Beth Fowler: Mock FMP

Mock FMP

Looking into flowers

08/10/15

Botanical illustrations

Botanical illustrations were used to record different specimens of plants when photography wasn't possible. There are different styles of it because of the different times they were created. Medieval botanical illustrations were simple because of the lack of understanding of perspective, while more modern botanical illustrations,, such as those created by John Ruskin were a lot more in depth and detailed. The illustrations were usually made in watercolour, and were often printed in books, magazines and other media. Creating these often meant that you had to have an understanding in Plant Morphology and access to specimens and references.

Early herbals and Pharmacopoeia (An official document containing a list of medicinal drugs with their effects and directions of their use/ a stock of medicinal drugs) os many cultures have included the depiction of plants. it was intended to assist with the identification of species, usually with some medicinal purposes. The earliest surviving illustrated botanical work is the Codex Vindobonensis. It was made in 512 for Juliana Alicia, who was the daughter of the Former Western Roman Emperor, Olybrius.

Codex Vindobonensis

Plant Morphology

Plant morphology to Phytomorphology is the study of the physical form of and external structure of plants. This is usually considered distinct from plant anatomy, which is the study of the eternal structure of plants, especially at the microscopic level.

Medieval Botanical Illustrations

Ruskin's Botanical Illustrations

Looking back at medieval botanical illustrations begins to explain where Morris' style of decorative floral pieces came from.

William Morris (1834 - 1896)

Morris was an English textiles designer, artist, writer, and social activist, and was associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. and the English Arts and Crafts movement. His vision in linking art to industry by applying the values of fine art to the production of commercial design was key to the evolution of design as we know it today.

He believed that an artist should have a working knowledge in each of the materials that they use, and, as a result, spent time teaching himself wide variety of techniques.

Morris encouraged new artists to look to the past for inspiration, believing that the art of his own age was inferior. Morris' solution was for a return to the values of the Gothic art of the middle ages, where artists and craftsmen had worked together with a common purpose: To glorify god through the practice of their skills.

William Morris' illustrations

John Ruskin (1819 - 1900)

John Ruskin was the leading critic of the Victorian era, and was also an art patron, draugtsman, water-colourist, a prominant social thinker and a philanthropist. He wrote on subjects that ranged from architecture, geology, myth, ornithology, (The scientific study of birds) literiture, education, the political economy and botany (The scientific study of the physiology, structure, genetics, ecology, distribution, classification, and economic importance of plants)

Botany was one of Ruskin's great passions. in 1844, he made an album of pressed flowers picked in the Alps and Chamonix. Most of his manuscript diaries contained botanical illustrations and notes, which became more detailed in the 1860's, as he turned his attention away from writings, and focused more on a broader study of nature and society.

John Ruskin's Botanical Illustrations

Anya Gallaccio

Anya Gallaccio is a British artist who mainly worked with organic matter. The core focus of her work is change and transformation.

She cleans all debris of an installations and resists photographic documentation so that her work is anti-monumental and exists only within the memories of those who have seen it. Her work is left to go through stages of freshness to decay.