Introduction to Butterflies

We began with handouts and an introduction to the variety of insect life.  Touching on complete and incomplete life cycles, we also learnt their anatomy.  For information about insect anatomy, check out my earlier blog.   Discussion on how to go about illustrating butterflies followed – cut to white on a page, or with their host plant, or perhaps a flower they frequently visit?

Sketching Butterflies

I’m fortunate enough to have a large collection of old Victorian lepidopteran specimens (thanks to my lovely costume-designing  friend Wendy).  The students took these to their desks for study drawings.

Symmetry is so helpful when illustrating butterflies, and I showed a few cunning tricks that allow you to flip a drawing.  It means you only have to draw half a butterfly!  Push through paper, burnishing, and tracing were discussed.  I also explained that with such detail, a good hot press watercolour paper and an excellent brush is essential.  I currently love Stonehenge Aqua and Fluid 100 paper, both available from Jackson’s,  I also am wedded to my Winsor and Newton series 7 brushes.

Colour maps

Once a butterfly has been drawn up, I often get terribly confused by which colours go where.  I showed the class my technique of colour-mapping.  Literally, you map the colours, first by coding areas of colour with letters or shading and later by laying down a very pale base layer of watercolour.  This is invaluable in helping you sort out what colours go where.  For more detail on this approach, have a look at my blog on illustrating a Death’s head hawkmoth.

Building colour when Illustrating Butterflies

Another tutor demo showed how I use tons of tiny brush marks to build up the colour of their wings.  These marks need to follow the shape of the wing below.  We talked about wing structure, the importance of veins, and had the chance to examine butterfly wing scales under the dissecting microscope.

Once these marks are dry, a top colour wash helps add depth to the wings.  I showed the class how vibrant Doctor Martin PH inks can be when diluted and mixed with a watercolour matrix.

A detailed account of this layering of brush marks and washes can be found in my earlier blog.

Illustrating Butterflies: Student work

All the students worked incredibly hard for both days, and created some stunning work.

Some were firmly out of their comfort zone.  One lady has a terror of dead butterflies, yet managed to do a lovely illustration of an Elephant hawk moth.

Another student had never worked with watercolours before, preferring coloured pencil.

Some students worked really fast and completed illustrations featuring plants and butterflies.

Others focused on the minutae of an individual wing.

Conclusion

I was blown away by their work ethic, positive attitude, and illustrations.

I’m taking on less teaching commitments as there’s more commissioned work around than ever before.  To have such an enjoyable workshop was a treat, and a good way for me to learn new tips from my students, as well as being able to share some of my techniques for illustrating butterflies.

Below is a video which shows my technique for illustrating butterflies.

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Back in May, Adele Nozedar and I ran a workshop at Hay Festival.  We aimed the workshop at children and their parents, and included foraging and drawing activities.  We were also there to promote out book, Foraging with kids, and had a lovely banner that kept nearly blowing away.

I brought a whole array of amazing natural history finds for the children to handle, examine and draw.  These included lots of skulls I’ve collected over the years…

…and insect specimens.  Years ago I picked up some insects preserved in perspex; these are now invaluable for inspiring kids.  I also have a collection of somewhat macabre legs taken from birds.  People are forever bringing me dead stuff they find (it’s ok, I welcome it!) and I often take off a leg for reference before storing the animals.  (For more on this, check out my Youtube video: Birds, beasts, and bodies in the freezer.)

I gathered together lots of common garden plants for the children and their parents to eat.  These included marigolds, roses, sage, and lavender.  These tie into another book Adele wrote and I illustrated, The Garden Forager.

Foraging with the children

After introducing ourselves, Adele and I sent the kids off to a nearby area of wild plants, and told them to bring back anything they could lay their hands on.  We laid all these treasures out on a table and went through them one by one, deciding what was edible.  We also pointed out some things that are best avoided, such as members of the cow-parsley family.  I learned from Adele that vetch was tasty; and all the children tried sorrel, nettle leaves, vetch, and hawthorn.  I pointed out that buttercups can be toxic to cows (see my blog for more on these flowers) so we avoided eating them.

Drawing at Hay Festival

Next, the children were free to chose anything from the nature table to draw.  We had endless supplies of A4 paper, pencils, and rubbers.  Everyone got stuck in, and some of the drawings were lovely.  Children drew everything on offer; from roses to pheasant feet, a nettle they’d foraged to a scorpion in plastic.

For those who weren’t keen on drawing, or who were too little to thoroughly embrace the activity, we provided magnifying glasses and a dissecting microscope.

It was wonderful to be in the heart of Hay Festival, surrounded by kids perched on logs, drawing treasures from the natural world.  I wandered around providing encouragement (and umbrellas when it started to rain!).

Edible plants at Hay Festival

To finish, we offered all the children and adults the chance to try a wide variety of edible plants.  Some were obvious, like wild garlic and field sorrel.  Others were more surprising; borage and marigold flowers were devoured, and some adults were keen to get home and try baking biscuits with lavender.

As always, a few of the children balked at such strange food, but most got thoroughly involved and tried a whole range of wild and garden plants.

At the end of the workshop, they went home with their drawings and a few leaves to nibble on.  The children seemed happy, and lots of the adults had learned new plants to keep an eye out for.  We made ourselves available, and encouraged anyone who wanted to stay on to ask questions and to handle the specimens.

It felt a little hectic at times (mainly due to the wind and rain), but I left feeling that our foraging and drawing workshop at Hay Festival had been a success; both for those who came, and for me and Adele.  This is the third time we’ve “done” Hay festival, and was probably the most enjoyable as I wasn’t under pressure, drawing live.

For more on foraging, have a look at my blog, “Edible Plants & Botanical Illustration”.

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Table of autumn leaves collected from the Botanic gardens

Pencil drawings of leaves

We looked at colour as well as shape, veins, margins, and how the light falls on the surfaces of the leaf blades.  The students did some wonderful pencil tonal studies.

Pencil illustration of two leaves looking at shape and shade

Student drawing of an autumn leaf

Colour theory

We did some work on colour theory too, and I got the students to experiment with watercolours by filling in a colour wheel.  It’s interesting to note that no matter how hard you try, mixing paint from a paint box never makes the clean colours suggested by a colour wheel.  In fact, one of the students lent me a fascinating book discussing this, “Blue and Yellow don’t make green” by Michael Wilcox which explains why this might be, and gives an alternative approach to mixing colours.

The colour wheel gave the students a chance to learn how to darken a hue and to lighten it (by using water to dilute it, not by adding white paint) so they were ready to experiment with painting by the afternoon.

Loose watercolour illustration of fruit and leaves by a student, with working notes on colour mixes

Step by step autumn berries

The second day we looked at fruits and berries, and I’d prepared a couple of handouts which broke down the process of painting hawthorn and blackberries into step by step processes.

Handout of the step by step process involved in painting a hawthorn berry

For more of these handouts please visit my Pinterest board, and for a detailed blog on painting a blackberry click here; for the hawthorn explanation click on this link.

Handout of the step by step process involved in painting a blackberry

I’d gathered in lots of blackberries and hawthorn, and we had a wonderful time gleaning fruits and berries in the garden, coming back with armfuls of inspiring specimens to draw and paint.  Some of the students followed the blackberry handout with really encouraging results:

Student painting of a blackberry, referring to the steps in the handout

Others worked on hawthorn, again referring to the handout for a bit of guidance:

Student painting of a hawthorn berry, referring to the steps laid out in the handout

Other autumn subjects painted

Many painted entirely different subjects; from conkers to dogwood berries.

Conker watercolour botanical illustration

One student took on a squash.  This is a tricky subject thanks to the pale oranges and internal stringy area that clings onto the seeds.  She tackled this well.  Wee used some of the colour theory we’d talked about earlier to sort out how to deal with shadows.

Watercolour of a squach by a beginner student

Another student brought in a bunch of grapes from home.  Although she’d not had a great deal of prior experience she did a brilliant job of getting the shine and the colours right.

Student study of grapes and shine

It was a brilliant chance to spend two days painting and drawing.  I often maintain most of what I do when I teach is enable people to stop doing day to day stuff, and to prioritise making space and time to look and draw for a while.  Inevitably, their work exceeds their expectations, which is lovely.  It’s a priviledge to be on hand with the odd pointer or tip.  But in truth most of what they do is just allow themselves to look and enjoy the creative processes.

I’ve got a few more courses coming up in 2018 at the University of Cambridge.  One focuses on drawing in winter, and the others are looking at illustrating pollinators and the plants they visit.  Courses are suitable for all abilities, for more details and to book please follow the link here.

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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 ways to do this is to learn through drawing.  You can discover and learn as you explore a specimen.

We began with a brief overview of flower anatomy.  Obviously this varies enormously from family to family.   But if you can recognize basic parts such as the stamen, pistil, sepal, anther and style things become a little clearer as you draw.  For more on this, please check out my blog on basic botanical terms.

One of the diagrams on a handout on plant anatomy.  Dry, but important information

Drawing from life

We gathered some of the lovely plants at the Walled Garden.  The group observed, dissected, examined, and drew a variety of different shaped flowers.  They tried to find the anatomical features in each.  Sometimes these studies turn up new and exciting facts, I spotted stamens on the underside of iris petals (a fact I’d never clocked before) and we had a lot of fun sorting out the reproductive structures in a Salvia bloom.

Sketch examining the structure of a Cranesbill

Having a couple of good reference books on hand is always wise.  I had The Cambridge Glossary of Botanical Terms by Hickey and King, The Kew Plant Glossary by Henk Beentje, and Understanding the Flowering Plants by Anne bebbington, along with some trusty Stella Ross-Craig illustrations.

Studies of the anatomy of the Red campion, Silene dioica

I was lucky that my students were as excited and enthusiastic about discovering the minute details of the flowers they were examining as I was.  The time flew past.

Examining flowers with watercolour

I asked them to focus on one of the flowers they’d dissected and studied.  They used their watercolours to start a colour portrait.  So many flowers are in bloom at the Walled Garden that it was hard to choose an individual plant.  Finally they settled on a few.  Some painted Campanula (bell flowers), some chose Compositae daisies, and others turned their attention to the Geranium Cranesbills or Papaver Poppies.

Painting a bell flower, focussing on the lights and darks as well as the internal anatomy of the bloom

We talked about using watercolour, following the flow of the brush as you move the paint on the page and how important it is to make colours paler by mixing in water rather than adding white paint.

Laying down pale washes of Opera Rose pink watercolour on an illustration of a Poppy.

Lots of the flowers examined were bright pink, so we all tried out the ridiculously bright Opera Rose watercolour paint which is an absolute necessity for botanical illustration.

Watercolour studies of Studies of the anatomy of the Red campion, Silene dioica

A very delicious lunch was included in the price of the course.  It was made by Alison who owns the Walled Garden, using plants growing there.  Refreshed, we continued with the plant portraits.

Colour study of a Cranesbill cultivar

Once these portraits were completed, there was time for one more series of excersizes before the day finished.

Finishing up the petal details of the Bell flower

Painting white flowers

One of the ongoing problems for botanical illustrators is how to illustrate white flowers, which are very common.  The paper one paints on is white.  So the question is, what techniques can you use to show the distinction between paper and blossom?  I wanted to share some of these with my students.  (I’ve also done a blog on the topic).

First, we had a quick look at some of my botanical illustrations of white flowers.  I pointed out the four techniques I used to capture them.  First, put foliage behind them so they stand out.  Second, use pencil to outline the petals. Third, use very vey pale washes to give body to the white petals.  Finally, add an incredibly pale background wash to the paper behind the flower to provide contrast.

Various botanical illustrations by me of white flowers using a variety of techniques to illustrate the white petals.

I did a swift demo of how to keep washes very pale, and how to blend them imperceptably with the paper, then it was the student’s turn to give it a go.

Painting white flowers: In this instance the student has left pencil line, added very pale watercolour to the petals, and popped in a delicate green wash behind the flower.

You can use several of these techniques simultaneously, or each one in isolation.

Painting white flowers: Here the student has used a pale wash on the petals.  Once dry, they rubbed out the pencil lines.

Painting White flowers: Here another student has relied on pale pencil lines to show the edges of the petals

Painting white flowers: This student went for a heavier green background wash, along with foliage behind the white flower (Yellow flag iris study below)

As perhaps you can guess from the sketchbook page above, we also touched on mixing different yellows, looking for greens and oranges within these sunny hues.  I did a swift demo and some of the students had time to practice mixing up yellows for themselves.

By the end of the day the students had produced a lot of good work, and were thoroughly exhausted (anyone who says drawing and painting is relaxing has no idea!).  I know they went away inspired by the tiny details and function of flowers around us, and hope I managed to give them some tips on how to record these in pencil and in paint.

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Preparing for the class

I was so impressed by the classroom preparation and friendly welcome from the staff.  There was a spotless room, daylight lighting, neat desks with drawing boards and pots for water neatly laid out for the students, and a gorgeous view onto the lawns and borders and trees in the botanic garden.

The classroom at the Cambridge Botanic Gardens

Before the students arrived, Felicity (Head of Education at the Gardens ) and I wandered round in the bright spring sunshine. We were gathering flowers to draw. There were stunning hellebores in greenish white and dark magenta.  Forget me nots glowing with a dark blue.  Plenty of daffodils, sweet-scented mahonia, fragile fruit blossom, and large snowdrops with their blue-green leaves were in bloom.  There is plenty to inspire in the botanic gardens.  What a wonderful way to start a day.

Gathering reference and learning about flower form

First I talked through a bit of basic flower anatomy with the students.  We covered stuff they all knew (familiar terms like petal, bud, leaf and root) and less obvious ones (anther, filament, style and stigma).  Then we went for a sunny wander in the garden, looking at the enormous variety of forms that the flowering plants and leaves show.  We looked inside daffodils and cut hellebores in half to see the ovary.  We removed outer petals from snowdrops, and were blown away by a gorgeous cyclamen leaf.

Flowers from the botanic gardens for the students to look at, draw, and pull apart in our quest to see how they’re “built”

Line drawings

Back in the classroom we talked about atonal line drawings.  These avoid using lights and darks, and just involve drawing the shapes and relationship between different parts of the plants.  I did a demo showing how to “map” a plant on a page, then how you can return to it to add detail.

Drawing with plant

The whole class spent the rest of the morning doing some beautiful observational line drawings.  Hellebores and daffodils were popular subjects, and the students did an excellent job of taking on their complicated flowering structures.

Line drawing of hellebore

Sketchbook study page of Snowdrops

Student line drawings

Tonal studies

After lunch, spent wandering the botanic gardens, we moved onto talking about shadow.  We discussed how to see areas of dark, and why those areas looked darker.  Another tutor demo, then they all got to work.  They really got their eye in.   Correctly pinpointing tiny gradations in tonal value, and carefully recording them in their drawings is tough.  The students nailed it.  I was particularly impressed by how they managed to avoid making their drawings a flat uniform grey.  This often happens with tonal studies if you don’t keep your whites clear of pencil.  Unfortunately, I failed to take many photos of their work as I was too busy peering over their shoulders and interfering….

Student tonal drawing of Hellebore flower

Learning to use watercolour

Next there were some watercolour excersizes.  Firstly making a colour paler by diluting it with water (not mixing it with white).  One of the students noted that by diluting it you were allowing more of the white of the page to show through.  This is a perfect and new way to explain the process.

Series dilution of Crimson by a student

Darkening a colour is less prescriptive, and I suggested they play about to see what mixes they could come up with.  Some gorgeous dark rich reds and green yellows ensued.  These colours are so much deeper and fuller than if your base colour was simply mixed with black.  Finally, we experimented with mixing greens as watercolour tube/pan greens tend to have very little to do with the colours of nature.  They excelled at this.

Watercolour illustration of a flower

Next was a watercolour of a plant.  I did a quick demo of painting a leaf.  Explaining that my way of blocking in darks then working to light before returning to pick out the darkest detail is unconventional in botanical illustration circles is a neccessity.  I always stress this in case they get told off on other courses!).

Tutor leaf painting demo (and bits of a hellebore flower)

I was deeply impressed by their work, many of the students claimed not to be able to draw, or to have very limited experience.  Their paintings belied this fact.  There were some very delicate stems, daffodil trumpets, and green-whites of hellebore leaves.  Some students tackled the prickly problem of painting white flowers.  Others managed to accurately make a stem look flushed with crimson.  A few managed to make the blue of their flowers glow against the page.  Unfortunately I was too busy rushing about looking at their work to take many photos of their lovely paintings, but here is a study of a snowdrop.

Student watercolour of a snowdrop

At the end of the day I think they were exhausted.  The idea that drawing is “relaxing” is the biggest fib out there!   They seemed pleased with their work.  I was really inspired by their fortitude and patience, and very impressed with their drawings and paintings.

Learning from the students

As with all teaching sessions the students taught me an enormous amount.  We had excellent discussions about trying to tell the difference between tonal difference due to shadow vs to a dark colour.  I learnt masses about the internal structure of hellebores (and their individual variations).  The group figured out how daffodils were built, and discussed how tricky it was to darken a yellow without making it green or orange.   Everyone agreed that the state of intense concentration one enters when looking and drawing incredibly hard could definitely be seen as “mindfulness”.  The main lesson seemed to be that to be able to draw, you need to be able to look.  The skill is to record what is actually there rather than what your brain suggests might be there.

It was a highly enjoyable day in a stunning place, and I’m really looking forward to my autumn session at the Botanic Gardens.  Two days of drawing and painting autumn leaves and fruits, and of really looking at them and seeing how they are put together.  Feel free to click on the link and book if you’d like to join us!

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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 draw at the Composite flower painting session

Some information on composite flowers

Composite flowers (formerly Asteraceae) are very common, and amazing.  Each flower head is actually an assemblage of lots of tiny flowers.  Some have ray florets (often with a long strap-like corolla; pull apart a dandelion and have a look).  Some have disc florets (these look like tiny flowers, often in the middle of a flowering head – take a close look at the centre of a sunflower, or  a hand lens to the yellow area of a daisy).  For more on this, please check out my blog “Tips on Painting Composite Flowers”.

Dissection showing ray florets (putting specimens on black paper can be helpful)

The main problem with drawing these wonderful plants is that the individual florets are tiny, so everyone had to bring in a hand lens are were encouraged to use my dissecting microscope.  they also had to tear flowers apart, which didn’t sit well with some of the members!

Drawing up disc and ray florets in pencil with a hand lens

Drawing the composite flowers

Using pencil, they drew the overall structure of three members of the family.   Then they drew the disc and ray floret details.  The room was full of specimens to choose from.  We had thistle, sunflowers, zinnia, globe artichoke, mayweed, dahlia, dandelion, hawksbit, feverfew, knapweed, burdock, asters…..  They set to and did some lovely observational drawing.

Next we looked at the seeds.  These are interesting and varied – sunflower seeds to dandelion clocks (and everything in between).  For more on the seeds of Composite flowers please take a look at the bottom part of my blog on the achene seed type.  The room was full of thistle down as I got them to examine and record at least three different seeds (or cypsela).  I asked them to include the seed itself,  and also the associated dispersal mechanism in their drawing.  Again, they produced excellent detailed drawings.

Seed variety in composite flowers: A sunflower seed next to a field marigold seed (top left).   Creeping thistle down (top middle).   Hawksbit seeding head in dissection, and a burdock seed (bottom middle)

Painting yellows

After a swift lunch, we discussed (and I did a demo of) mixing yellows and using the paper to keep paler areas light and bright.  Next they set to and worked on a full-colour portrait of a composite flower.

Student putting into practice my advice on using the white of the page for highlights

I asked not only for the entire plant, but for the botanical details that accompanied the flower – much easier to do having spent the morning dissecting them out and drawing them.

Looking at details whilst working on composite flower portraits

There were some minor struggles with petal colour becoming muddy, and some heart-felt irritation at not being able to dissect out a “perfect” floret, but they worked extremely hard and by the end of the day had all created good, and botanically accurate, illustrations.  Sadly none had been able to finish their paintings (I didnt give them enough time!), but lots intended to continue the work once they got home.

Field marigold illustration in progress

I think they were all exhausted, but got to take home their artwork as well as bundles of flowers which we’d not torn apart in our quest for disc and ray florets.

Working into the details of a Dahlia

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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 later plied us with elderflower cordials, wine, and a delicious lunch).

The shop and cafe area at The Walled Garden in Treberfydd

Drawing plants: Looking at shape

This allowed me to focus on the students, many of whom came from the same art group.  I decided to look at variety of form in the morning, and get them to work in colour after lunch.  After a brief chat on plant morphology and giving out some handouts, I sent them to find three diverse plants from the nursery garden to draw.

Deciding where to start on a pencil line drawing of a plant

Some drew in situ in the garden.  Many came back to the glasshouse which made wandering around and giving tips easy.  They all had very different drawing styles, but were unified in their concentration.  All were willing to tackle complicated plant subjects.

Art students drawing thrift and an apple tree in blossom

I insisted on them keeping away from colour til after lunch, and was really pleased with the line drawing work they produced.

Introducing colour

After lunch, I suggested they choose a plant that they’d drawn earlier in the day, or one that particularly appealed to them.  I did a brief demonstration of my watercolour technique (which we referred to as “working back to front”.  Many watercolour artists work from light to dark, and I work from dark to light, plotting in the darkest shadows first – for more on this see my step by step blogs)  Many of them tried this approach and had success with it, which was wonderful.

Working on a tulip, plotting in the darks of the leaf before popping a lighter wash on top

I encouraged them to draw with the paint, and tried to get them to stop before they over-worked the painting.  I was a little nervous initially as I’ve not taught painting workshops before, only drawing ones; and wondered how it’d go without having force fed them colour theory.  Turns out, they did really well.

Watercolour study of a Cranesbill including morphological details such as stamens and leaf venation

The challenges of mixing watercolours

Even mixing colours as tricky as the pale pink of a tulip, or the purple-blue of a cranesbill went well.  I feel that they felt daunted by the variety and scope of greens offered by the botanical world (welcome to my life!);  but even these were mixed with intelligence and perception as they tried to make a green “bluer” or more “yellow”.  I think telling them diverse colours such as oranges and purples were fine to mix into greens was something of a revelation, so hopefully that’ll help them as they paint in the future.

Using water to make a pink paler, instead of using chalky white paint

It wasn’t a surprise to see how many focussed on illustrating the blooms rather than the leaves – perhaps a future workshop could focus on mixing greens and looking at the intricacy of detail in a leaf (for someone who spends her life doing exactly this, check out inky leaves’ Instagram feed)

The group worked incredibly hard, even when the greenhouse got quite warm in the afternoon sun.  Some stuck to one plant, others took on several.

At the end of the session, not only had they created some marvellous art work (and exhausted themselves in the process!) but I also think they may have picked up a few tips.

Study of the flowering head of one of Alison’s plants

The benefits of taking a day to illustrate plants

Saying that, I honestly believe that the main benefit of a day long course in botanical illustration is having the time and space to dedicate an entire day to studying and drawing,  It is something most people can rarely find room for in their busy lives, and being able to give oneself the temporal and intellectual space needed to illustrate plants can be hugely beneficial both to drawing skills and (I would argue) to well-being too.  Being able to facilitate and tutor such an event is something of a privilege.

Some of the beautiful final watercolour studies produced by the group.

After such a hard-working day, we were grateful to be plied with cake and tea made fresh form Alison’s lemon verbena plants, and then having the opportunity to wander the garden and buy some of the fabulous and hardy plants she raises there.

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Variety of autumn leaves; both flat and curled, and of 12 different species.

Drawing Excersizes and Inspiration

Drawing skills are vital, they lie at the root of all illustration.  I was keen to get the group to look and draw what they see instead of what they assume is there.  The excersizes I use are loosely based on Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain by Betty Edwards. These help focus concentration, and allow people to see and create a drawing without pre-conceptions.

First is a contour drawing.  The group draws a leaf without removing their pencils from the page.  They feel their way across the subject as they look and draw it.  Some members didn’t like this as they’re used to measuring drawings and taking far longer, but they all took part.

Contour drawing of sycamore leaf (Negative space study below)

Negative space

Next I do a demo of drawing negative space.  You draw the shapes around and between objects instead of the object itself.  The boldness and clarity of line shown in these drawings is gratifying; they were concentrating so hard they forgot to worry about what their picture looked like.  Ideal.

Negative space demo

It was wonderful to hear them explain that funny feeling when your brain is busy trying to draw the spaces, and another part is simultaneously trying to over-ride this and focus you back on the leaf.  One lady describes it as “as if your brain keeps slipping out of gear unless you concentrate on looking at the negative shapes”.  It’s a feeling I recognize, and am delighted that they share this ability to see shapes between objects.

Negative space drawing

Observational drawing

After a cup of tea (I’m not totally inhumane) I ask them to do observational drawings, trying to include as much detail as possible.  I encourage them to draw veins and leaf edges, and to use magnifying glasses.  The quality of line in these illustrations is strong and bold.  Several of them mentioned that they were using new ways of seeing from the negative space and contour excersizes.

Observational drawing in progress

Tonality

Lunch came and went (most didn’t even stop to eat as they were so absorbed with their drawings) and then we discuss tonality and shadows.  Shadows have definite shapes which need to be recorded, so I ask them to draw some curled leaves, focusing on recording the shapes of the shadows.

Botanical illustration workshop tonal drawing of Oak leaf

Interestingly, many seemed unwilling or unable to simplify the shadows to blocks of dark; and although they produce good work, it is less bold than their earlier pieces.  Perhaps next time I’ll supply torches so the shadows are more distinct?

Using watercolour

For the last part of the class, and somewhat against my better judgement, they work with watercolour.  I urge them to focus on drawing with paint rather than getting too involved with colour mixing, and to continue to think about shapes of shadows, negative space, and details of leaf venation.  There were some good and strong results.

Botanical illustration watercolour study

When we looked at each others’ work, there was a general feeling that the “back-to-basics” approach had worked for them; loosened up their line and given them tools to allow them to see things differently.  I feel that most, if not all, got something from the day; and many were planning to continue with the leaf studies at home.

For some more good tips on drawing and getting used to trying new drawing techniques, have a look at Jen Miller’s blog.

I’m just pleased the group didn’t object to being pushed out of their comfort zone or to being bullied by me.  Although they didn’t have a polished finished piece at the end of the day, I hope the new approaches to drawing and seeing will have a longer-lasting impact, and will be something they can refer to again and again as they go forward with their botanical illustrations.

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Artist in residence during The Festival of the Hedgehog

I was recently asked to be “artist in residence” and to lead a drop-in workshop at Ross-on-Wye’s central library.  This is to mark Ross’s Celebration of the Hedgehog (the symbol of the town).  I plan to draw in situ, and to encourage any visitors to draw from an assortment of specimens I’m bringing along.

Many of these specimens are my own.  I collect skulls, and now have enough to ask visitors to match the animal to their skull. Interestingly, all the adults mix up the stoat and rabbit skulls.  Every child got the whole selection of eleven animals correct.  Testimony to children’s powers of observation, perhaps?  I have a small stuffed hedgehog, which is a popular prop.

Working on Bamboo during the Festival of the Hedgehog

I have work to do, namely illustrating a bamboo shoot for The Cultivated Forager.  I lay out a stand of postcards, my portfolio, books featuring my illustrations, and my botanical sketchbooks. The sketchbooks invariably get a great deal of attention; people seem to love to have the chance to flick through them, so I always bring them along when I demonstrate.

Simultaneously, there is a wonderful exhibition of the Hereford Botanical Illustration Group’s work on show.   It highlights species found along the river Wye (but doesn’t include a hedgehog!).  The work is of a very high caliber, and the group’s organiser, Mary Brewin, has presented it beautifully.  All through the days people and group members stop by to see the paintings and drawings, which makes for a lively and chatty day.

Hedgehog Festival Drawing workshop

The first visitor to draw (Kim Harrison) stays for ages and does an entire series of pencil illustrations of skulls.  Below is a selection of her work.  I was impressed both by her concentration and her enthusiasm.

I get on with my bamboo, and have finished it by the time children come in after school.

Drawing with kids at Ross’s Hedgehog Festival

The kids who come in are brilliant; really up for drawing and inspired by the specimens.  I am lucky enough to have a stuffed buzzard, owl and grey squirrel (on loan from Hereford Museum Resources team) as well as my table of skulls.  I did bring in a bucket of wild-flowers, but clearly they aren’t as tempting as the animal specimens.

The range of ages and abilities is great. Here’s a selection of just some of the lovely work they did:

By the end of the day I met and chatted to over 75 people. Ross’s Hedgehog festival is a hit!   Lots of wonderful pencil sketches have been produced.  I’ve sold a painting of a polecat (hooray!) and been paid by my sponser for the event (Western Power).  Endless cups of tea have been drunk.  I’m also reminded of why I love this job, and how very lucky I am to be a natural history illustrator.

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Talking about being a Natural History Illustrator

I went along to talk about my career as a Scientific illustrator.

I begin by explaining what I did, and why all sorts skills other than simply drawing were vital.  Numeracy (scaling drawings up and sorting out invoices), literacy (sending clear emails and contracts to clients), and not getting to knocked back when things don’t work out well…

Drawing insects with children from Hay Primary School

I show my portfolio and explain the process involved in getting from a commission to a final piece (roughs, feedback). Next, I encourage the children in year 1 and year 2 to do some drawing.

Hay Primary School children draw skulls

The first specimens I get them to draw are a collection of skulls I’ve amassed over the years.  The only error year 2 made in their identification was between a sparrow and a crow skull; I was impressed.

They draw the skulls in atonal pencil and some of the results are wonderful.  I think the fact that one’s not burdened by preconceptions of what a skull “should” look like helps their work.

Hay Primary School children draw insects

I also brought in some entomological specimens and asked them to have a go at drawing these; bearing in mind that most insects are symmetrical, and urging them to count legs and add detail to elytra, antennae etc.  Again, the results are great.

Teaching Hay Primary School kids to love insects

Year 1 are younger, so there was more focus on naming the “minibugs”, and I continued in my one-woman campaign to stop kids from being hysterical about bees and wasps (“they only tend to sting you if they feel in danger…”)

After, for their drawing activity, they drew insect specimens and from photos.  Some of the lads who aren’t usually that engaged in drawing were really keen, and there are some lovely pictures.  The teacher encouraged the children to use a wide range of mediums, so they had lots more choice than the older ones.

I think the “World to work” week is an excellent chance for us adults to explain a little of what we do to young kids; hopefully to engage them in the jobs we’re passionate about, and to demonstrate the links between what they learn now and how they may earn in the future.

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