March 2016 - Lizzie Harper

Step by Step Ladybird Watercolour illustration

Posted on 17th March 201618th December 2018 in Zoological step by step

I was recently commissioned to do an entomological illustration of the Seven-spotted ladybird Coccinella septempunctata for a birthday gift. Gathering reference As always, the first step is to assemble your reference. I use as wide of a range of reference as I can; this decreases the chance of “copying” mistakes, and helps show the main features to […] Read more

Natural History Illustration: Drawing is Vital

Posted on 4th March 201618th December 2018 in Illustration techniques

It might seem self-evident that being a natural history and botanical illustrator involves a lot of drawing, but I don’t think the importance of this can be stressed too much. A lot of my work involves creating detailed illustrations of plants and animals, carefully done and accurately noted. This is part of the job, but […] Read more