Description
Immerse yourself in a landscape at once familiar yet new, as Pamela Taylor reveals the secrets of trees through her exquisitely detailed and accurately observed pen-and-ink drawings.
Allow her to introduce you to her favourite specimens as you’ve never seen them before. As an ardent admirer of ancient and veteran trees, she portrays them as characters with backstories – the way the branches twist, the presence of gnarled dead wood and craggy bark – reflecting their struggle for life and their individuality in her drawings. As an ecologist, she explains the fascinating natural processes that go on, unseen, around us every day and the key parts trees play in forming our diverse and beautiful countryside.
Marrying her depth of knowledge in both science and art, and inspired by the wealth of subject matter her south Buckinghamshire home provides, these drawings represent Pamela’s work as a fellow of the Society of Botanical Artists, a founder member of the Association of Botanical Artists and a fellow of the Linnaean Society. Organised by species, she accompanies each of her subjects with advice on how to overcome artistic challenges such as managing perspective, portraying delicate details, and taking time to observe. Spotlight sections on useful equipment, drawing leaves and creating field sketches allow you to benefit from her experience and expertise.
Whether an artist, a botanist or just a lover of the natural world, you’ll never look at trees the same way again.
Pamela writes:
As an artist I find that there is beauty in all stages of the life of a tree. A fully mature tree in which the canopy has had enough space to grow without competition from neighbouring trees is a beautiful and rare sight. Its perfection speaks for itself. Most trees reflect their struggle for life, and the way the branches twist, the presence of gnarled dead wood and craggy bark all contribute to make the tree the individual that it is today, and frequently a wonderful interesting character to draw. The finished drawing will be a unique reminder of the tree at that moment in time, reflecting its history and often raising questions about how it came to be the tree it is in its present form.
Drawing any plant makes me look at the subject in incredible detail, so that as I complete my study I find that I have come to know and understand the specimen both botanically and artistically, in great depth. While I am drawing, I think about the plant that I am capturing on paper and this frequently stimulates me to inquire about the specimen. Sometimes close observation leads me to discover more about the botany and ecology of the species, but at other times I find myself investigating its history. Just what I discover is different for each plant that I draw and in the following chapters there will be much to interest artists, botanists, ecologists and historians as well as those who just enjoy natural history and the beauty of the world around them.
Contents: Foreword by T. D. Jacobsen, Hunt Institute of Botanical Documentation; Introduction; TRADE SECRETS: Drawing large specimens; The ancient beech trees of Burnham Beeches; Perspective challenges of drawing trees; English oaks: mature, ancient and staghorn; Choosing your viewpoint; Silver birches and succession; Portraying delicate details; Yew: the immortal tree?; Understanding through drawing; Elms, past and present; Illustrating a moment in time; Willows and the River Thames; When to include the habitat; TRADE SECRETS: Making a field sketch; Mistletoe in south Buckinghamshire and east Berkshire; Inspiration from the Renaissance masters; A tree with a story to tell; When drawing leads to research; TRADE SECRETS: Sketching leaves; Native or alien?; Conveying character in the details; The underground world of meadows and woodlands; Storytelling through art; Pause for thought; Take time to observe; Resources.
Pamela Taylor. Paperback, 200 x 200 mm, 120 pages, beautiful colour illustrations, May 2025.
About the author: As a child, Pamela loved drawing and was fascinated by nature, especially the beauty and colours of flowers. This led her to read Botany at Southampton University and then she went on to complete a PhD in Plant Ecology at Cambridge University. She enjoys sharing her knowledge of the natural world and, over the years, she has written articles about nature for local newspapers and national magazines, illustrated with her pen-and-ink sketches. In 2008 she completed a short masterclass course with Annie Farrar at Kew Gardens and has since specialised as a botanical artist, in particular depicting trees in pen and ink. There are many beautiful trees wherever you are, but living in south Buckinghamshire means that Burnham Beeches and Windsor Great Park, with their wealth of ancient trees, are nearby and a wonderful source of inspiration. Pamela loves getting to know her subjects as she illustrates them and finds that observation and the accurate portrayal of her specimens marries science and art. Pamela is a fellow of the Society of Botanical Artists, a founder member of the Association of Botanical Artists and a fellow of the Linnaean Society. In 2022 she was awarded a silver gilt medal at the RHS Botanical Art and Photography Show at the Saatchi Gallery in London. She has work in the Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation in Pittsburgh, USA.
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