Blogs - Page 9 of 17 - 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.

Botanical illustration: Sedges Workshop

Posted on 8th September 20179th January 2019 in Scientific Illustrator out and about

In my career as a botanical illustrator, I sometimes come across whole groups of plants or animals that I know very little about. The sedges fall into this category, a fact which became increasingly clear to me as I completed a whole swathe of these plants for the Field Studies Council’s leaflets. I managed to complete […] Read more

Flower Anatomy workshop

Posted on 1st September 20179th January 2019 in Painting workshops

Why learn botany? I recently taught a workshop at the wonderful Walled Garden in Treberfydd on flower anatomy. I think it’s vital for botanical illustrations to be well-informed about their subject matter. To this end I think botanical illustrators need to learn some of the basics of how flowering plants are put together. One of the best […] Read more

Botanical Illustration trip: Breckland flora

Posted on 18th August 20179th January 2019 in Scientific Illustrator out and about

A recent field trip to Norfolk with a botany group I’m a member of, the Institute for Analytical Plant Illustration (IAPI), was a wonderful way to spend a hot July weekend. Poring over plants in the sun, and doing sketchbook botanical illustrations of the Breckland flora on site. What’s not to love? For more on […] Read more

Natural History Illustration of a Chironomid Midge

Posted on 4th August 20179th January 2019 in Current projects and news

I recently was commissioned to complete a natural history entomological illustration for an expert in fossilized midges at the Natural History Museum in London, as a surprise retirement present. Studying Chironomid midges The recipient is Steve Brooks, who examines the fossilized heads of non-biting midges (Chironomids) to examine climate change through time. For an overview of his […] Read more

Botanical Illustration trip: Wicken Fen

Posted on 10th July 20179th January 2019 in Scientific Illustrator out and about

I recently went on a botany fieldtrip to Norfolk with the Institute for Analytical Plant Illustration (IAPI). It was a fabulous way to spend a sunny July weekend, and to discover a whole new area of Britain. Wicken Fen and land management Our first day was an exploration of Wicken Fen. This is a gorgeous nature […] Read more

Slugs: Workshop on slug identification

Posted on 7th July 20179th January 2019 in Scientific Illustrator out and about

Why slugs? As a botanical illustrator who does lots of natural history illustrations too, it’s important to learn about the animals and plants I get asked to draw. I realised recently that not only did I know almost nothing about slugs, but I also had never done a decent illustration of one. One of only […] Read more

Botanical Illustration: Comparing HP Watercolour Papers 2

Posted on 21st June 201715th December 2020 in Illustration Equipment, Illustration techniques

This is the second of three reviews of watercolour Hot Press papers for botanical illustration. Please check out the first and third in this series for more tests and results! As a botanical illustrator, having a good hot press watercolour paper to work on is really important. Unfortunately, recently the paper I used to use, Fabriano […] Read more

Illustrating a Water Meadow Landscape

Posted on 12th June 20179th January 2019 in Current projects and news

Getting started on a Water meadow landscape I was recently commissioned to complete a large natural history natural science watercolour illustration of a landscape. Woodstock is a water meadow habitat; the illustration would feature my wildlife and botanical illustrations of the species there. This illustration will be used on an interpretation panel, and was a […] Read more

Fungal Diseases of Wheat Crops

Posted on 26th May 20178th January 2019 in Current projects and news

I was recently commissioned by Farmer’s Weekly Magazine to do some botanical illustrations of both Wheat (Triticum aestivum) and three common diseases of wheat crops. Common wheat plant (Triticum aestivum), free of disease. The first one is the fungus Septoria, the other two are rusts. Septoria Septoria triitici is a fungus that affects the leaves and stems of wheat […] Read more

Step by step Great Willowherb

Posted on 19th May 20178th January 2019 in Botanical Illustration step by step

One of the botanical illustrations I was recently commissioned to complete for the Field Studies Council is the Great willowherb, Epilobium hirstutum. This will feature in an upcoming leaflet on Wayside wild flowers. Here is an explanation of the steps involved in creating a botanically accurate illustration which is also visually appealing. It needs to allow a novice to identify […] Read more

Botanical Illustration: Comparing HP Watercolour Papers 1

Posted on 5th May 201715th December 2020 in Illustration Equipment, Illustration techniques

Hot press water colour papers and botanical illustration This is the first of three reviews of Watercolour Hot Press papers for botanical illustration. Please check out the second and third in this series for more tests and results! As some of you may know, there’s been a bit of a panic in the Botanical illustration […] Read more

Botanical Illustration of Red Clover- step by step

Posted on 20th April 20178th January 2019 in Botanical Illustration step by step

This botanical illustration of Red clover Trifolium pratense was completed recently for the Field Studies Council who are producing a leaflet on identifying plants and wild flowers of the wayside and hedgerows. You’ll see the same basic approach is taken with all my step by step blogs; it’s only the details and colours that very. Gathering reference […] Read more

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

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