Blogs - Page 9 of 16 - Lizzie Harper

Here are the blogs I’ve written over the years. Subjects range from step by step painting tutorials, to botanical anatomy, to current projects.

They appear in the order they’ve been written. However, if you scroll down the page you’ll find they have also been organised into categories to make browsing a little more focused.

There are even some guest blogs in amongst. I hope you enjoy them, and do please feel free to leave a comment.

Telling Gorse species apart

Posted on 6th April 201725th February 2020 in Showcase of themed natural history illustrations

Whilst working for The Field Studies Council on charts of Heathland and Wayside plants, I needed to illustrate the three species of Gorse (Ulex) found in Britain. Having discussed the differences between the common Uk species of heather, I thought I;’d take on this prickly subject. Introduction Gorse is a shrubby, spiny family of plants in the […] Read more

Botanical Illustration step by step: Bell Heather

Posted on 24th March 20174th January 2019 in Botanical Illustration step by step

One of the plants I completed a botanical illustration of recently is the Bell heather, Erica cinerea. It’ll be used on a leaflet on Heathland plants produced by the Field Studies Council. Bell heather is one of several British heather species (see my blog for more) that appear on the chart. Although both leaves and flowers are small I […] Read more

Illustration workshop at Cambridge Botanic Gardens

Posted on 10th March 20174th January 2019 in Painting workshops

This week I had the good fortune to be asked to teach a course of botanical illustration for beginners, at the Cambridge University Botanic Gardens. I planned the day’s course, taking elements from past sessions of painting workshops. Preparing for the class I was so impressed by the classroom preparation and friendly welcome from the staff. […] Read more

Botanical Illustration: Heathers

Posted on 23rd February 20174th January 2019 in Current projects and news

Whilst undertaking botanical illustrations for The Field Studies Council, I was asked to illustrate three different species of heather for a leaflet on heathland plants. Illustration of Common heather or Ling in progress. You can see the plant and my reference books. these include: The Collins Flower Guide, Garrard and Streeter’s The Wildflowers of the British […] Read more

Beautiful Bryophytes: Botanical moss illustrations

Posted on 2nd February 201730th December 2018 in Current projects and news

I’ve been working on lots of botanical illustrations for the Field Studies Council recently. A lot of the plants on the list of heathland species are bryophytes, beautiful mosses. I’m lucky enough to have had an enormous amount of help assembling species to work with (see my blog) and have been working on the painted finals over the […] Read more

Starting out as an illustrator: Advice and resources

Posted on 10th January 20172nd July 2020 in Scientific Illustrator out and about

As a practicing natural history and botanical illustrator, I sometimes get asked to give advice to those starting out as illustrators, or considering this as a career path. This happened recently, when I went and spoke to a group of illustration students at Hereford College of Art and Design. Here, in a nutshell, is what I […] Read more

Illustrating a new Damselfly species

Posted on 6th January 201730th December 2018 in Current projects and news

One of the more exciting recent natural history illustration commissions I’ve had is to complete a Sciart watercolour of a newly discovered species of damselfly. I’ve illustrated damselflies before (see my blog) and even done a series of postage stamps on these insects. This commission was different. The insect in question is the Sarep sprite, Pseudoagrion […] Read more

Botanical Illustration: Step by step Sphagnum moss

Posted on 23rd December 201630th December 2018 in Botanical Illustration step by step

I’ve been working on botanical illustrations recently for the Field Studies Council; specifically on a big batch of Heathland plants. Amongst these are several Sphagnum moss species. (See my blog on moss illustrations for more.) The first step is to get your hands on the moss itself; drawing mosses is so unusual and new for me […] Read more

Leaf painting workshop

Posted on 9th December 201630th December 2018 in Illustration techniques

I recently taught a day-long session on how to do botanical illustrations of leaves, focusing on mixing greens and leaf form. The workshop was at The Walled Garden in Treberfydd. We set ourselves up in an airy glass house, and had ready access to the enormous variety of beautiful plants Alison grows and sells at the […] Read more

Botanical Illustration: Step by step painting of leaves

Posted on 18th November 201619th December 2018 in Botanical Illustration step by step, Illustration techniques

I recently taught a workshop of botanical illustration of leaves. I broke down the process of painting a leaf into incremental steps. these were shown on a demonstration painting of a blackberry leaf. Demonstration illustration showing different steps involved in painting a blackberry leaf. There’s also a breakdown of the colours used to mix the greens […] Read more

Botanical Illustration Live: Hawthorn

Posted on 3rd November 201619th December 2018 in Scientific Illustrator out and about

I recently did botanical illustration live for an audience at the Metripole Hotel in Llandrindod. The event was the annual Barnes lecture, It’s organised as a fundraiser for Radnorshire Wildlife Trust (RWT), and is open to members and non-members. The success of “The Hedgerow Handbook” and “The Garden Forager” means Adele Nozedar (the author) and I (the illustrator) have […] Read more

Botanical Illustrations of Mosses

Posted on 21st October 201619th December 2018 in Current projects and news

Sometimes a botanical illustration commission appears that calls for something totally new. In all my days of natural history illustration, I’d never been asked to do a whole lot of mosses before. The closest I’ve been was illustrating two mosses for the FSC Churchyard Plants leaflet Moss: Grimmia pulvinata and Tortula muralis The commission came from the Field Studies Council’s […] Read more

Botanical Illustration worshop: Composite flowers

Posted on 7th October 201619th December 2018 in Painting workshops

When you teach botanical and natural history illustration, you need to focus on anatomy and structure of plants and animals as well as on watercolour painting and drawing techniques. I recently got to teach an experienced botanical illustration group based in Hereford. They decided to learn about Composite flowers. Some of the dahlias available to […] Read more

Natural History Illustration: Wildlife garden

Posted on 23rd September 201630th October 2019 in Current projects and news

A recent natural history illustration job for the North Yorkshire Dales National Park involved painting two large landscapes for use on a desk at Malham Cove visitor centre. The first landscape was of Malham Cove, the second was of birds commonly seen in the garden at the visitor centre. Pencil rough As always, the first step is to get […] Read more

Landscapes, a map, and an otter

Posted on 9th September 201619th December 2018 in Current projects and news

Recently my natural history illustrations and botanical illustrations have been used for an interpretation board for the Combe Mill visitor centre and nature reserve in Oxfordshire. It was a pleasure to work with the excellent graphic and museum designer Linda Francis. It means I don’t have to worry about the lay out, but can concentrate on doing the […] Read more

What’s in a name? part 2

Posted on 26th August 201619th December 2018 in Biological terminology: Definitions

In the last blog I talked about how vital Latin names are to botanical illustrators, natural history and Sciart practitioners and enthusiasts. We covered Kingdoms, Phylum, Class, Order and Family. In this blog we’re looking at the two components of an organism’s Latin name – the genus and the species. Genus and species Now we get down […] Read more

What’s in a name? part 1

Posted on 12th August 201619th December 2018 in Biological terminology: Definitions

Natural history illustrators are asked to illustrate a wide variety of plants and animals. It’s vital that you draw the correct organism! With so many similar species out there, I can honestly say that I’d be lost if it weren’t for the use of a Latin name. These pinpoint the living thing you’re illustrating. Using […] Read more

Primary school drawing workshop

Posted on 29th July 201619th December 2018 in Scientific Illustrator out and about

I am a natural history illustrator and botanical artist. But I’m also a parent. Sometimes I get asked to go into our local Hay-on-Wye Primary School and draw with the children. Recently I visited year 1 to draw “mini-beasts”. This was a similar workshop to one I did at Hay school a year ago. I’ve got a […] Read more

Landscape Illustration: Malham Cove

Posted on 8th July 201619th December 2018 in Current projects and news

A natural history illustration job I’ve been working on recently is two large landscapes for the North Yorkshire Dales National Park. These are to go on a desk in their visitor centre in Malham. Each landscape focuses on bird species found in two different habitats. One of the landscapes is a view from the desk, into their wildlife […] Read more

Botanical Illustration: Exploring Adventitious Roots

Posted on 27th June 201619th December 2018 in Biological terminology: Definitions

In my last blog I mentioned that being a botanical illustrator sometimes involves a fair amount of research, in this case examining different types of root. Natural history illustration and botany go hand in hand. In researching roots I’ve realised that the more you learn, the more you find you need to learn. This blog […] Read more

Botanical Illustration: Exploring Root Variety

Posted on 10th June 201618th March 2021 in Biological terminology: Definitions

As a botanical illustrator, spending time examining plants and their structures, I’m continually amazed by the variety of forms plants produce. Take, if you will, the humble “root”. A “root” is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as “The part of a plant which attaches it to the ground or to a support, typically underground, […] Read more

Botanical Illustration Workshop: The Walled Garden

Posted on 31st May 201619th December 2018 in Painting workshops

Every now and then I run botanical illustration workshops, teaching the accuracy, drawing, and observation skills required in natural history illustration. Recently I led a one-day course at The Walled Garden in Treberfydd. All the admin was done by the wonderful Alison (who also provided delicious cakes decorated with sweet cicely as the students arrived, and […] Read more

Illustrate and forage: Eat what you paint!

Posted on 20th May 201619th December 2018 in Scientific Illustrator out and about

Recently I took an edible plants identification chart I’d done the natural history illustrations for on a walk, to test it out with friends. I’ve written blogs on foraging before as it’s something I do a fair amount of, but this “road test” of one of my i.d. charts was a first. FSC Guide to Edible Plants On a forage for […] Read more

Illustrating Long-tail tits and Cyclamen

Posted on 6th May 201618th December 2018 in Botanical Illustration step by step

A recent natural history and botanical illustration commission has been one of my favourite jobs of the year. Coming up with ideas The painting is for a 90th birthday, and needed to include an array of meaningful plants and animals. The client and I shared a cup of tea, and came up with some ideas which […] Read more

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