Natural Form Line Drawings

Leonardo da Vinci

Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci was truly a man on many talents. He was a painter, sculptor, architect, scientist, musician, engineer, inventor, geologist, botanist and writer. He drew everything! He studied object closely to produce highly detailed pencil drawings.

Choose some of da Vinci’s drawings to stimulate your children before they do their own natural form drawings. Choose a variety of objects and remind your pupils of how many years ago these drawings were done - they are usually amazed at how old they are.

Ann Swan

Ann Swan is a contemporary botanical artist who specialises in drawing natural forms using coloured pencils. Some of her drawings are so real that they look like photographs. Although starting out as a textile artist and painter in oils, Ann has had a hugely successful career since she discovered working with coloured pencils.

Look at a variety of Ann Swan’s drawings and show your pupils how detailed they are. Also look at the way some drawings are composed, showing only part of the natural form. The articles section of Ann Swan’s website also contains some articles on how to draw natural forms which may prove useful.

Botanical Art

Look at a variety of the work on this website, comparing the work of different artists and looking at a variety of subjects including flowers, leaves, horse chestnuts in their cases etc.

The wide range of natural forms on this and similar websites will provide plenty of inspiration for the work your pupils will do. Be selective about what you show them and provide plenty of support so that they don’t feel too overawed by what they have looked at.