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    beech twig

    Current projects and news

    Current projects blogs show a wide range of jobs she’s been working on recently.  These vary according to what commissions are on at the time.  Books, magazines, packaging and information leaflets.  You’ll find it all in these blogs.  Current projects blogs may also just sum up what work I’ve completed recently.  They’ll also (not surprisingly) feature lots of natural history and botanical illustrations from my (you guessed it!) current projects.

    Ringlet Aphantopus hyperantus and meadow brown aniola jurtina butterfly natural history illustration by Lizzie Harper

    Save our Butterflies: Gardening for butterflies (2 of 2)

    Posted on in Current projects and news
    This is a Guest blog by DIY Garden.  Illustrations by Lizzie Harper. How Butterflies help in the Garden Butterflies and moths are not only beautiful garden viditors, they are vital pollinators. Whereas bees get covered in pollen, butterflies take a smaller amount on their slender legs.  They travel greater distances than bees, flitting around like nomads instead of […] Read more

    Japanese Knotweed: Botanical illustrations and diagrams

    Posted on in botanical terms, Current projects and news
    My botanical illustrations and diagrams have recently been published in a book all about Japanese knotweed.  It’s called “Japanese Knotweed: Unearthing the Truth” by Nicolas Seal , and is rather a fascinating tome.  It was a fun job to work on, with a wide range of illustrations needing completing. The author saw a sketchbook study I’d done of […] Read more

    Hereford Art Week

    Posted on in Current projects and news
    Back in September, I took part in Hereford Art Week for the first time. Hereford Art Week logo Going under the name of Beautiful Botanicals , Lea Gregory (another botanical illustrator) and I set up in her gorgeous hill-top studio.  We opened our doors to whoever chose to visit. Busy working desk during Hereford Art week Preparing for Hereford Art week […] Read more

    Natural history illustration of Gull anatomy

    Posted on in Current projects and news
    Sometimes commissions for natural history illustration or botanical illustration can be really straight-forward and simple.  I recently had a job for Bloomsbury Publishing which fell into this category. Bloomsbury needed a few simple illustrations for their upcoming publication, “Gulls of the World” by Klaus Olsen. These were to be pen and ink line drawings for anatomical reference.  […] Read more

    Botanical Illustrations of Fruit for Jersey Post

    Posted on in Current projects and news
    I love doing botanical illustrations of fruit, so when Jersey Post commissioned a series of “Fruits and Berries” for a postage stamp issue I was delighted. The fruits and berries that needed illustrating were the Dewberry Rubus caesius, the Elderberry Sambucus nigra, the Wild strawberry Fragaria vesca, the Jersey bramble Rubus caesarius, Sloes Prunus spinosa, and Black bryony Dioscorea communis. All the botanical illustrations in […] Read more

    Natural History Illustration of a Chironomid Midge

    Posted on 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
    wheat

    Fungal Diseases of Wheat Crops

    Posted on 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
    mosses

    Botanical Illustrations of Mosses

    Posted on 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
    foraging

    Illustrations for Foraging for Edible Plants Chart

    Posted on in Current projects and news
    I’ve recently been working on natural history illustrations for The Field Studies Councils publications department.  They appear on a fold out chart of edible British plants which has only just come out.  I’m delighted with the result.   They’ve used my illustrations beautifully, and the way the information is included is innovative and clear. Finding reference Despite it being November […] Read more
    exploding cucumber

    Botanical illustration: The Exploding Cucumber

    Posted on in Current projects and news
    As a freelance natural history illustrator, I love the random nature of my commissions, and a recent request for some botanical sketchbook-style illustrations of the exploding cucumber Cyclanthera explodens was no exception. The request comes from a client working in the world of botanical cocktail research, so I was intrigued before I’d lifted a pencil. The exploding cucumber: An extraordinary […] Read more
    Common Nettle Urtica dioica natural history illustration by Lizzie Harper

    Botanical Illustrator tests Nettle sting

    Posted on in Current projects and news
    The other week, I went on a  foraging expedition with Adele Nozedar who wrote The Hedgerow Handbook and The Garden Forager (both of which I illustrated).  She mentioned that plantain is better for treating nettle stings than the traditional favourite, dock. Ribwort plantain Plantago lanceolata This led to a lively discussion on Twitter where other possible “cures” for stings were offered. Helping a sting: […] Read more
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    Lizzie Harper