White tailed bumblebee Bombus lucorum: Description

White tailed bumblebees appear across all of Britain.  Queens emerge in March and April, with workers appearing about 6 weeks later.  Nests can number 200 worker bees, and are often in abandoned rodent holes.  In fact, Babbity bumble (from Beatrix Potter’s Tale of Mrs Tittlemouse) is a White-tailed bumblebee, nesting in an occupied mouse burrow!

Workers have a right yellow band behind the head, and another broad one below the thorax.  They have pure white tails.  Queens are larger versions, while males have yellow faces and broader yellow stripes.

White tailed bumblebee Bombus lucorum

Illustrating the White-tailed bumblebee

The White-tailed bumblebee was one of the first I painted really large, back in 2014.  It was completed for the Yorkshire Dales national Park, appearing on the outside of a visitor centre. I worked really big, which meant the illustration took quite some time.  I wrote a step by step blog on the process, and made a short film:

A few years earlier, I had been commissioned to paint the life cycle of the White-tailed bumblebee, with the bee feeding from Knapweed Centaura nigra and Foxglove Digitaria purpurea.  I enjoyed the contrast between the purples of the flowers and the yellow of the bee’s body.

Detail: Foxglove Digitalis purpurea individual flower with white tailed bumblebee inside

It was hard to find images of what occurred within a bumblebee nest, but (as if often the case) old engravings were an excellent resource.  Seeing the way the body of a larvae develops and changes is really interesting.

Life cycle of the White-tailed bumblebee

More recently, I illustrated this species to show how we can build homes for bumblebees in our gardens by putting very simple structures in place, such as inverted flower pots and pieces of hose.

Diagrams of Bumble bee homes

As with all bee illustrations, working from life is much easier than working from photographs.  It really helps when tackling the transition between yellow and black abdominal hair.  If you’re not careful, black to yellow can easily create a nasty optical mix where the two create a dirty green colour.

Illustrating the White-tailed bumble bee, with specimen.

Diagram of Bumble bee

When I was asked to complete a diagram of a generic bumble bee for David & Charles publishers, it was the White-tailed bumblebee I used.

Schematic bumble bee illustration

The White-tailed bumblebee in my landscape illustrations

The White-tailed bumblebee is a frequent guest in my landscape illustrations, too.  It needs to be simplified, but remain instantly recognisable.

Here’s one that appears on the mug design I did for Hay Festival, back in 2022.

And below is another, this one is in the corner of a landscape focused on water meadows, specifically the water meadow habitat of Woodstock, in Oxfordshire.  The area was designated a Local nature reserve in October 2025.

Detail from Woodstock water meadow landscape

She turns up again, this time on a Hawkbit, in a landscape illustration done of the Gilfach nature reserve in mid Wales.  Even when illustrated small and within a larger context, having specimens to work with is very helpful.

Finally, another one pops up in the centre of a private commission featuring Long tailed tits, wild Cyclamen, and the Poplar hawkmoth.

Illustration of Cyclamen, Long-tailed tits, honeysuckle, Poplar hawkmoth and a White-tailed bumblebee

Garden bumblebee Bombus hortorum

The Garden bumble bee is another species which is widespread across the UK, and pretty common.  It has a longer face (and longer tongue) than the White-tailed bumble bee which allows it to exploit flowers with longer corolla tubes, such as clovers and honeysuckle.

Garden Bumblebee Bombus hortorum

This illustration was completed for a company exploring the idea of making high-end porcelain products.  The bumble bee featured on a saucer, a sprig of honeysuckle on the matching cup.  I’m unsure if this test product ever got further than the sample stage.

Garden bumble bee with specimens

It’s not difficult to collect samples of bumblebees, visit anyone with a conservatory or greenhouse and you’re likely to find lots of dead bees.

Putting up net screens over vents and doors helps prevent the bees getting in, and planting some bee friendly flowers nearby might distract them.  Some advise opening holes in the corners where the bees struggle to escape.  The Bumblebee Conservation trust gives a useful guide on how to rescue a trapped bumble bee.  All the Bumblebee information in this blog comes from their excellent website.

Bilberry Bumblebee Bombus monticola

This is a heathland and upland species, found at higher altitudes and mostly in the north and west of the UK.  The Bilberry bumblebee nests just below the ground, in amongst heather, tussocky grasses, and bilberry.  Nests contain up to 70 workers.  Queens, males, and females all look similar, although the males’ faces are brighter yellow and their hairs are longer.

Bilberry bumblebee Bombus monticola

They have distinct orange-red abdomens and yellow bands at the top and base of their thorax.

Bilberry Bumblebees feed on Bird’s-foot trefoil, clovers, heather and (not surprisingly) bilberry.

This one was illustrated for Radnorshire Wildlife Trust, where it is found on some of their upland nature reserves.  (RWT has produced an excellent guide to the bees and wasps of Radnorshire, well worth a look.)

Red-tailed bumblebee Bombus lapidarius

The Red-tailed bumblebee is another common UK species, found across much of the country, but less in the north of Scotland.

The queens and workers are black with a striking red tip to their abdomens.  The males have golden bands on the thorax, missing in the workers and queen.  Nests contain up to 300 workers.  This species favours knapweed, lavender, and dandelions.

Red-tailed bumblebee Bombus lapidarius

This illustration was commissioned by Powys County Council’s Nature recovery officer, and was used in nature outreach work.

I painted another Red-tailed bumblebee, this time for Roselyn seeds.  It featured on their wildflower seed packet for Cornflower, Centaurea cyanus.  The bee does indeed visit these flowers, and the red tail looks stunning alongside the cornflower blue.

Cornflower Centaurea cyanus with Red tailed bumblebee Bombus lapidarius

The red tailed bumblebee had another outing.  This time it featured in the illustration for a seed packet of mixed wildflowers, produced by the same company.

Red-tailed bumblebee with Corncockle, Poppy, marigold, and mayweed

Buff-tailed Bumblebee Bombus terrestris

The Buff-tailed bumble bee is one of the earliest to emerge in the spring, with queens seen from February on.  In the south of the UK, Buff-tail bumblebees may not hibernate at all.  They nest in underground burrows, and dis-used rodent nests, in colonies of up to 350.

The queens have the distinctive buff coloured tail.  Workers and males have a thin buff line between the black and the white tail, or none at all.  In fact, it’s virtually impossible to tell White-tail and Buff-tail workers apart by sight alone.

The only illustration I’ve completed of this species is on another seed packet design for Roselyn seeds.  This time, the bee appears alongside an Ox-eye daisy, Leucanthemum vulgare.

Buff-tailed bumblebee and Ox-eye daisy

Broken-belted bumblebee Bombus soroeensis

The Broken-belted bumblebee is rarer than many featured in this blog, predominantly in the north of the UK.  It feeds on scabious and blackberry.  Males, females, and queens all have a yellow band at the top of the thorax, one at the top of the abdomen, and (in females and queens) a white-ish tail.  The yellow stripe on the abdomen is often sprinkled with black hairs, making it more of a crescent shape than a rectangular stripe.  The yellow extends up the sides of the thorax, which can make the bees look like they have yellow armpits.

The white tail is tinged with reddish hairs, much more extensively in the males than the females.

Broken-belted bumblebee Bombus soroeensis male

This bumblebee was illustrated in 2025 for the Scandinavian packaging of Flora spreads and products.  I am yet to see it in context.  The bee above is the one they chose to use.  However, I wasn’t entirely satisfied, it had to be a little compromised to fit into a small pre-decided space on the packaging.

I preferred the first Broken-belted bumblebee I completed for them.  Not only can you see the broken belt clearer, but the bee looks less confined.

Broken-belted bumblebee Bombus soroeensis male

As with all the bumblebees I’ve illustrated, the process of getting them to look furry takes time, and an awful lot of tiny brush strokes!

Broken-belted bumblebee male illustration in progress

Brown-banded carder bee Bombus humilus

The final bumble bee I have illustrated is the Brown-banded carder bee.

This is a pretty scarce bumblebee, only found along coastal areas in the south of England and of Wales.  Nests number no more than 100 workers and are found amongst long grass and moss in un-improved rich grasslands.

The thorax is ginger, with paler hairs on the sides.  There are a few black hairs around the bases of the wings.  The abdomen is brown too, although the second segment may be gingery.  There are no black hairs on the abdomen.

Brown-banded carder bee Bombus humilus

This illustration was completed in the last couple of months, for South Devon’s National Landscape.  The bee will be part of a fold-out “Spotter’s guide” to help people recognise invertebrates as they walk along the coastline.  This is part of the “Life on the Edge” initiative, referring both to the habitat and to the rarity of the invertebrates it aims to protect.

Brown-banded carder bees in the landscape

The bee appears again, this time as part of a larger landscape, the background to an interpretation board which is sited near the meadow land South Devon National Landscape manage in Bentham.  As with the other bumblebees cited in context, it is simplified.

Brown-carder bee detail from Bentham Hay meadow board

It has another outing, this time in the base of a large “frame” style illustration.  This allows South Devon Living Landscape to place text in the central area without hiding any of the detail.  It will be used in several sites, with different information on the board.

Brown-banded carder bee with Thrift clear-wing moth.

Below you can see the completed insect border in situ, with relevant information and logos overlaid.  Our Brown-banded carder is toward the left-hand side.

Life on the Edge information board (South Devon National Landscape)

Conclusion

Illustrating bumblebees is always tricky, but always enjoyable.  It’s a matter of building up texture with tiny brush strokes, trying to get the colours close to life, and wanting the bee to appear life-like as well as appealing.

If seeing illustrations of bumblebees is of interest, I urge you to check out the work of other illustrators such as Richard Lewington, Carim Nabahoo, Shevaun Doherty, and Cheryl Hodges  (I’m not certain Cheryl has done bumblebees, but her other bees are well worth a look).  I’m not the only one with a penchant for Bombus! Enormous thanks is due to the Bumblebee Conservation Trust whose excellent website provided the identification pointers for the species.

Illustrating the Garden bumblebee Bombus hortensis

The post Painting Bumblebees appeared first on Lizzie Harper.

The mosquito is one of the most loathed of all insects, partly because of the itchy bites they cause, but also because of their deadly role as vectors for disease, especially malaria.  In 2021, according the the WHO World malaria report, there were 247 million cases and 619,000 deaths from malaria.  In the past I painted a quick  (slightly unsatisfactory) sketch of a mosquito.  However, it’s a subject I’ve been wanting to return to for many years, and recently I’ve managed to find time to illustrate a life cycle based on Anopheles gambiae, one of the most efficient spreaders of the most lethal strain of malaria.  Throughout researching this blog, I found the pages on Malaria from the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) invaluable.

Previous mosquito sketch

Problems and caveats

I’m not an epidemiologist, or even an entomologist.  I found, during research, a lot of  information on Anopheles mosquito species, although not an enormous amount on differences between the species. Much of it  is very technical.  So although the life cycle I’ve illustrated is accurate for an Anopheles, I can but hope it’s more relatable to Anopheles gambiae than to other similar species.  I also flirted with the idea of including the life cycle of the Malaria-giving parasite, Plasmodium falciparum.  But the amount of detail required to do it justice (it has two hosts and goes through a whole gamut of different life stages) means I’ve had to shelve it for a rainy day.  (For more on the Plasmodium parasite life cycle from Research Gate, click here.)

What is a mosquito?

Mosquitoes are flies, members of the Diptera. They’re cousins of the midges (Chiromonidae) and crane flies (Tipula).  Visually, they differ from the similar-looking gnats and midges in the angle at which they hold their legs, Chironomids holding them forward, mosquitoes holding them outward.

Chironomid midge adult Micropsectra radialis

In defence of mosquitoes

Please bear in mind that the vast majority of mosquitoes are not killers.  Only some of the known 3,500 plus species of Culicidae (Mosquitoes) feed on blood, of those only some target mammals (including us humans).  Most blood-feeders take blood from other mammals, some from birds, and even snakes can be the chosen prey.  In fact, some of the large Toxorhynchites mosquitoes feed on other mosquito larvae!

Only female mosquitoes take blood meals.  Males feed on nectar from flowers, and fruit juice.  So do females, unless preparing to lay eggs.  Although you may encounter male mosquitoes, buzzing and whining, they are incapable of, and have no interest in biting you.  (You can tell male mosquitoes as they tend to have far more elaborate and feathery antennae than the females.)

In defence of  female mosquitoes

Even female mosquitoes need to be better understood.  As with every living thing, they’re not out to get us, or planning to give us disease.  A female needs a blood meal in order to fully develop and lay her eggs.  She may well only take one big blood meal, and that may be at one sitting.  Repeated bites happen when she’s consistently interrupted, having to return over and over again to her meal.  It’s rather like a human being taken away from a pizza mid meal.  Then having to start the whole procurement process from scratch each time you try to have another bite.

And as for being a vector of disease, again, this is highly unfortunate for us, but in no way an evil master plan of the insect.  In fact, the Falciparum parasite damages mosquitoes too, compromising their gut lining and having to evade the immune system of these dipterans (PNAS Vol. 112 No. 5)

I know I’m fighting a losing battle here, and the havoc, damage and heartbreak caused by Malaria and other mosquito-borne diseases is absolutely massive.  I’m just pointing out that only some mosquitoes cause these illnesses, and many are harmless pollinators.  I think that as a whole, they deserve respect, and a kinder reputation.

Pen and ink diagram showing the amazing feeding equipment of a female mosquito

To see footage of the mouthparts of a feeding mosquito in action please check out this NPR video.

Anopheles: One Genus of Mosquito

Anopheles, the genus I’m illustrating and the one responsible for malaria, are Marsh mosquitoes,  They are one type of these biting fly; others are the Culex and Aedes.  Although all three are able to carry disease, injecting directly into the bloodstream, only Anopheles can transmit malaria.  Even more specifically, of the 460 known Anopheles species, only 100 can give humans malaria.  Of these, only 30 or 40 carry the most lethal form of the disease, Plasmodium malaria.  And of these, it’s only the females who can infect you, as they’re the only ones that feed on blood. (Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).)

Life cycle of Anopheles gambiae

Other mosquito genus: Culex

Culex are also vectors for disease, although not malaria.  They can carry West Nile virus, Japanese Encephalitis, and Elephantisis.  None of these is pleasant, and all can be fatal.  Unlike our Anopheles, their eggs are without floats (although laid singly). Larvae hang down at an angle from the water surface with their long breathing tufts breaking the meniscus.  Pupa are similar to Anopheles and Aedes species.  The adult females hold their proboscis at an angle to their bodies (rather like in the first illustration in this blog).

Other mosquito genus: Aedes

Aedes mosquitoes carry Yellow fever, Chikungunya, Zika fever, and Mayaro.  They’re easy to spot thanks to very striking black and white striped legs.  They also have a marking a bit like a harp on their thorax.  Again, only the females are disease vectors.  Aedes lay their eggs in a mass on the water surface, not singly.  Their larvae are like Culex, hanging down at an angle from the water surface and breathing with a tufted breathing tube (longer than the Culex species).  Pupa are similar to Anopheles and Culex.  Adults hold their proboscis at an angle to their bodies, which is similar to Culex species.  However, they tend to stand higher on their legs than Culex.  They may also lift their rear legs up.

Anopheles gambiae

This mosquito forms the basis of my mosquito life-cycle.  According to the CDC,  “Anopheles gambiae is the most efficient vector of human malaria in the Afrotropical Region (CDC 2010). Thus, it is commonly called the African malaria mosquito.”  And this is why it’s my mosquito of choice.  It lives in a band across the African continent, throughout sub-Saharan Africa and up to areas of southern Arabia.

Unfed female mosquito with paints and reference

The main features that distinguish it from other Anopheles relate to placement of hairs on the larva, and a greenish hue to the pupa.  Adults have pale bands on their palpus (mouthparts), spotted wings, and sparse speckling on their legs.  The abdomen doesn’t have little hair tufts on its sides (postlateral scale tufts).  There are often no abdominal scales on the mosquito back; if they are present they’re small.  For a splendid overview of mosquito morphology, please see the pdf from Nathan Burkett-Nadena of Florida University’s Entomology department.

Details of the life cycle of  A. gambiae come from the University of Florida’s “Featured Creature: African Malaria Mosquito”; and the Walter Reed Biosystematics Unit.

Life cycle of A. gambiae: Eggs

Eggs are laid on the surface of clean water, in batches of 100 – 250.  Each one is laid singly, not as a raft.  Each is boat shaped, slightly domed, and supported by a system of lateral floats.  They’re brownish in colour and are about 0.5mm in length.  Eggs hatch after 1 or 2 days into free swimming larva.

Eggs of A. gambiae, seen from above

Life cycle of A. gambiae: larva

Larva grow from their first stage, after hatching, into a final size of 5 – 6mm long.  They moult repeatedly as they grow, passing through 4 instar stages before pupating.  Lying just below the water surface, they get oxygen through a rudimentary breathing tube which sits just before their tail end and a brush of hairs.  This is true for all Anopheles species; their short breathing tubes mean they all assume this distinctive posture, parallel to the water surface.  Other abdominal hairs help aid in floating.   They feed on algae and organic matter, and can be seen wriggling in still water with the naked eye.

Larva of A. gambiae

Life cycle of A. gambiae: Pupa

Comma-shaped and tending to rest at the surface of the water, all mosquito larva look similar.  They have a large cephalothorax (combined head and thorax) which is clear, or slightly coloured.  Their abdomens are segmented and thin, terminating in a tail fin.  They use this to rapidly swim away and escape when disturbed, which is an unusual ability in the (normally static) pupal form of an insect.  A tuft of hairs at the beginning of the abdomen helps the pupa stick to the water surface.  You can see the antennae and limbs growing within the cephalothorax, and eyes are large and obvious.  Pupa breathe with a pair of respiratory trumpets which project from the back of the cephalothorax, into the water meniscus.  They do not feed in this stage, which lasts another 2 – 3 days.

Pupa of A. gambiae

Life cycle of A. gambiae: Adult female

I’ve chosen to illustrate the female in unfed and in feeding poses.  This is to show the massive difference that a good blood meal can make to the mosquito’s appearance.  After a meal, the abdominal plates are stretched and expanded by the contents of the gut.  Before, the grey mottled markings are far easier to see.  The mosquito is grey to pale brown, dotted with pale yellow areas, cream-coloured scales.

Unfed female African Malaria mosquito

The unfed female has the typical angled pose of a resting Anopheles, with body held in a diagonal in line with the mouthparts.  As with many mosquitoes, her legs are held aloft.

A. gambiae have distinctive dark wing patches.  These occur at specific areas along each wing, which is tricky to capture in illustrations showing the wings folded and overlapping.  Wing margins are fringed with small hairs.  Being a smallish species, A. gambiae have wing span of about 3 – 4.5 mm.

Distinctive mottled wings of A. gambiae

  Another feature that helps identify this species is the striping of the palps, which are banded in a specific pattern and have white tips.  These organs sense odour, so are pretty prominent in mosquitoes who use smell as one way to find their prey.

Palps of A. gambiae

Life cycle of A. gambiae: Adult female and feeding

Mosquitoes are crepuscular and find their prey by sensing exhaled CO2, body temperature, and vibration.  Evidence suggests humans with blood type O, who breathe heavily, are pregnant, or who have a heavy load of skin bacteria may be more prone to mosquito bites; although there are genetic factors at play too.

Anticoagulants prevent the blood from clotting as she feeds, and the itch we feel comes from out our immune system’s response – the production of histamines which lead to inflamation and itching.

Feeding African malaria mosquito

The fed female holds the same pose as an unfed female at rest, although they often lower their bodies closer to the horizontal when feeding or when weighed down with blood.  The droplet at the tip of her abdomen occurs when excess water is exuded to make way for more solid parts of the continuing blood meal, but also has a role to play in reducing body temperature via evaporation (Current Biology Lahondere & Lazzari 2012)

Droplet of exuded water

Once fed, the female mosquito goes to digest her meal, laying eggs a couple of days later and thus continuing the cycle.

Conclusion

It’s no surprise that there’s an enormous amount of information on mosquitoes and malaria online.  Wading through it has been a delight as well as a headache. and the temptation to fall down endless fascinating rabbit-holes relating to disease prevention and control, or to the mechanisms of the mosquito mouth parts, has been hard to resist.  I nearly got diverted by Plasmodium falciparum, which I swear I remember illustrating for a project at college.

Completed mosquitoes with some reference and art materials

However, I’ve tried to retain focus, and stick to Anopheles gambiae.  How it lives, what it looks like in its’ different life stages, and why  it matters to us as humans.

For a good spring board, if you want to learn more about mosquitoes, you could do worse that check out the Wikipedia entry on mosquitoes.  And that’s not something I say every day.

I hope you’ve enjoyed visiting these biting flies with me, and haven’t ended up feeling itchy or listening out for that high-pitched and un-mistakable whining sound…

Illustrating the mosquito compound eye

The post Mosquito life cycle – illustrating the Anopholes mosquito appeared first on Lizzie Harper.

In my last blog (and accompanying Youtube film review of brushes ), I ended up recommending Rosemary and Co. Spotter Red Dot.  But since then I’ve painted almost exclusively with my beloved pure sable Winsor and Newton series 7 sable paintbrushes .

Winsor & Newton Series 7 brushes with hand lens

Sable

Sable brushes are not, in fact, made form the hair of the Sable.  These creatures live in Larch woods, and are a type of marten, latin name Martes zibellina. No.  The sable used to make watercolour brushes comes from the Kolonok, or Siberian weasel Mustela sibirica.

As a life-long vegetarian, I survived for many years without even thinking properly about the link between animal welfare and my paintbrushes.  But following from a chance remark on one of my Youtube videos, I decided to look for synthetics instead. These weasels are voracious predators of rats and other vermin, but can also be pests to poultry farmers.  Their fur has long been used to make brushes for artists and calligraphers.  But I think I should try to move away from Kolinsky sable brushes if I can.

What other synthetic options are out there?  Recommendations and suggestions have come in thick and fast since then, and I’ve managed to get my hands on some of these brushes, and tested them.

The set-up

I need to illustrate the Common Knapweed, Centaurea nigra subspecies nigra.  As before, I’ll use a different test brush on different leaves.  And hope for the best!

I’m working on Fluid 100 hot press watercolour paper.

In all cases, I test a size 1 brush.  This is my default brush size and is perfect for my botanical illustration and natural history work.  I’ve ordered all these brushes (except the Rosemary red Dots) through Jackson’s art, a UK based art materials shop.  It should also be pointed out that I haven’t been asked or paid to review any of these brushes, so (hopefully) that makes my reviews un-biased.

Here are the four brushes I’m reviewing.  Left to right: Da Vinci Casaneo, Rosemary & Co Red dot Pointed, Jackson’s Kite S561 and Princeton’s Neptune Script.  Links to all brushes in the text below.

The price I use for my Series 7 number 1 is a full discount price, not the full retail price of £17. 10 (2021 price).  And these prices fluctuate a lot, with the brushes sometimes being as little as £5.80 each.

Princeton Neptune script

The first synthetic I’m trying is the Princeton Neptune script.  This is a synthetic squirrel, rather than a synthetic sable.

Princeton Neptune Script

First sight is alarming.  It has an extremely long point, longer than any brush I’ve worked with before.  Somewhere in the back of my mind the term “rigger” springs to mind.  Is this the correct name for these long, fine-tipped brushes?  After a little internet trawling it seems my hunch is right.  Click here for more on rigger brushes, and how to use them.

However, despite my misgivings, on taking off the cover and using it I’m pleasantly surprised.

The tip is extremely fine, and doesn’t degrade or blunt at all for the whole time I use it.  The synthetic squirrel holds a lot of paint, so you don’t need to keep refilling the brush.  Thin lines build up next to one another without merging.  Crisp edges are easy.  Thin defining lines aren’t at all problematic.  This brush is great!

Princeton Neptune Script with leaf painted with the brush behind

My problem is the feel of such a long point.  This is pronounced when I’m mixing colours.  (Please don’t tell me to have a special rubbish-y brush for colour mixing.  I know I should do, but when I’m working to dead-line I just don’t have time to keep switching brushes!)  Saying that, if you have a slightly more leisurely approach to your watercolour painting, it’s a great idea.  Nothing trashes brushes faster than mixing colour with them).

Mixing colour with the Princeton Neptune Script

The action of the brush on the page is lovely.

Because the tip is so very fine, perhaps it takes a little longer to build up areas of colour, and to my eye they look a little washed out when I’m done.  Perhaps because each line is so very thin you do actually end up with less pigment on the page?

But for crisp detail, the Princeton Neptune Script is great.

Close up of the tip of the Princeton Neptune Script brush

This brush retails at £4.90 – £6.10.  My regular Series 7 no. 1 size brush retails (with a hefty discount) at £5.80, so this one is slightly cheaper.

Kite S561 by Jackson’s

This was the most expensive of the brushes I tested.  It’s a synthetic sable and cost more than my Series 7 brush (£10.30), so I was expecting good things.

Jackson’s Kite S.561

Imagine my surprise when the Kite S561 simply didn’t work out that way.  The tip of the brush is ragged, and blunt.  It has a slight hook.  In the hand, it feels the same shape and weight as a Series 7, but it’s not performing like one.

Jackson’s Kite S.561.  Looks perfect but somehow…isn’t.  The right had side of the leaf behind has been painted with this one.

The lines it leaves are thick and unpredictable.  No matter how I twist the brush in the paint to “sharpen” it to a point, it remains blunt.  In fact, I have to stop using it as it’s compromising the Knapweed illustration.

I’m disappointed.  It could be a dud brush.  But for the high price, I would have expected something far better, especially when the other synthetics on the market are priced so much more competitively.

Close up of the tip of the Jackson’s Kite S.561 brush

Rosemary and Company Pointed Red Dot

I’m feeling optimistic with these Red Dot brushes, brought direct from the company (Rosemary and Company)  Not only do they come recommended by the excellent botanical illustrator Polly O’Leary, but they’re the sister product to the Red Dot spotters that I reviewed and liked most in my last blog.  They’re synthetic sable.

Rosemary & Co Red Dot Pointed brush

Initial feelings are fabulous.  The brush looks and feels a lot like my Series 7.  It has plenty of bulk to hold paint, and the point is tiny and crisp.  This remains undamaged by mixing paint.  Each brush-stroke delivers a little more than the Neptune script, so the colour builds up swifter and more saturated.  So far so good.

Close up of the Rosemary & Co Red dot Pointed with leaf painted with it behind

Then, after about 10 minutes, the brush starts to change.  The tip loses its definition.  I feel almost like the barrel of the brush swells, and seems to hang really low behind the tip, threatening to leave extra unwanted brush marks.

On the plus side, the “barrel” or well holds a lot of paint, so I don’t need to keep going back to my paint-box to top up on paint.  The tip doesn’t become completely compromised, it’s still pretty sharp.

It’s not a disaster, but it’s certainly no longer nearly as good as when I first used it.  And less enjoyable than the the Red Dot Spotter.  But like I say, I know a lot of excellent botanical illustrators swear by these brushes.  I don’t want to be too hasty in writing them off.

Price wise it only costs £2.75 though.  So perhaps I was unlucky and had a “bad brush”.  These things happen.

Close up of the tip of the Rosemary & Co Red Dot pointed brush

Da Vinci Casaneo 5598 Round

The Da Vinci is another synthetic squirrel, this time a Kazan squirrel.  I had to look up “Kazan squirrel”.  It seems to be a normal squirrel (although whether Red or Grey I couldn’t establish) from the Kazan region of Russia.  So we continue.  Anyway, it’s another synthetic.

Da Vinci Casaneo brush with leaves painted with it behind and below

My initial response to this was not brilliant.  The brush had a tiny hook at the tip.  Not enough to make it un-useable, but not a good start.

I’d forgotten the useful tip I’ve been given about removing hooks from the tips of synthetic brushes:

It has come in from Rebecca, who left this suggestion in the comments section of my last watercolour brush blog .  “Hooks that develop on synthetic bristles can often be remedied by dipping the bristles about half way into a cup of water taken off the boil. Take care not to get the ferrule or upper bristles wet with water this hot or it may affect the glue. The timing varies from 10-30 seconds based on the brand and size. Gently reshape the tip on your thumbnail after heating. While I don’t expect that is an annoyance one would want to deal with during a long painting session, it will at least restore the brush to a usable condition for lighter tasks.”

I started using the brush and it’s fine.  The hook hasn’t thickened the line width, and the point remains tight.

After a few minutes though, it seems to develop some sort of lateral compression.  The brush looks as if someone has squeezed it between thumb and finger.  This leaves me feeling nervous.  It feels like the brush could do something unexpected at any point, being this odd shape and with the little hook.

Nib of the Da Vinci Casaneo brush, showing the odd “compressed” effect

Although is paints perfectly well, the ominous feeling that it’s all about to go wrong doesn’t lift.  I feel like I’m about to screw up the illustration at any point.  I can’t relax into painting, but am hyper-vigilant, checking every stroke.  This is no way to paint.

Because of this, even though the performance is better than all but the Princeton Neptune, I turn from the Da Vinci Casaneo.

Again, it could be a bad brush.  Or just one that’s not perfect.  Which, for someone who is as tough as a critic as I am, is basically the same thing.

It’s a shame.  With a price point of £6.30, they’re not much more expensive than the price of my (discounted) Series 7 brushes.  But are less reliable.

Close up of the nib of the Da Vinci Casaneo brush

Synthetics: Conclusion

Having tried all four brushes, I’m afraid none match my Series 7.  Is this because it’s what I’m used to?  Or because it’s a superior product?  It’s hard to tell.

However, if I were to explore these synthetics further, I’d be focussing in on the Rosemary and Company Red dot range.  I truly feel there will be a brush in there that suits me and my approach to painting.  They’re cheap, and have lovely points.  And although they seem to degrade quickly, I feel there’s scope for me to use them more before writing them off.

I did think the Princeton Neptune Script brush was brilliant, and held its point wonderfully.  It’d be superb for doing tiny long hairs, say on the stem of a Wood rush Luzula sylvatica.  But I just don’t think I can get used to wielding a brush that long.  It feels too weird.  I’m a creature of habit, and habit calls for a shorter, stouter brush.  But they’re well worth a try if you’re less stuck in your ways than I am.  In terms of getting detail and during the actual act of painting, the Neptune was my favourite out of these four brushes.

And here ends my exploration of synthetic brushes.  There are many more brands out there, but I think I’m finished exploring.  I’ll stick to a more detailed investigation of the Rosemary and Co brushes.  I might play around with the Princeton Neptune and see if I can get used to such a long tip, and keep my fingers that I find the perfect solution soon.  Only then will I be able to look at a weasel full in the face again.

Weasel Mustela nivalis (NOT the Siberian weasel, but a cousin)

For a lot more detail on this set of comparisons, please check out my Youtube video (or see it, below), and don’t forget to refer back to my other earlier review of synthetic brushes, both in blog form ,  and as a Youtube film.

Although I don’t plan on reviewing any more synthetics, please do put suggestions as to which you favour or have tried in the comments section below.  I like the idea of these blogs and films being a good reference point for people on a similar journey, questing for the perfect synthetic brush.

Annotated Illustration of Common or Black knapweed showing which leaves were done with which brush

The post Paintbrushes: Exploring synthetics Part 2 appeared first on Lizzie Harper.

This one of the Cow parsley,  Anthriscus sylvatica, was recently done for FOR in Sweden.  It accompanied a large sheet of sketches of the same plant.  To learn more about Cow parsley, and how to identify it, check out my blog.

There’s also a Youtube film that accompanies this blog; please find a link at the end of this blog, or click here to access it.

You’ll notice that this habit sketch is less accurate than many of my illustrations.  This goes with the territory.  There’s only so much detail you can cram into a 20cm tall illustration of an entire plant, and individual petals and leaf veins don’t get a look in.  However, if you want to show a whole plant, rather than one portion of it, then a habit sketch is the best way to do this.  Alternatively, you can use a much larger format and work on a plant portrait which will be more accurate and less impressionistic.

Completed habit sketch of the Cow parsley

Habit sketch:  Pencil rough

The first thing to do when confronted with a habit sketch is to learn as much as you can about the plant.  I gather lots of specimens, and consult various botany books.  these include A Flora of the British Isles by Clapham Tutin and Moore, The Wildflowers of the British Isles by Garrard and Streeter, the pen and ink drawings of Stella Ross-Craig, Collins Flower guide by David Streeter, and (in this case) the BSBI Handbook: Umbellifers of the British Isles.

Once the plant and botanical information is collated, I draw up a pencil rough that shows each important element to its best advantage.  I use mechanical Pentel P205 pencils with an H or HB 0.5mm lead.  I draw directly onto my watercolour paper, in this case hotpress Fluid 100 by Global Arts.

One of the reasons why I use Fluid 100 is because it’s quite good at allowing you to erase your pencil lines after you’ve painted on top of them.  Various papers will, or won’t be good for this.  The way I paint means that it’s important that a paper will give up the graphite but not the paint pigments once I’ve completed an illustration.

Cow parsley pencil rough (with basal rosette and stem details)

Are leaves alternate or opposite?  Are upper leaves noticeably different from lower ones?  is there a basal rosette of leaves?  How are the flowers carried on the stems?  What does the root do?  All this information needs to be given by the illustration.

Habit sketch: Leaves

Once the client has approved the roughs, you can start adding colour.  I begin with the leaves, outlining them in green.  Winsor and Newton are my favourite watercolours, and I use pans topped up with tube colours.  I mix sap green, some cobalt blue, and a bit of cadmium yellow light together.  I keep the paint quite thick and dry at this point.  Carefully, using my trusty Series 7 sable brush (size 1), I follow the pencil lines of the leaf edges.  This approach is the same as I use when painting ferns and bracken.

Outlining the leaves

I observe my plant carefully, and add some variation to the green hue.  The central leaf is a little paler and brighter green than the others – I add yellow to the mix and outline it with this new colour.

Different greens are used to outline the leaves

Habit sketch: Top washes on leaves

Once these initial lines are dry, I add water to the greens to make them lighter and more dilute.  Then, using the same brush, I pop blobs of this watery green onto the leaves.  I love the crisp edges watercolour gives if you allow very wet paint to dry, and this is the effect I’m after here.

Watery green top wash is applied very wet

Because of the midrib veins and the way the leaves are structured, you’ll often see one side of a leaflet is darker than the other.  This needs to be included in the habit sketch.  You can either do this by going over the darker, shaded side with two layers of top-wash; or you can use a different and brighter colour for the top-wash on the lighter side of the leaflet.

Putting the first wash onto only one side of each leaflet

In this case I’ve done both.  I added some yellow to the top-wash, and covered the entire leaflet with this mix.  (I’d made sure the first and darker wash was completely dry first.)  Allow the paint to dry completely.

Two different colours of top-wash used on the leaflets

Habit sketch: Painting the stems

I actively enjoy painting stems because it’s so easy.  Mix up the right colour (as always, check with the plants in front of you.  It’s so important to keep referring to the plants you’re illustrating if you want to get details such as form and colour right).  This is a sap green plus a little yellow ochre, perhaps a touch of blue, and plenty of a clear bright yellow such as Cadmium light.

Then just outline the stems, following the pencil lines.  You can apply a little more pressure to one side of the stem than to the other.  This helps suggest a light source, and shadow.  Traditionally in botanical illustration, the light source comes from the top left, so the heavier lines are to the right of each stem.

You can also add ridges, furrows, or textures with simple lines if that’s appropriate for the species you’re working with.  With Cow parsley, the stems are ridged, prominently so towards the base of the plant.

Outlining the stems

Once the illustration is completely dry, dilute the colour you used for the stems with plenty of water.  Then simply put this watery wash over your stems and allow it to dry.

Putting a watery top-wash onto the main stem

Habit sketch: Painting the flowers

With habit sketches, the precision and detail of each flower is compromised in an effort to represent the entire plant.  So there are no individual petals to portray, just the frothy mass of flowers that constitute each umbel (or flowering head).

Illustrating white flowers is really hard – you need to show their form without making them look like they’re another colour.  For more on this subject, check out my blog or my Youtube film.  In this case, the shadows cast by each umbel are going to be key, and will be what we use to represent some tonal depth.  As with the leaves and stems, out light source is from the top left; so the shadows will fall from the right hand side of each umbel.

To ensure the flowers look clean and white, I mix a light blue.  Cerulean blue is light and bright enough.  Dilute it to a very pale tone, then pick out the shadows with the tip of your brush.

Adding shadow to the flowers

I work from the top of the plant downwards.  this helps me avoid resting my hand in wet paint and smearing the illustration.  Series 7 brushes are expensive, but they justify their cost by holding their tips.  When you’re applying tiny amounts of pale paint to the nooks and crannies of an illustration, the accuracy you can get from your tools is really important.  For more on my choice of paintbrushes, click here.

Applying blue to show shadow in the central flowers

Habit sketch: The root

The root tends to be included in a habit sketch, specially if it’s an important diagnostic feature of the species.  Please note that it’s illegal to uproot flowers in the wild – I happen to have cow parsley growing in my Aunt’s garden, and she was happy for me to unearth a few plants to get at the roots.

Illustrating these tap roots couldn’t be easier. In exactly the same way as you tackled the stems, outline the root.  I mixed some Vandyke brown with yellow ochre.  Remember to pick out the texture and root hairs, too.  Once dry, dilute the mixed colour and pop the watery top wash over the whole root.  Done.

Putting a top-wash on the Cow parsley taproot

Habit sketch: Adding shadows

Now the illustration is more or less complete, it needs shadows to bring it to life.  I favour a mix of purple and cobalt blue, sometimes with a dash of Vandyke brown.  Using this, and being really careful not to go too dark too fast, I pick out the darkest shadows.

This is an important stage.  Judicious application of shadows can help clarify muddy or messy areas of a sketch.

Adding shadows to clarify a leaf’s structure

I always put shadows below each flowering head, and frequently pick out the tips of leaves to help the eye find the edges of the illustration.

Again, because the scale of the illustration shows an entire plant, you’ll find it hard to accurately represent the shadow details on each portion of each leaf.  This is one of the drawbacks of a habit sketch.  I often find myself trying to pull in more detail than is possible.  there has to be an element of “giving the impression” of a plant when it comes to habit sketches.  I’ll admit to struggling with this looseness at times.

Fixing mistakes

Inevitably, sometimes when we paint we make mistakes.  Quite often I’ll think that a stem I painted is too wide, or perhaps a top-wash has overflowed an edge.  There’s no need to despair.

Using white gouache to fix mistakes

I use Winsor and Newton white gouache, permanent white, to fix my mistakes.  I use it really thick, straight from the tube or mixed with a tiny amount of water.  It helps sharpen up messy edges, or will hide a mistake.  It should be noted that using this is fine for your own work and for work that’s going to be reproduced (it doesn’t show up on scans); however, if you plan on selling your original artwork then the use of white gouache is frowned on.

Conclusion

And that’s it!  The illustration is finished.

Last step is to erase the underlying pencil lines.  If you’ve got a good hot press paper, you should be able to do this without damaging any of the paint (no, I don’t understand why this works either).  I’d suggest going easy on the rubbing out around the flowers as the only marks suggesting them are the pale blue shadows and the pencil.  A tougher approach can be used on the stems and leaves and root.

Hopefully, this illustration immediately suggests an entire Cow parsley plant growing in the wild.  Habit sketches tend to accompany much more detailed botanical illustrations which help clarify exact structures of stem, root, leaf, fruits, and flowers.  I find them pretty hard to illustrate, but exceptionally useful when it comes to identifying wild flowers in the field.

And now, I hope, you’ll have some idea of how to go about creating your own illustration of an entire plant; your very own habit sketch.

Completed habit sketch of Cow parsley with paint box

To see a real-time film of me completing this illustration and discussing the process, please check out the film below.  Thanks.

The post Habit sketch of Cow parsley: step by step appeared first on Lizzie Harper.

Sketchbook studies

All the botanical illustrations I do for FOR are in a sketchbook format.  I love working this way; it gives me the opportunity to include tons of details alongside a larger illustration of the whole plant.  Over the years I’ve figured out what elements I need to include for each plant, so can figure out the composition before getting started.  In general, details of flowers, fruits seeds, roots, and a cross section of the stem is needed.  These elements need to be accompanied by a habit sketch, a full colour image that shows the entire plant growing, and close ups of any unusual characteristics that the plant may have.  I always include written notes, as much to jog my own memory as to help the viewer.

Cow Parsley Sketchbook study Anthriscus sylvestris

Another appealing thing about the sketchbook studies is that you can leave parts of the illustration unfinished.  This gives me the opportunity to get into really intense detail on things like an individual leaf, or one bract.  The pressure to have the entire drawing completed in full colour is gone, which makes the process more relaxing.

Cow Parsley in the spring

For those of you who have been in the British countryside in early June, you’ll already know all about the Cow parsley.  If frothes up along hedgerows, spilling tiny white flowers out into rarely-used roads and paths.  At the same time, the May blossom is out, so you often have the wonderful sight of lots of white blossom curving down from the shrubs and trees, being met by the Cow parsley flowers growing upward from margins of fields and lanes.  It’s very beautiful.

Drawing the Cow Parsley

Umbellifers, like Cow parsley, are a real challenge to draw.  I’m sure I’ve moaned about the challenges before in blogs on Hogweeds.  The problem is that the plant is often really tall and leaves spread widely from the stem.  However, each element of the plant is tiny.  The flowering heads are made from hundreds of tiny individual flowers.  the outermost ones are zygomorphic, meaning their outermost petals are a different shape to those of the internal flowers.  The leaves are divided, or pinnate.  Sometimes divided several times over, as with the Cow parsley.  This results in very beautiful and feathery leaves.  But combining the size with the detail is very difficult, hence my aversion to all members of the Apiaceae (or Umbelliferae) family.  I love the way they look.  I live in fear of being asked to illustrate them!

This commission came in at the height of Cow parsley season.  I spent a morning gathering perfect plants, taking photos, and considering the best approach to the illustration.  Once home, I pinned an entire plant up against the trampoline in the garden, with a sheet behind.  I always take photos at the same time, sadly plants don’t live forever and some wither within hours of being picked.

Cow parsley set up to draw in the garden

Cow Parsley: Flowering times and leaves

Identifying Cow parsley is easy, mainly because of when it flowers.  It’s the earliest of these white-flowered umbellifers to bloom, especially in the southern UK.  And it’s certainly the most common.  Look for it from early April through June; by July all you’ll see is some basal leaf rosettes and seed-heads.

Cow parsley sketchbook study done back in 2015

The leaves set the plant apart from other common and similar species, such as Hogweeds.  They are 2-3 pinnate, which means they’re divided into leaflets, then each of these leaflets is sub divided.  It gives them a feathery, fern-like appearance. They tend to be a muted spring green, although can be tinged red or yellow when stressed by drought.

Cow parsley leaf variety and plant overview to show difference between small upper and large lower leaves

Leaves either grow from a basal rosette at the bottom of the plant, or alternately up the stem.  Lower leaves are borne on long, broad stalks, higher up the plant the leaves have far shorter and thinner petioles.  The big basal leaves can be up to 30cm, with individual divided lobes measuring 10 – 30mm

Cow parsley: Stems

Stems are gently ridged, and hollow.  They don’t have blotches of colour like some other Apiaceae species.  The stems can grow from 50 – 150cm, making this quite a tall plant.  Stems tend to be slightly downy at the top, and hairless down by the base of the plant.

Cow parsley stems

Cow parsley: Flowers

The frothy flowering heads of this plant family are umbels; these are lots of little groups of flowers carried on stalks or rays.  Each umbel has 6 – 12 of these rays which are about 2cm long.  The arrangement of flowers has males in the centre and hermaphrodite flowers around the margins.  Unless you’re inclined to get your hand lens out, this won’t be immediately obvious, although you’ll certainly see a difference in size between the inside and margin flowers.

Cow parsley flowers and detail of a small umbel seen from above

Each flower has 5 white petals and is 3 – 5 mm across. A whole umbel measures 10 – 60cm, but there’s plenty of variety.

There are no bracts right below the flowers, but some appear lower down.  Sepals are there but are so tiny as to be inconspicuous.  There are 5 stamen and 2 thin stigma.

The outermost flowers are zygomorphic which means their petals are of different sizes.

Cow parsley: Fruit

Fruit are 6-9mm long and carried in pairs.  They start green and become brown at maturity.  Each one has a short beak-like tip.

Cow parsley seeds

Conclusion

Why do I love Cow parsley so much?  Well, it’s a combination of factors.  The delicacy of the frond-like leaves is visually very pleasing.  The mass of scented flowers smell of the countryside.  And the way Cow parsley lines lanes and hedges is a harbinger of warmer days, and long golden hours spent revelling in an English summertime.  So, for all of these reasons, and despite the issues with detail and scale, I’m happy to go on learning and drawing this gorgeous plant.

Illustration completed for FSC guide to Flowers of Walks & Waysides

Please see my step by step Youtube film below

The post Cow Parsley: All about an Umbellifer appeared first on Lizzie Harper.

Clouded Yellow

The Clouded Yellow, Colias croceus, travels to Britain every year from southern Europe and Africa.  Nine out of ten years, they’re around, but not terribly common.  But about once a decade you get a “Clouded yellow year”, when loads of these insects arrive.  In fact, so many arrived in 1947 that the military, “saw them approach the coast in the form of a great golden ball, which they thought at first to be a cloud of poison gas drifting over the water” (L. Hugh Newman, quote taken from The Butterflies of Britain and Europe by Lewington and Thomas, a volume I’ll be referring to throughout this blog.)

They’re unable to survive the British winter, but are found all across the UK, feeding on clovers and legumes.  In late summer the new generation hatch, and will migrate back across the English channel as autumn approaches.

Female Clouded Yellow

Females and males are both a rich gold, with dark wing margins.  In fact, they were once known as the “Saffron butterfly” in the UK, which is entirely understandable.

Both sexes have a pair of orange spots amongst the yellow of their lower wings, and a pair of small, ragged, dark spots on the upper wing. Unlike the males, the females have pale spots in their wing margins.

At rest, they are less striking, showing paler yellow underwings.  They rarely flash the brighter top wings when at rest, so can be harder to spot.

Clouded yellow at rest on clover

Possible confusion with other species

Occasional migrants of the Pale and Clouded Yellow butterfly make it to the UK (Colias hyale and Colias alfacariensis).  These are tricky to tell apart, and equally difficult to tell from a pale helice form of the Clouded Yellow.

However, the other common yellow butterfly is the Brimstone, Gonepteryx rhamni.  Brimstone are a very different, paler and brighter shade of yellow, and almost seem to have a pale glow to them that’s absent in Clouded Yellow.  The lack of dark wing margins also makes it really easy to tell the two species apart.

Brimstone butterfly Gonepteryx rhamni

Comma Butterfly

The Comma, Polygonia c-album, is one of my favourite butterflies.  It’s instantly recognisable, with its orange and brown colouring, and its ragged wing edges.  Both sexes look alike, although the undulating wing margins are more pronounced in the male.

 At rest, the underwings resemble a dried out leaf.  The little white comma at the centre of the lower wing looks like a tiny hole in an old leaf.  The camouflage is remarkable.

Commas have two visually different populations, discovered and researched back in the 1890s by Emma Hutchinson.  The earlier population, which is produced from the first of the season’s caterpillars, is known as the Hutchinsoni form.  It’s a paler and more golden orange, and behaves rather differently to the browner, deeper orange form produced later in the summer.  Unlike the early butterflies, these later ones will be overwintering, so need to focus on feeding and stocking up reserves for their hibernation.  They spend this time hidden in woodlands, amongst roots and holes in trees, trusting autumnal leaves to help their camouflage.

In truth, unless I see a Hutchinsoni form alongside the later population, I can’t readily tell them apart.  Hopefully, having researched this blog, my skills in this department will improve!

Commas used to feed on hop plants, but have managed to adapt by using the equally nitrogen-rich nettle as a host plant.  This has enabled them to survive the decline in hop crops.

In the late 1880s, Commas became incredibly unusual, and many naturalists thought they were gone for good.  Perhaps the beginnings of insecticide use on hops around then, and a new procedure of burning hop remnants may have triggered the decline.  Wonderfully, now the population is stronger than ever.  An increasingly warm climate, and the use of nettles may well be the reason.  Either way, it’s a truly welcome development.

Possible confusion with other species

Due to the distinctive ragged wing edges, the Comma is unlikely to be confused with any other British butterflies.

Common Blue

The Common Blue butterfly, Polyommatus icarus, is one of the most widespread of British butterflies, and can be found everywhere except the highest mountain tops, and north Shetland.  It is unable to survive on improved pasture, so look for it on farmland where trefoil and clover crops are used instead of agro-fertilizers.

Common blues can be distinguished from other blues as their wing margins are white.  Those of the Holly and Adonis blue have black stripes which stretch across the white, to the very end of the wing edge.

Females vary massively in colour.  This is partly individual, and partly geographic and seasonal.  They can be almost totally dark brown, or entirely blue.  However, females always have distinctive orange edges to upper and lower wings.

The colour of Common Blue Butterflies

The amazing colour, a sort of iridescent lilac-blue, is due to various factors.  The helicoidal structure of the scales causes light diffraction.  This creates a “glittery” effect.  (For more on iridescence in nature, check out my earlier blog).  Pigments are synthesized and laid down days before emergence from the chrysalis.  Then further pigments, which boost the absorption of UV light, are added.  These are made from pigments in their food plants, flavonols.  Female Common blues who have high concentrations of flavonols in their wings seem more attractive to the males.

Male Common blue specimen and illustration (see my blog for more)

Blue butterflies and Ants

Common blues interact with ants.  The caterpillars and chrysalis emit tapping noises, or “songs”.  These attract the ants who come and tend them.  Others in the Lycaenidae family of butterflies also do this (check out my earlier blog for more on this).  Ants are rewarded with sugary secretions.  Unlike their cousins, the Adonis and Chalkhill Blues, these secretions are low in protein.  Perhaps that’s why the Common Blue has less ants tending to it than the other species?

Possible confusion with other species

There are several species of Blue butterly in the UK, although none so widespread or common as P. icarus.

Chalkhill blue Polyommatus coridon is far paler, and has dark wing edges.

Chalkhill blue

Adonis blue, Polyommatus bellargus is a vivid, bright, glowing blue.  It also has thin black stripes to the edge of the wing.

The Holly Blue, Celastrina argiolus, could be confused with the Common Blue, especially the males.  However, the underside has no orange markings and is far paler and less busy than P. icarus.  Yet again, the presence of black lines on the wing margins shows it cannot be the Common blue.

Holly blue female Celastrina argiolus

Cinnabar Moth

Our last species isn’t a butterfly at all, but an arctiid moth.  The Cinnibar, Tyria jacobaeae, is a common sight in Coastal areas, and is strikingly beautiful.

With black forewings, edged with a red stripe, and crimson hind wings with a black border; this truly is an elegant insect.  It’s name refers to Cinnibar, a red mineral derived from mercury ore.

Caterpillars are blatantly obvious, striped with yellow and black bands.  They can be seen smothering their host plant, Ragwort Senecio jacabaeae (note the similarity in species name).  They obtain toxic alkaloid chemicals from the ragwort, and this deters predation as caterpillars.

The caterpillars are voracious.  They often devour the entire plant before pupating.  This seems to lead to random acts of cannibalism.

In the USA, Cinnibar moths are used to control the highly successive invasive Ragwort.  This seems to be working.

Ragwort Senecio jacobaeae

Possible Confusion with other species

There aren’t any other day-flying moths that look quite like the Cinnibar.

Burnett moths are also red and slate-black.  However, they bear spots, not the wing bars seen on the Cinnibar.

Six spot Burnett moth Zygaena filipendulae emergent adult

Conclusion

Spending a day researching four fairly common British butterflies and moths for this blog is a treat.  There’s so much to learn about each and every species!  I am indebted to “Butterflies of Britain and Ireland” by Richard Lewington and Jeremy Thomas.  It’s a gorgeous book, and fascinating too.

It also gives pause for thought.  Four insects, chosen only because of their shared habitat, are utterly fascinating.  Expand this out to every insect, plant, bird, mammal, and microbe that one encounters…  There truly is an endless source of wonder in nature.  I’m glad this little corner of sand dunes in Bantham, Devon will be managed to preserve and encourage that diversity.  And I’m so pleased that I have the chance to help share that vision with the public, through my illustrations.

The post Butterflies of Bentham Sand dunes appeared first on Lizzie Harper.

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.

The post Illustrating Butterflies Workshop appeared first on Lizzie Harper.

A recent commission to illustrate a hay meadow landscape down on the coast of Devon was a wonderful job.  The client is North Devon Area of Natural Beauty (NDAONB) and the illustration will be used on an interpretation board on site.

Currently, the area is scrub land; it’s over-grazed and needs managing for wildflowers and wildlife.  Which is where my illustration comes in.  Based closely on the present view across Bentham bay, my task was to illustrate an idealised hay meadow full of wild flowers and animals.  In amongst there are a few unusual species (such as the Brown Carder Bee Bombus humilis) which NDAONB are rightly proud of and keen to encourage.

Although the area may never look as extreme as my illustration, with careful management NDAONB have good reason to believe a healthy and vibrant hay meadow community is only a few years away.

Pencil Rough

As always, the first step is to put together all the elements in a composition which flows.  This often involves using birds in the sky as framing devices, and making sure longer grasses remain on the edges, encouraging your eye to move across the landscape.

From the thumbnail, I work up a much more detailed pencil rough, starting with the background landscape, then plotting in the animals, and finally filling the spaces between with appropraite wild flower species.

I always send client annotated pencil roughs to ensure every species they wanted to include has been accounted for.

Annotated Pencil Rough of Bentham Coastal Hay Meadow Landscape

Painting the Landscape

Once I get the go-ahead, I begin by adding the sky.  This is a very wet wash that covers the entire sheet of paper except for the animals in the foreground.  It helps unite the painting.

Next, I paint the background landscape, keeping the colours pale and the contrast limited.  This ensures that when completed the animals grab your attention, and there’s a feeling of depth to the hay meadow landscape.  This part of the illustration doesn’t really get noticed when it’s complete, but it often takes longer than the details of the plants and animals.

I also pop in the tractor (compete with a grumpy farmer).  I love painting slightly unusual things, and the tractor and hay bales were a lot of fun.

The sky and background normally take about a day; working on the shrubs and trees will take at least another full working day.

Illustrating the Hay meadow flora

Now come the wild flowers.  I work from left to right so I avoid leaning on completed work.  I also lean on a big sheet of paper so that the unpainted area remains clean as I paint.

The flowers in this hay meadow include clover, common orchid, yellow rattle (an indicator of healthy meadow land), rest harrow, bedstraw, knapweed, milk thistle, various grass species, buttercup, tormentil, and ox-eye daisy.  I was lucky enough to visit the Bentham meadow site so could add species I found growing there to the existing plant list.

Work in Progress: Painting the wild flowers

Close up of the illustration showing the blues in the Clover leaves and the pink Restharrow flowers

I love this stage, how the white spaces where the animals will go start to pop out at you.  One of my friends described it as looking like a sticker-book, waiting for a child to pop the right colourful sticker onto the right line drawing.

Getting there: Working into the leaves

I tend to paint the leaves first, then treat myself to the brightly coloured flowers.  You can see this in the photo above, the yellow flowers are completed but the pinks, purples and reds await my ministrations.

Some plants are trickier than others; the Yellow rattle (unpainted, left hand side) has pale leaves and chalky yellow petals.  It also has very pale green calyx flushed crimson.  Yellow rattle often gets left until last.

This is a similar view, but the Self heal and Yellow rattle have been added.

Adding the flowers on a large landscape like this (60 cm across) takes a couple of days.

Adding the animals to the Hay Meadow landscape

Once the flowers and foliage are in I re-visit them with some dark purples and blues, picking out the shadows and trying to add depth to the undergrowth.  This stage takes a long time and involves a lot of getting very close, then standing well back from the illustration.

I love this stage of a landscape illustration,  It’s like being a child in a sweet shop.  Only the animals left to paint in, and they are FUN.

As with the plants, I tend to work from left to right.  I’ll also do any animals in the sky first.  Getting the edges of a bird or butterfly wrong can spell disaster as it’s much harder to hide mistakes in a clean blue sky than it is to fudge and fix amongst swathes of leaves and flowers.

Hay Meadow Landscape with background and wild flowers completed.

Birds and Butterflies in the sky

The kestrel will be a familiar motif to those of you who read my blogs regularly, as will the lark.  I have used the same reference and position for these species over and over again, mostly in these landscapes.  You can find this Kestrel (flipped) in my Malham cove landscape, and the lark appears in my BBC Wildlife magazine Hay meadow cross-section.   It also appears (flipped) in my illustration of a Hen harrier hunting red grouse.

There are several repeated animals that come up, I do a good line in repeating swallows and I’m pretty sure the Large Skipper has featured before (possibly in that same BBC Wildlife Hay meadow).  My philosophy is, “why change it if it works?”.  However, I digress.

Kestrel Falco tinnunculus

Adding Animals at Ground level

Moving from left to right, down at ground level we have the Rock Pipit and Large Skipper done and dusted.  The bank vole was made easier as I have a specimen in my freezer (for more on this habit of hanging onto road kill and prizes from cats, please look at my Youtube video: Birds, Bugs and Bodies in the Freezer).  This means colour matching the fur is much easier.

My dear friend costumier Wendy Harrup gave me an old Victorian butterfly cabinet, so getting the colours right on the lepidopteran specimens is so much better than it used to be.  Working from photos and illustrations is helpful if you can’t access a specimen (see my blog for more on this), but having the actual plant or animal there in front of you is infinitely preferable.  It’s so much easier!

Here’s the Peacock butterfly, Aglais io, much enlarged.

I illustrate butterflies by leaving their wing veins as white til near the end.  A top wash knocks the veins back and adds structure and depth to the wing form.

The main focus of the whole illustration is the big female Holly Blue.  She needs to be good, or the entire illustration will fail.  I take my time with the centre-stage species, and spend longer on them than on the other animals.  Building up the black wing edges with lots of tiny brush strokes is always rewarding and helps to make her feel clean and crisp.

Holly blue Celastrina argiolus butterfly

It took nearly two days working on the animals to get to this stage.

The homeward stretch

At this point I start counting down how many animals I have left to paint, and postulating as to when the illustration might be completed.  I thought it would take two more days from this point, but it went smoothly and was complete in one.

Animals on the left remain to be “coloured in”.  I start with the Brown Carder bee, then move onto the Great Bush Cricket and the male Holly Blue.

Brown carder bee Bombus humilis, Great Bush Cricket Tettigonia viridissima, and male Holly Blue Celastrina argiolus

One of the effects I love about these hay meadow landscapes is that animals who are  well camouflaged in life become equally well disguised in an illustration.  The cricket seems to disappear in the grass and leaves.

A couple more butterflies are added without mishap, and the Wood mouse is completed (and slightly wide eyed).

Wood mouse Apodemus sylvaticus

The final animal to add is the Stonechat Saxicola rubicola.  I properly love these birds.  When I walk along the coast in Pembrokeshire, they’re always in evidence.  They flutter from gorse bush to gorse bush, chittering and flittering.  I find them most endearing, and very beautiful.  Painting them is lovely, and mixing that rich brick red is always a joy (especially after so much green and blue!).

Balancing Reds in the composition

In this illustration, the Stonechat is really important structurally.  The red on his chest needs to be there to draw the eye across the page, and balance out the red tractor and the Peacock butterfly.  All these things have to be considered at the thumb nail stage.  Unfortunately there’s a slight disconnect between the crimson of the tractor and Peacock butterfly, and our Stonechat.  Adding a tiny bit of crimson to his chest and eye helps, but it doesn’t quite swing it.

Were I to repeat this illustration, I’d make certain there was another crimson flower or animal firmly on the right hand side of the painting.  You can see where I’ve tried to balance the crimson by adding it to the inner petals on the small milk thistle below his tail, and to the stems of the self heal plant.  There’s a lot of this trickery that goes on in these landscapes; hopefully it’s subtle enough for the viewer not to notice.

Detail of the completed Stonechat, Saxicola rubicola

Finishing up

The final touches involve mixing up some more purple and blue, and tweaking the darkest areas of shadow.  I also make a far more dilute mauve and add the shadows to the landscape, below the trees.  You can decide what time of day the illustration is at this point – I tend to go for a late afternoon with the shadows just starting to lengthen.  3.30pm-ish.

Next, I cut the landscape free from the board it was stretched on, wrap it as best I can, and take it to my wonderful local printers to be scanned.  Then it’s just a matter of invoicing the client (who has paid and claims to be delighted – phew), and adding this landscape to the list of unframed original illustrations I have available for sale.  This one is £275 (unframed), about 60 cm x 40 cm, and is ready for immediate dispatch if you fancy it!

The post Illustrating a Coastal Hay Meadow Landscape appeared first on Lizzie Harper.

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 returning to a hive or burrow.

This means they spread pollen over a larger area, strengthening the genetic variation of DNA in plants. Genetic variety means our plants are tougher and less likely to fall prey to disease.

Butterflies and moths also provide food for our birds. Blue tit chicks in particular feast on caterpillars in spring, and the adult butterflies are a filling meal for both birds and bats.

Without butterflies our native wildlife would go hungry as mating and breeding seasons are arranged around food sources.

How we can Help Butterflies in the Garden

We can help in a number of ways.  Intensive farming practices means farmers grow tall grass for silage instead of the traditional wildflowers for hay.  Butterflies have a hard time finding food.

Bees and butterflies need flowers to survive.  In turn birds, bats and other mammals need bees and butterflies.  But it’s not as simple as loading up your boot at the garden centre, because caterpillars need certain plants to thrive.

Butterfly friendly Wild flower species list

1. Nettles
2. Bird’s-Foot Trefoil
3. Nasturtium
4. Garlic Mustard
5. Ladies Smock
6. Long Coarse Grasses
7. Oak
8. Elm
9. Holly
10. Ivy

You might not be keen on common nettles, but a patch in a sunny garden corner is invaluable.  Limit their spread by growing nettles in a sunken container.

Butterfly friendly Garden plant species list

Adult butterflies and moths need nectar.   Most native wildflowers and weeds are appreciated by our pollinators, but here are some good choices:

• Aubrietia
• Bluebell
• Clover
• Cuckooflower
• Daisy
• Dandelion
• Forget-Me-Not
• Pansy
• Primrose
• Wallflower
• Oregano
• Buddleia
• Lilac
• Sedum
• Michaelmas Daisy
• Asters
• French Marigold
• Knapweed
• Lavender
• Marjoram
• Red Valerian
• Scabious
• Thyme
• Verbena
• Flowering Ivy

Try to have as many suitable flowering plants as possible right through the seasons. Choose warm, sunny spots to plant your nectar-rich flowers.   Keep deadheading them so more blooms appear.  This is especially important in spring and autumn when food sources are hard to find.

Its good practice to buy genuine UK plants and wildflower seeds as exotic species are not always suitable food for butterflies.

Diagram of a Butterfly-friendly garden for US species

What else you can do to help Butterflies

Don’t collect them. This is an old fashioned hobby, but some people still catch butterflies in nets and pin them to boards.

It’s a cruel practice and some butterflies are protected so you could get into trouble. Use a camera instead.

Join your local environmental group (such as a Wildlife Trust) to learn about coppicing and natural techniques that enhance the environment. Environmental groups plant wildflowers and count the butterflies to give picture of their health.

Stop using pesticides. Pesticides kill everything they land on, and sprays are carried around on the wind.  This means butterflies, moths, caterpillars, eggs and pupa are destroyed.

Don’t use peat-based compost.

Bees, ladybirds, hoverflies and all pollinating insects are wiped out.  A sterile garden is a wildlife free garden.  It won’t take long for natural aphid predators to arrive if you simply spray with citrus soaked water, or remove them by hand.  Just wear gloves. Gardeners have managed for thousands of years without pesticides, so net your cabbages – don’t spray them.

As well as growing more nectar rich flowers, keep an area of garden wild.  Leave it un-mown, add bee and butterfly hotels, some native wildflower seeds, a hedgehog house, and logs.  The wildlife will move in.

If you don’t have a garden, a hanging basket or container of flowers on a balcony will also attract bees and butterflies.

Any little you can do will save lives and promote a healthy environment.  Water is vital.  We have taps, but mammals, birds and insects don’t.  In hot summer months wildlife dies from dehydration.  A simple bowl of fresh water is so easy, yet saves countless lives.  Butterflies drink water too and the best way to help is to fill a dish with marbles or pebbles, and fill it daily. Bees and butterflies will sit safely in the pebbles with danger of falling in.

Save a Butterfly

If you find a butterfly on a cold, wet day it’s probably in trouble.  If it’s in water then it will certainly drown because once cold they need sun to get moving again.  Get involved and save that butterfly!

Remove it from the cold or watery situation into a sunny, sheltered area away from predators.  If you are feeling generous a teaspoon of cool water with a bit of dissolved sugar will give the butterfly enough energy to find safety.  Ensure you don’t get any of the solution on its wings as it will be unable to fly away and will die. When it takes a drink you’ll see that fabulous proboscis emerge. It’s a sight worth waiting for, so be patient.

How to Pick up a Butterfly

Butterflies do not bite, sting or harm you in any way.  Don’t leave a butterfly to die if you can help.  If possible use a glass with a piece of card slipped beneath, but if this isn’t possible encouraging the butterfly onto your finger or a leaf is fine.

If it’s in water, or won’t budge,  you can gently pick it up.  Cupped in your hands is a good method.  You can pick it up by the wings if you must, but don’t rub them together.  In order to escape from predators butterflies can fly with over 70% of their wings missing.  Be gentle and slow at all times.  Always pop a watery butterfly, bee, moth, hoverfly, or ladybird somewhere sunny to dry out, away from winds and birds or bored cats.

Bye Bye Butterfly

The loss of our iconic butterflies is more than a shame.  It’s an indication we are changing our environment with building, intensive farming practices, urbanisation and a shocking lack of knowledge or conscience.

Losing our biodiversity impacts us in ways we may not consider or yet understand.  Our crop harvest is mainly pollinated by bees and butterflies.  Insect loss has an effect on birds and mammals too.

The degradation of our world by activities to solely benefit the human race is one of the biggest issues facing us today.  We must remember the planet belongs to all of us, and when we change fundamental principles that have evolved over millennia we play God in a field we know little about.

Individuals like us can take steps to help re-flower our green spaces, avoid chemical insecticides and learn about our environment.  These steps are essential and they need to quicken pace, because our native wildlife is running out of time and a world without flora and fauna would a difficult one.

For more on the biology and threats faced by Butterflies, check out the last Guest blog by DIY Garden: Save out Butterflies: Biology and Threats.  For 12 things you can do to help save butterflies, please look at Up Gardener’s blog.

The post Save our Butterflies: Gardening for butterflies (2 of 2) appeared first on Lizzie Harper.

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 sarepi.  As with all damselflies, it lives in and near fresh water  and was named after the SAREP expedition to Eastern Angola.  Although similar to a few other species it is indeed a distinct new species.  In fact, it’s one of 60 new Odonata discovered recently in Africa (for more on this amazing set of new species please read the report from Odonatologica).

Drawing up the Sarep sprite

There was no living or dead specimen to work from, but a couple of good photos and an accurate written description proved enough to go on.

Photographic reference of The Sarep sprite Pseudiagrion sarepi

Photographic reference of The Sarep sprite 

As always, the first step is to draw up a pencil rough.  I referred to some anatomical drawings to be sure I got the wing venation and details of the leg hairs more or less correct.

Pencil rough of the Sarep sprite

Colour rough

In this case, the colour needed to be accurate, so I did a quick colour rough for the client (who was radio-collaring zebra in the field in Malawi!  Not like I’m jealous or anything!)

Colour rough of the Sarep sprite with queries

Adding colour to the body of the Sprite

My queries duly answered, I got going on the illustration.  Despite the body of the damselfly being small, the trick is to try and convey the iridescence.  I normally represent iridescence by moving from dark to bright then white areas (for more on this see my blog). This is tricky to do in a tiny area like the thin abdomen of a damselfly, so I used a really small brush (Winsor and Newton series 7 size 000).

Work in progress

It’s a wonderfully gaudy damselfly with magenta legs, pale blue terminal abdominal  segments and the iridescent green body.  I used my trusty Doctor Martins Hydrous watercolour inks to get the clear bright colours.

Once I’ve finished with the body I move onto the wings, painting in the veins first and finally giving a suggestion of the transparent “panes” with pale blue and yellow paint washes.

Sarep sprite illustration in progress

Once I’d completed the illustration I sent off a scan to the client, querying the yellowness of the body.  She decided the body was a darker green.

Sarep sprite initial final illustration

Tweaking the final illustration

Darkening the green of the abdomen without losing the glittery iridescence was tricky.  However, with a judicious mix of indigo and purple I managed to knock back the bright grass green to something a little more subdued, without compromising the areas of shine.

Finished illustration of the Sarep sprite Pseudoagrion sarepi

The most exciting aspect of this job was knowing I was painting a species which had never been drawn before.  That is a real honour.

The post Illustrating a new Damselfly species appeared first on Lizzie Harper.