Welcome to Lizzie Harper’s Website!

Here are illustrations of two UK species of Squill, a plant in the same Scilloideae family as bluebells, hyacinth, and Grape hyacinth.

One grows in the spring, Spring squill Scilla verna. The other flowers in the autumn, Prospero or Scilla autumnalis. Both have long strap-like leaves with parallel veins, all at the base of the plant. They have pale blue flowers, and grow from bulbs.

The blue is a very nuanced colour, so when illustrating them it was important not to make the flowers far too vibrant.

I`ve seen loads of Spring squill in the wild, but am yet to see Autumn squill in real life. Maybe this will be the year?

#botanicalillustration #squill #scillaverna #scillaautumnalis #botanicalart noaiart ...

I`ve just published a blog on why I really love dandelions:

https://lizzieharper.co.uk/2026/03/dandelions-why-to-love-them/

Not only are they really beautiful, edible, and great for pollinators; they`re also fascinating. With over 235 species of dandelion in the UK alone, aren`t you a little tempted to learn more?

#taraxacum #dandelions #botanicalillustration #BotanicalArt #notoaigeneratedimages ...

So pleased to have my botanical illustrations feature in Grasslands by John Wright, published this month.

The cover, by Luna North, is a beautiful and atmospheric print.

My pictures, reproduced in monochrome, sit well with the text. It`s a lovely book, and looks like it`s going to be a fascinating read, too. Well done @profile.books

#botanicalillustration #publishing #Grasslands #noai ...

This is the Thrift clearwing moth Pyropteron muscaeforme on a Thrift flower, completed in watercolour for South Devon area of Natural Beauty.

This moth flies June - July and is found in rocky coastal habitats where thrift grows in abundance. Thrift is the foodplant for the caterpillars; the adults also visit Thyme flowers.

The Thrift clearwing is the smallest of the UK`s clearwings, and has window-clear rear wings, demarked with dark veins. Upper wings are brown and white, like the body.

Once of a series of insect illustrations none to show some of the insect diversity found along Devon`s coasts.

The second illustration is the atonal pencil rough, submitted to the commissioner for feedback and changes, and the third is a detail of the right hand wing, with Thrift flowers behind.

#clearwing #naturalhistoryillustration #thrift ...

New blog out, all about Bluebells:

https://lizzieharper.co.uk/2026/04/bluebells/

Not only how to identify them and tell them apart form other similar species, but a little bit on threats and folklore too.

Have a ready if you fancy something suitably vernal on this gorgeous spring day.

#bluebells #Hyacinthoides #botanicalart #botanicalillustration #notoaigeneratedimages ...

New blog out, about grasses and grass blindness, & my day spent The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge & University of Cambridge Museums Herbarium, alongside lots of fascinating academics and researchers, exploring why we ignore the Poaceae:

https://lizzieharper.co.uk/2026/04/grasses-in-cambridge-collections-combating-grass-blindness/

I do lots of botanical illustrations of grasses and really love their beauty and diversity, but why are they overlooked by so many, and how can we change that?

So have a read to find out how Darwin`s Voyage of the Beagle, and a 14 metre long photo of a grass seed added to the excitement of the day.

#naturalscienceillustration #Poaceae #graminaceae #botanicalillustration #grass ...

Two more natural history illustrations completed for Montserrat National Trust and UK Overseas territories Conservation forum.

This time it`s frogs. The smaller one is a common amphibian, very pretty, with lots of little bumps. It`s the Montserrat whistling frog, or Antilles coqui, Eleutherodactylus johnstonei.

The second is the Montserrat mountain chicken frog Leptodactylus fallax. This frog was as good as extinct across the Eastern Caribbean, thanks to Chytrid, but has been successfully re-introduced. Amazing efforts have been undertaken in Montserrat to get this endemic amphibian back, and it`s paying off. It`s wonderful to see conservation in action.

(For more: (see https://www.mountainchicken.org/conservation/montserrat/).

Painting frogs is tricky, nuances of browns and greens and often a lot of smooth skin, which is tricky to build up to make stronger colours. But I enjoyed these two.

#leptodactylus
#frog #mountainchicken #naturalscienceillustration #noai ...