this point will need to consider the light source on the plant parts. A lamp shound be positioned on the left or right side (depending on whether you are left or right handed) and each part of the plant with a consistent light source. This part of the process will follow in the next post.