sciart Archives - Page 4 of 4

Save the Bees: How to Make Your Garden a Bee Haven

Posted on 24th January 202019th June 2020 in Uncategorised

Save the bees and make your garden a Bee haven! This week’s Guest article provided by Oscar Owens. There are very few small creatures that make the headlines, but bees are one of them. Unfortunately, it’s almost always negative news. That’s why people keep asking: ‘how can we make our garden a safe haven for […] Read more

Illustrating a Coastal Hay Meadow Landscape

Posted on 27th September 201914th October 2019 in Current projects and news

Illustrating a Hay Meadow: The Commission 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 […] Read more

Illustrating a Water Meadow Landscape

Posted on 12th June 20179th January 2019 in Current projects and news

Getting started on a Water meadow landscape I was recently commissioned to complete a large natural history natural science watercolour illustration of a landscape. Woodstock is a water meadow habitat; the illustration would feature my wildlife and botanical illustrations of the species there. This illustration will be used on an interpretation panel, and was a […] Read more

Botanical Illustrations of Mosses

Posted on 21st October 201619th December 2018 in Current projects and news

Sometimes a botanical illustration commission appears that calls for something totally new. In all my days of natural history illustration, I’d never been asked to do a whole lot of mosses before. The closest I’ve been was illustrating two mosses for the FSC Churchyard Plants leaflet Moss: Grimmia pulvinata and Tortula muralis The commission came from the Field Studies Council’s […] Read more

Deer illustrations, watercolours, ducks, and snow!

Posted on 21st January 201318th October 2018 in Current projects and news

Tweaking the Deer illustrations There were some alterations required on the Whipsnade Zoo finals, oh the joys of process white gouache. Here are the “before and after” shots; see if you can tell what’s been changed… For more on this job, check out my blogs on the deer, the mara, and painting a hog deer. […] Read more

Botanical illustrations, coccolith, and a peacock

Posted on 14th January 201318th October 2018 in Current projects and news

I have finished the last of the illustrations for ZSL Whipsnade Zoo, and am just waiting to hear if any alterations are needed before sending them off. By far the hardest illustration in the set was the pair of peacock, whose complexity dwarfed any of the deer and antelope. Peacock trouble I think the problem with […] Read more

Deer scientific illustrations and a sparrow

Posted on 7th January 201318th October 2018 in Current projects and news, Showcase of themed natural history illustrations

This is a half week of work, but I’m pretty pleased with what I’ve got done. I’ve finished the last of the deer for ZSL Whipsnade; a grand total of eleven animals. If you’d like to see them all in one place, I’ve popped up an album of them on my facebook site: Deer and Antelope […] Read more

Botanical illustration of hawthorn berries y Lizzie with her paintbox

Step by step Botanical illustration of Hawthorn berries

Posted on 1st January 201317th October 2018 in Botanical Illustration step by step

In this blog I’ve broken down the steps involved in painting the berries of the Hawthorn Craetegus monogyna. This approach works just as well for any red shiny berry, although you’ll need to take care with what hue of red you mix. The real secret to getting these berries looking properly shiny is to ensure you […] Read more

Christmas botanical illustrations

Posted on 19th December 201211th January 2019 in Showcase of themed natural history illustrations

I’ve not been working this week, it’s the holidays. There are five illustrations outstanding for the Whipsnade Zoo commission, but the deadline isn’t for a fortnight so I’ll have plenty of time to complete them ahead of schedule. Instead, I’ve assembled a variety of seasonal illustrations, done over the years. Christmas plants There are lots […] Read more

Mara, wallaby, and a christmas illustration

Posted on 19th December 20123rd December 2018 in Zoological step by step

Christmas is coming! This week has been rather more to do with preparing for Christmas than illustrating. However, I have completed the remaining four roughs of deer for Whipsnade Zoo, and painted a mara and a Bennet’s Wallaby. Mara The mara is an animal that I’d not heard about until this commission came through. I took […] Read more

Deer, camel, and a yak

Posted on 17th December 201222nd November 2018 in Current projects and news

Hog Deer I’ve been working on the Whipsnade Zoo commission this week, and enjoying it. I got a fair amount done, too, which is good. Here’s a picture of the hog deer in progress, showing how I paint by layering up the different tones of the fur in tiny brush strokes. And here is the final. […] Read more

Natural history illustrations for ZSL

Posted on 9th December 201218th October 2018 in Current projects and news

I thought this week would be exclusively about marketing and getting more than 400 Christmas promotional cards featuring my illustrations in the post; however, it’s proved a little more interesting than that. ZSL Whipsnade zoo I got a commission from ZSL Whipsnade Zoo to paint illustrations of ten antelope species, and three other creatures. I’d never heard […] Read more

Ash die-back, framed illustrations, and a fish

Posted on 3rd December 201217th October 2018 in Current projects and news

Framed Illustrations I picked up two illustrations from my excellent framing workshop Fitting Frames this week. I also had a jigsaw of the Waterbugs and Dragonflies illustration made up. The painting is destined for a house with small children in, so I’ve included that in the photo too. Paintings that have been sold I sold a […] Read more

RHS day out, a lizard, and a magazine

Posted on 26th November 201218th October 2018 in Current projects and news

RHS Library trip This week was mostly spent away from the studio. On Wednesday I had a day trip to the Lindley Library at the RHS in London. Our group, The Institute of Analytical Plant Illustrators (IAPI) were given a tour of some of the wonderful treasures held there. Seeing the original paintings done by heroes such as Ehret, […] Read more

Oystercatcher natural history illustration, Christmas cards, a hairbrush

Posted on 19th November 201227th November 2018 in Current projects and news

This week was all about using time effectively. It’s something of an art-form, and has to be done often and with little warning. It happens when there’s a lot of natural history illustration work on, but you end up with time on your hands as you wait for feedback and “go-aheads” from clients before getting […] Read more

Grasses workshop, a poppy, and a stonechat

Posted on 12th November 201218th October 2018 in Current projects and news

Grasses Botanical illustration workshop The grasses workshop with Hereford Botanical Art Group went really well. There were 15 students, all experienced and informed, and most importantly enthusiastic. Having scoured wasteland and hedgerows, and begged for supplies from a farmer friend; I’d collated rather a fine of late flowering grasses. Rye grass, wheat, Cock’s foot, wild […] Read more

Hen harrier hunting grouse illustration

Posted on 22nd October 201221st November 2018 in Current projects and news

Hen Harrier chasing Red Grouse This week I very much enjoyed working on the landscape painting of a pair of hen harrier chasing down a red grouse: The first step was combining all the elements into a decent composition. This was complicated by the fact that the moor-land was based on a real […] Read more

Fungus, lichens, and dragonflies

Posted on 15th October 20123rd December 2018 in Current projects and news

This week has been a treat; although I’ve been working in the studio, I also got to be out in the countryside looking at fungus. First was a day studying Lichen and fungi with Ray Woods, a mycological expert, at Gilfach. Organised by Radnorshire Wildlife Trust; we got to search for fungus, learn about their […] Read more

Ivy sketchbook scientific illustration and a landscape

Posted on 8th October 201218th October 2018 in Current projects and news

Autumn is well and truly here; with flat yellow leaves on the pavements, tractors hauling trailer-loads of potatoes through town, and windfall apples rotting in the wet grass. Time to do some sketchbook studies. I had a wonderful time with the ivy, getting the depth of the glossy dark greens was really tough, but it […] Read more

Violet botanical illustration and a rough

Posted on 1st October 201218th October 2018 in Current projects and news

Firstly, I’ve finished my secret job! All I’m waiting for now is the go-ahead (or request for minor changes) from an extremely helpful entomological expert, then I can send off the finished articles. And invoice my client, and get paid! I’ve spent some very happy hours collating research for this big private commission; getting old […] Read more

First ever blog – Sketchbooks and landscapes

Posted on 24th September 201221st November 2018 in Current projects and news

This then is to be the first of my blogs in which I tell you what I’ve been working on, and any other news. I hope to pop one up once a week…. Lots going on at work. I’ve been illustrating final artworks for a secret job which involves meticulous painting of insects, and I’m […] Read more