Today’s photographic capabilities are a better means of capturing the beauty and inner working of plants; however, that has not always been the case. Before the invention of the macro lens or even microscopes, artists and scientists took to drawing the plants; both for science and visual pleasure. It is an artistic practice as old as ‘art’ itself. And although it was a necessary part of identifying plant life in decades past, it is a process which is still very much alive today.
While some of us might not have a green thumb, botanical illustrations can still be aesthetically pleasing to the eye…botanical illustrations are an important aspect of scientific research and documentation.