painting Archives - Lizzie Harper

Nasturtium

Posted on 20th March 2026 in Current projects and news, Wildflower families

The nasturtium, Tropaeolum majus, is one of my favourite garden flowers. It’s a blaze of colour in the autumn, is edible, and is a great subject to draw. Family Nasturtium are members of the Tropaeolaceae. Members are succulent with alternate leaves and flowers borne singly on stems. They’re climbing vines, originating in South America. Other […] 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

Mosquito life cycle – illustrating the Anopholes mosquito

Posted on 21st April 20238th May 2023 in Current projects and news, Uncategorised

Introducing the African Malaria mosquito, Anopheles gambiae 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 […] Read more

Step by step illustration of a Robin

Posted on 24th December 202124th December 2021 in Zoological step by step

Step by step blogs can be tricky to write – I often don’t know where to begin the explanation. In this blog, I’ll explain how I add colour to a pencil drawing of a Robin Erithacus rubecula. Completed Robin Step by step: Getting reference To get your drawing done, look for royalty free photos online, […] Read more

Habit sketch of Cow parsley: step by step

Posted on 26th November 202126th November 2021 in Botanical Illustration step by step

Habit sketches are an important aspect of doing botanical illustrations. They need to show an entire plant, and suggest how it grows within its environment. 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 […] Read more

Cow Parsley: All about an Umbellifer

Posted on 12th November 20211st July 2024 in Botany: Telling species apart, Current projects and news

Cow parsley Anthriscus sylvestris was on the list of plants I recently illustrated for FOR Sweden. These plants are invasive in Scandinavia, and particularly troublesome in Iceland. 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 […] Read more

Botanical illustration of hawthorn berries y Lizzie with her paintbox

Equipment: Paintbrushes

Posted on 10th September 20218th May 2023 in Illustration Equipment, Illustration techniques, Testing Synthetic Watercolour brushes

Equipment: Paintbrushes is another in the series about what tools I use when I illustrate; so feel free to check out my earlier blogs on what watercolour paper to use, the guest blog on waterproof inks, watercolour paints, pencils and erasers, and another on what science stuff you might need. Paintbrushes As with all of […] Read more

Equipment: Paints

Posted on 19th February 202119th March 2021 in Illustration Equipment, Illustration techniques

Equipment: Paints is another in my series about materials and equipment used for creating botanical and natural history illustrations. Check out my blogs on which watercolour paper to use, pencils and erasers, and a review of waterproof inks. Future blogs in this series will include one on my paintbrush of choice, one on science stuff […] Read more

Mixing Neutral Tints and Colours

Posted on 10th August 2019 in Illustration techniques, Uncategorised

What are Neutral Tints? Neutral tints (or colours) are grey hues which don’t carry any dominant shade. They are, as the name suggests, neutral. In 1887, a neutral tint was defined by Winsor & Newton as, “‘A compound shadow colour of a cool neutral character.” So a blue-grey or a grey with a pink […] Read more

Desk with finished botanical illustration, sweet peas, and paint box

Step by Step Everlasting Sweet pea botanical illustration

Posted on 26th July 201924th January 2023 in Botanical Illustration step by step

Sweet peas are beautiful flowers, and a joy to paint. This blog is a step by step guide to painting the Two-flowered Everlasting Sweet Pea Lathyrus grandiflorus. About Sweet peas Members of the legume family; Sweet peas are classed alongside peas, gorse, beans and lupins. Lots of food crops are members of this family; alfalfa, […] Read more

Crickhowell Art Trail

Posted on 12th June 201513th December 2018 in Scientific Illustrator out and about

Taking part in Crickhowell Art Trail It’s been a busy few weeks for this natural history illustrator. Hay Festival, demonstrating at the National Botanic Gardens of Wales (more of which next week), and illustrating and meeting the public during Crickhowell Art Trail. Bookish is a wonderful independent book shop in Crickhowell. They asked me to be […] Read more