Rosie Sanders - Botanical Illustrator, UK

The luscious realism of the flowers and fruit painted by UK artist Rosie Sanders is something to behold. Beautiful colour, exacting detail and unbeatable texturing mean you can just about see, feel and smell the delights she creates.

Rosie grew up in the Buckinghamshire countryside and did her foundation hear at High Wycombe College. Using her painting skills and knowledge of flowers she has become a highly successful freelance illustrator. Her book Portrait of a Country Garden helped launch her new career and today she’s one of the UK’s leading botanical artists. Not surprisingly, nature is her key inspiration, and she attended the Constance Spry Flower School in London for a year.

Approach

Rosie is an instinctive painter. When a highly realistic finish is desired she’ll work with a live specimen of a flower, however for more general botanical illustrations she’ll just as easily use reference images.

Style

Realism with passion – that sums up Rosie’s style. Her artworks feel like paintings and not photographs, and many of her images have the feel of classical botanical illustrations, where the hand of the artist shines through via the quality of the drawing, vibrant colour treatment and the light touch of the watercolour wash.