March 2018 - Lizzie Harper

Step by Step pencil illustration of a bean leaf

Posted on 29th March 201811th January 2019 in Botanical Illustration step by step

Using Pencil to understand tonality In order to complete a decent botanical illustration, you need to understand about lights and darks. You must be able to see where your shadows fall. One of the excersizes I recently got my flower painting workshop to try was to complete a detailed pencil study of a relatively simple […] Read more

Woodpecker Skull Biomechanics: Natural History Illustration

Posted on 16th March 201811th January 2019 in Biological terminology: Definitions

Sometimes I get asked to complete natural history illustrations on topics that are as fascinating as they are random. Last week, Bloomsbury Publishers got in touch to ask me to do a diagram for one of the books in their “Spotlight” series of natural history titles, this book will be all about woodpeckers. (I’ve done diagrams […] Read more

Step by step Botanical illustration of an orange

Posted on 2nd March 201811th January 2019 in Botanical Illustration step by step

Choosing a subject to paint in winter: Why an orange? In the middle of winter it can be hard for a botanical illustrator to find good subjects to paint; so for my Monday Botanical illustration drop-in class in Hay on Wye I chose to work on a sliced orange as a subject. The process of […] Read more