botanical art Archives - Lizzie Harper

Wildflower families: Plantaginaceae

Posted on 6th June 20256th June 2025 in Wildflower families

Wildflower families: Plantaginaceae, the Plantain family is my latest blog in this series on common flower families. I was inspired by my online Field Studies Council course taught by Iain Powell. I do a lot of observing and illustrating wildflowers, so it’s important to know more about their families and similarities and differences. For definitions […] Read more

Medicinal plants of Montserrat – Illustrations vs Reality

Posted on 23rd May 2025 in Current projects and news

As a result of having illustrated 30 medicinal plants of Montserrat for a booklet produced by Montserrat National Trust and the UK Overseas Territories Conservation Forum, I got to travel to the Caribbean and teach botanical illustration there for a week. It truly was Working in paradise. Drawing plants you’ve never seen I am often […] Read more

Bitter vetch original watercolour illustration for sale

Wildflower families: Fabaceae, the Pea family

Posted on 12th April 2025 in Wildflower families

Wildflower families: Fabaceae, the Pea family is my latest blog in this series on common flower families. I was inspired to blog about common families of UK wildflowers by my online Field Studies Council course. I spend a lot of time looking at and drawing wildflowers, so it’s a treat to learn more about family […] Read more

Montserrat: A Model Garden

Posted on 28th March 202528th March 2025 in Current projects and news

Montserrat: A Model garden Some months ago I worked on a diagram of an idealised garden which grew flowers, fruit, herbs, and vegetables all year round. The most unusual thing about this job is that the garden was on the island of Montserrat, in the Caribbean. As I drew up my pencil rough, including all […] Read more

Montserrat – Working in Paradise

Posted on 7th March 20257th March 2025 in Current projects and news

Montserrat is a beautiful, small island in the Caribbean. I was lucky enough to be invited to visit for a week, to teach botanical illustration, and had time to explore this island paradise at the same time. Arriving You arrive in Montserrat airport via a little plane from Antigua, skimming low over the volcanic island. […] Read more

Rosaceae Fruit

Posted on 7th February 20257th February 2025 in botanical terms

Rosaceae Fruit Whilst recently researching the wildflower families, I fell down a fruit-shaped rabbit hole. And it is because of the amount of variety shown in the fruit of the Rosaceae, or rose family. Japanese rose Rosa rugosa For more on what makes a plant a member of the Rosaceae, check out my recent blog […] Read more

Wildflower families: Rosaceae, the Rose family

Posted on 10th January 2025 in Wildflower families

Wildflower families: Rosaceae, the Rose family is the latest blog in a series on common wildflower families, thanks to my online Field Studies Council course. Learning about the botany of a plant and its family, and similarities within a family, is very useful when it comes to being a botanical illustrator. This series talks about […] Read more

Wildflower families: Brassicaceae, the Cabbage family

Posted on 20th December 202420th December 2024 in Wildflower families

Wildflower families: Brassicaceae, the Cabbage family is another blog I’m writing in a series on wildflower families, inspired by my online Field Studies Council course. Adding botanical knowledge of flower families to my observations of plants helps to increase the accuracy of my illustration work. White mustard Sinapis alba These blogs discuss some common wildflower […] Read more

Autumn fruits

Posted on 24th November 202424th November 2024 in Current projects and news

Autumn fruits is a recent project I’ve worked on with the Field Studies Council, (FSC). I’m lucky enough to do a lot of work with them, for their wonderful fold-our identification guides. I discussed working on a guide to coastal flowers a while back, this time let’s focus on autumn fruits and seeds. (The finished […] Read more

Red campion Silene dioica natural history illustration by Lizzie Harper

Wildflower families: Caryophyllaceae, the Campion family

Posted on 8th November 2024 in Wildflower families

Wildflower families: Caryophyllaceae, the Campion family is another of the blogs I’m writing on wildflower families, inspired by my online Field Studies Council course. Learning the similarities between members of the same plant family is really useful for my illustration work. These blogs cover some of the commoner wildflower families. It might help to look […] Read more

Water violet Step by Step

Posted on 25th October 2024 in Botanical Illustration step by step

Water violet step by step explains the stages involved in illustrating the aquatic plant Water-violet Hottonia palustris. It’s one in a whole series of about 50 step by step blogs, many accompanied by films on my Youtube channel. Water-violet Hottonia palustris The Water-violet is a native UK aquatic plant, also known as Featherfoil. It features […] Read more

Wildflower families: Ranunculaceae, the Buttercups

Posted on 20th September 2024 in Wildflower families

Wildflower families: Ranunculaceae, the Buttercups is the first of a series of blogs I’m doing based on the online course offered by Field Studies Council. Although I’ve picked up a fair bit of botany over the years, I’m interested in building on my observations, and learning to look for similarities between plants who are in […] Read more

Unearthing the Enigma: Japanese Knotweed’s Unstoppable March

Posted on 5th July 202410th July 2024 in Showcase of themed natural history illustrations, Uncategorised

Unearthing the Enigma: Japanese Knotweed’s unstoppable march is a guest blog written by Matt from Japanese Knotweed Removal Specialists, JKWS For more on Japanese knotweed, including blogs discussing my illustrations of the plant, a step by step sketchbook study, and comparing it to other knotweeds, please check out my earlier blogs. You could also buy an […] Read more

Paul Reubens Artist level Youlan series Watercolour box: Review

Posted on 17th March 202412th April 2024 in Illustration Equipment

Paul Rubens artist level YouLan series of solid watercolours is a set of 24 paints in half pans aimed at both amateur and professional artists. I sometimes get asked to trial products by art material manufacturers, so I was pleased to have the chance to give these paints a try. In exchange for my free […] Read more

Researching a wildflower

Posted on 12th January 202413th January 2024 in Botany: Telling species apart

Researching a wildflower involves gathering information on the anatomy, distinguishing characteristics, family, and appearance of a plant. The first stage is to know about the plant you are illustrating. Feel free to use the English name, but do all research using the Latin or scientific name. This avoids confusion as some plants are called different […] Read more

leaf, leaves, leaf shape, compound leaves, simple leaves, botany, botany terms,

Trees: Small-leaved lime or Linden

Posted on 17th November 202317th November 2023 in Trees

Small-leaved lime Tilia cordata and other Lime or Linden trees This is one of a series of blogs I’m writing on common British trees. You can also see blogs on the Elder, the Yew, the Ash, the Oak, the Holly, the Sycamore, the Rowan, the Hawthorn, the Birch and the Beech. There are 10 […] Read more

Potatoes

Posted on 6th October 2023 in Current projects and news

Potatoes are ubiquitous vegetables, a staple in the west since their introduction from South America in 1590. They’re bought in shops, planted in gardens, made into crisps and fries; but as well as being a vital food crop, they’re also rather beautiful plants. Varieties of Potato There are hundreds of different potato cultivars. Some bear […] Read more

Sand hill Screwmoss: An illustration challenge

Posted on 8th September 2023 in Current projects and news

Sand hill Screwmoss Syntrichia ruraliformis ruraliformis is one of the species completed for a recent commission. There were thirteen species of plant I had to illustrate which were growing on Braunton Burrows sand dunes, and the one that occupied me most was certainly this lovely moss. For an overview of the other species illustrated, please […] Read more

Great Burnet Step by Step

Posted on 25th August 2023 in Botanical Illustration step by step

Recently, I’ve illustrated the Great Burnet, Sanguisorba officinalis for an interpretation board, to be cited on Jubilee Pasture, in Bugthorpe, Yorkshire. This blog is a step by step explanation of the process. For step by steps of other botanical subjects, please click here, and visit my Youtube channel for real-time films of me illustrating plants […] Read more

Yorkshire fog Holcus lanatus natural history illustration by Lizzie Harper

Common Grass species identification: Some easy shortcuts

Posted on 14th July 202322nd September 2023 in Botany: Telling species apart

As you may have noticed, I’m rather obsessed with grasses, and have blogged on them often. From an introduction, to learning about them, to celebrating their beauty , discussing the ecological significance of Maram grass (guest blog), and more recently, to telling them from Rushes and sedges And, of course, I do botanical illustrations of […] Read more

Wildflowers of Braunton Burrows

Posted on 15th June 202311th August 2023 in Current projects and news

A recent commission involved illustrating 30 species for Braunton Burrows, a very beautiful sand dune system in North Devon’s AONB. The main challenges were the timing of the job, during winter when none of the flowers were in bloom, and their unfamiliarity to me. However, I really enjoyed illustrating such a pretty and diverse selection […] Read more

Comparing Synthetic Watercolour Brushes – Part 5 (the final episode!)

Posted on 13th June 202328th July 2023 in Illustration Equipment, Testing Synthetic Watercolour brushes

This is the fifth and final of my blogs and linked films, looking for a synthetic watercolour brush to replace the sable ones made by Winsor & Newton. My Winsor & Newton series 7 number 1 size is the brush I always use. Today I’m reviewing the Escoda Prado Tame synthetic,Escoda Perla White Toray synthetic, […] Read more

Comparing Synthetic Watercolour Brushes – Part 4

Posted on 8th May 202323rd June 2023 in Illustration Equipment, Testing Synthetic Watercolour brushes

Comparing Synthetic Watercolour Brushes – Part 4 is the fourth of my blogs and linked films, questing for a synthetic watercolour brush to replace the sable ones made by Winsor & Newton. My Winsor & Newton series 7 number 1 size is my go-to brush, and has been for years. Today I’m reviewing Bille Showell’s […] Read more

Orchid Botanical Illustration Step by step

Posted on 5th May 202315th June 2023 in Botanical Illustration step by step, Current projects and news

Orchids have always been a bit of a mystery to me, so when I was confronted by the Early Marsh Orchid, Dactylorhiza incarnata ssp coccinea my heart did not leap. It’s one of 13 plants I’m illustrating for a wildflower identification guide to the Braunton Burrows sand dunes system which will be published by FSC Publications. […] Read more