Pencil roughs

The first thing to do is to figure out exactly what you’re going to be illustrating.  Consulting my botany books, I pull together a list of local wild flowers which should all be in bloom in late May (when the festival occurs).  Then I add insects which will be present.  These are early butterflies – the Orange tip Anthocharis cardamines, Common Blue Polyommatus icarus, and Small Tortoiseshell Aglais urticae.  I add the White-tailed bumble bee Bombus lucorum, Soldier beetles Rhagonycha fulva, and the Marmalade hoverfly Episyrphus balteatus.

To break up the sky, I pop in a Lark Alauda arvensis and a Red kite Milvus milvus.  Both these birds are quite common here, and I’ve seen Kites and Larks when walking up on Hay bluff.

The landscape is easy.  Hay bluff had to take centre stage.  This is our distinctive and stunning mountain, in the heart of the Brecon Beacons National Park.

I draw up my first pencil rough which shows what species will be included, and their position.  It’s not got a lot of detail yet.

Initial rough showing what species to include, and where to place them

Over a lovely cuppa at Shepherd’s ice-cream parlour in Hay (where, by the way, you can buy my greetings cards), we discuss the rough, and decide to go ahead to a more detailed version.  We decide to alter the Hay festival tents a bit, and move the bumble bee.

Detailed pencil rough

This rough takes time.  All the species are drawn up exactly as they will be in the final illustration.  I can make alterations (erasers are wonderful things), but the pencil drawing gets painted over, so it has to be right.  It takes a couple of days to draw in all the plants, animals, and tents.

I also decide what size to do it.  In this case, it’s 150% of reproduction size.  This means it’ll glow more when reduced, but we won’t lose the detail when it’s shrunk.

Detailed pencil rough

I add crop marks.  it’s a tight fit, especially the wing tips of the red kite.  But the crop marks work well.  The illustration should effectively fill the space of the mug without any crucial parts getting cropped.

Mug mock-up

The rough gets the go ahead.  I send it to the mug manufacturer, Duchess 1888 at Heraldic Pottery.  This company is the only one in the UK which makes bespoke decorative bone china cups and mugs here in Britain; many others outsource abroad.  Heraldic are incredibly helpful and friendly.

I’m worried about the curvature of the mug – will it massively alter the way the illustration sits on the cup and lead to unexpected cropping?

Duchess have a cunning graphics programme which curves the illustration.  This proves incredibly helpful.

The illustration as is vs when it’s curved to fit the mug shape

They even go to the trouble of mocking up a mug for us, using the rough, so we can see how it looks.  This involves creating a transfer, and applying it to the prototype mug.  Once it had set, they made a short film to show the mug from all angles.  They emailed us this film, and it showed everything working beautifully.  Time to get the paints out.

Clip from the film Duchess 1888 sent us showing the pencil rough on the mug.

Painting a Hay on Wye landscape

I use the same materials as always.  Fluid 100 Hot-press watercolour paper from Global Arts, my trusty number 1 size Series 7 watercolour paintbrush, and Winsor & Newton watercolour paints.

I start with the sky, brining a pale blue wash over everything but the very front of the illustration.  Then I work into the hills and the background, keeping it really pale.  You can always make watercolour paints darker, but it’s impossible to lighten them.

Next come the birds.  Illustrating the Kite was ok, but the Lark really was tiny (less than 1cm), and I was working on an uncomfortably tiny scale.  And loving it.

Tiny lark with a ruler and my Series 7 brush

I love to listen as I work.  Painting this landscape saw me hear all of Song of Achilles on Audible audiobooks, lots of back episodes of the brilliant Americast podcast, plenty of BBC Radio 6, and the fascinating Entangled Life (all about fungus) by Merlin Sheldrake.

The bunting on the tents is fun to colour, and I’m really happy with the flat vibrancy of the “HAY” letters.  I’d wondered if they might get lost or be too dark.  Turns out they’re fine,  Phew.

Illustrating flowers

Once the landscape is done I start on the flowers.  It’s always the same process.  Paint the background,  Then the leaves and grasses.  Follow up with flowers.  Finally, add animals.  For more on this, check out my blogs on illustrating an orchid meadow, Malham cove, a water meadow and a cross section of a hay meadow.

It’s vital to get a variety of greens there; some bluer and some yellower.  This is often a challenge, but if they greens are too similar the whole illustration looks flat.  It’s funny how very blue some greens can be.  A clover leaf is a whole world bluer than a speedwell leaf.

In this case, I got a bit bored of wandering amongst greens, so moved onto flowers before dropping in the grasses.

Ladybird on Dandelion (in prgoress)

The flowers have to glow, so I keep plenty of white on the petals until they are all blocked in.  then I put really pale top washes over them to unite the plants.  In this case, I used a very diluted Dr Martins Hydrous inks yellow – one of the cleanest yellow pigments I’ve found to date.

Illustrating the animals: Butterflies

It’s a treat when I have a sheet of paper with all the landscape and plants completed.  Then I can add each animal, one by one.  It feels like dropping in missing jigsaw pieces.

The butterflies are a challenge as they need to be really bright as well as vibrant.  The trick is to balance saturated colour without making them too dark.  Tiny brush marks help with this as they build up colour without swallowing all the white of the page.  I also am lucky enough to own a collection of Victorian butterflies, so can check my colours against these gems.

Common blue and Orange tip illustrations and specimens

The Common Blue isn’t pink enough.  This was a conscious decision.  Individuals do vary in colour, but I was taking a slight liberty.  The butterfly had to echo the bright blue of the letter “A”, and if I’d gone too purple that wouldn’t have worked.  I hope I can be forgiven…

The Small Tortoiseshell is one of our commonest butterflies, but it’s so beautiful that I never tire of illustrating it.  That azure of the wing margins and the deep oranges of the wings.  It’s a stunning insect.  This one has worked out ok.  The oranges echo the colours in the Orange-tip butterfly.  This helps draw the eye across the illustration (actually, I suppose I should say “around the mug”).

Small tortoiseshell detail

Illustrating the other animals

Illustrating ladybirds is so much fun.  That shiny red against the glowing yellow of the dandelion?  Loved it.  Although, looking at it now, I think perhaps the elytra are a little too pink…?  The red Soldier beetles were easy enough, and I enjoy the fact that I’ve got them mating on the cow parsley.  I see them doing this all the time, but it makes me smile when I manage to sneak something a little more than PG-rated into my illustrations.

Ladybird detail

The mouse took ages, but worked out well.  I wanted to echo the pinks and reds of the clover in its fur, and add enough definition for it to look a little lifelike and not flat.  I still spend hours looking at the amazing illustrations done by Beatrix Potter, and am green with envy.  Her mice are especially wonderful.

Mouse detail

Bumble bees are lovely, but not easy to illustrate.  Combining the black colour with the feeling of furry-ness is something I’ve not fully mastered.  But having paler versions of the grasses and flowers behind the wings is easy to do, and a good way to fool the eye into believing wings are transparent.

Bumble bee detail

Finished Illustration

Tweaks relating to adding shadows to the illustration, balancing the reds across the page, and crisping up edges take for ever.  They’re worth doing, though.  You end up feeling the whole image is brought into focus.  The reduction will amplify this effect, and hopefully will make the colours even more jewel-like.

Finished Hay Festival 2022 mug illustration

There’s a short film to accompany this blog.

Luckily, the team at Hay Festival are really pleased.  They’re planning on getting a series of limited edition prints made, along with greetings cards and perhaps postcards.  There’s talk of them buying the original illustration for their office wall.  It’s all very flattering.

Finished mug…full of tea!

Personally, it’s the finished mug that I’m so pleased with  And if you want your own mug to drink tea from as you peruse this blog, just click on the link to the Hay festival merchandise shop.

Hay festival mug with artwork and paintbox

The post Hay Festival Mug Design appeared first on Lizzie Harper.

Flora in Sweden have recently re-designed their packaging.  And I’m more than excited to say that the new margarine tubs and associated products feature my illustrations of White and Red clover!

The new designs have been done by Pond Design for Unilever, and I think they look really good.  There’s a range of products on offer.  Margarine spreads, and some mysterious bottled products which, alas, my Swedish isn’t up to translating.

Pond design have tweaked the original illustrations very cleverly, and I’m very impressed by the way they’ve used the different elements to decorate the surfaces of the Flora margarine tub.

Red and White Clover original illustrations

What makes this whole job even more marvellous is that I didn’t need to pick up a paint brush!  The two clover species had already been completed a year earlier for the Field Studies Council and were used on fold out identification charts.  In fact, both have been framed and the White clover Trifolium repens original has been sold.  (The red clover Trifolium pratense is still available for sale).

So when I was approached by Pond Design, we were already discussing re-licensing fees rather than creating original illustrations.  This re-licensing can be tricky, and the Assocation of Illustrators were very helpful in figuring out the correct agreement and budget.

Flora Margarine products

I was intrigued to see the layout documents showing the design specs as well as the finished article.  I’ve not seen these up close before, and the detail and attention to minutiae that go into making the designs fit the container perfectly is impressive.

Here are the side and top views of the Flora margarine tubs.  The white clover contains normal salt, whilst the red clover is extra salty.  With the two products are next to each other, you can see that both feature leaves from both species of plant; it’s just the flowering heads that have been swapped out.

The other products are, according to Google translate, “Vegan alternatives to Cream”.   Translating “Visp” and “Mat” was harder for Google, although I think the translation of “whipped” and “food” refer to one being whipped cream and the other one a spread?

The last set of products are a mystery.  I believe they are for the Finnish market, not the Swedish one.  The Google translation is  “Food black beans” and “Whisked beans”.  I’m guessing someone with a good grasp of Finnish would give a clearer explanation!  Suffice to say I think they’re vegan alternatives to dairy products.

Subsequent to writing this blog, Siru Curzon ( a Finnish reader of my blog) read my blog and explained that these are Finnish whipped cream products.  They come in different flavours (such as garlic, or fish spices) and are used both as additions to a meal, and in cookery.

Siru also clarified that this particular whipped cream is made from beans, so Google translate wasn’t far off after all!  Many thanks to Siru.

Hanging onto copyright

I have always been a stickler for hanging onto the copyright of my illustrations.  This was drilled into me over the years at various seminars conducted by the endlessly wonderful Association of Illustrators.

I’ve turned down numerous jobs which demanded my copyright.  I spend long hours poring over the fine print of contracts making sure everything is as it should be.  Ah me, it’s not all glamour and painting when you’re an illustrator!

This job was lucrative, swiftly conducted, and I love how they’ve used my work.  All those times I’ve wondered if I was simply being stubborn for refusing to concede my copyright seem to fall away.  Vindication is sweet.

Copyright – when to sell it

I suppose my main reason for posting this isn’t to gloat.  It is to emphasize how vital is is for illustrators to fight copyright grabs and hang onto their copyright as much as possible.  Yes you may have to turn down work which other illustrators will pick up.  Sometimes a job comes along which pays so well that selling copyright is acceptable.  Logos and very high profile ad campaigns come to mind.  There are a couple of clients who demand copyright as they’re legally obliged to.  Stamp and bank note or money designers always ask for universal copyright.  If you kept your copyright in these cases you’d literally be in a position to print your own money!

Conslusion

However, in most cases, don’t do it!  Educate your clients, many have no idea what financial implications selling their  copyright means to a creator.  Hang onto your copyright.  Ask for adjustments to a contract.  Accept that you lose some jobs.  Join the AOI and ask them to help you negotiate contract law.  Work with them to fight the insidious creeping nastiness that is copyright grabs.

The rewards for winning this fight are clear.  I have an online library of over 2000 completed illustrations that I have universal copyright on.  This means I can earn money for licensing these just by writing a contract and sending a scan across the internet.  About half my annual takings are from this re-use library.  And there’s no reason on earth why the same thing couldn’t be happening for the majority of illustrators around the world.

For a step by step guide to how I went about completing my botanical illustration of the Red clover, have a look at my earlier blog.

The post Flora Margarine in Sweden appeared first on Lizzie Harper.

Gathering reference

First step with any sciart botanical illustration is to get good reference.  Not only do I know where a local patch of red clover is growing, so I can gather leaves to work from, but I also back this up with good reference books like HarperCollins Guide to Wild Flowers by David Streeter, Streeter and Garrard’s The Wild Flowers of the British Isles, and the immaculate line drawings of Stella Ross-Craig (I finally have a full set of her drawings of British wild flowers!).  These are the main visual reference books I refer to for any  botanical illustration job. As this commission came in during winter, it means I can get the flowers right despite not being able to get my hands on any living ref.

I also consulted my trusty sketchbook notes, which have visual and written info on all the wild flowers I look at, and bits of leaf and dried flower heads glued in.

Sketchbook study of Red clover

Pencil rough

A pencil rough is the next step, I prefer mechanical pencils as you can sharpen the lead by snapping it on the page, and thus regain a graphite point without pausing in your drawing.  This one’s done with a Pentel P205, H lead, 0.5mm.  Rough drawings need to include all the botanical information required to identify that specific plant, and to catch the “feel” of the plant.

Pencil rough of Red clover

Once this gets the go-ahead from the client, I can start painting.

Starting the painting: Leaves

I drew this one up on my old stock of Fabriano Classico hot press paper (manafacturing changes mean this paper is no longer a good option for botanical illustration, but luckily I still have some stock-piled from before the changes.)

First, I plot in the darks on the leaves in watercolour.  For the blueish green of Clover, I mix Sap green with some Turquoise, yellow ochre, violet lake, and cobalt blue.  I tend to favour Winsor and Newton pans, and always use a Winsorand Newton Series7 paintbrush (they hold their tips like no other brush).  The darks on a clover aren’t that dramatic; the leaves are comparatively flat, so it’s more a matter of giving a suggestion of the veins, and ensuring the leaflets all have some areas darker than others (generally those close to the stipule and midrib, where the leaf dents down to join these structures and shadows are cast).

Red Clover – plotting in the shadows and leaf veins on the trifoliate leaves

Painting the stem and bracts

Next, I wanted to get the bracts and the stems down.  This means mixing a far yellower hue.  The hue is based on a viridian light green,  with plenty of winsor yellow, yellow ochre, and a touch of turquoise added.  Initial painted lines are quite distinct, the paint will be thinned to a wetter and paler consistency later on.  I make sure the stems are darker where they join one another or are shadowed by bracts or leaves.  I also plot in the green areas within the flowering heads, and take the yellower colour out along the mid ribs of the leaves.

Red clover – plotting in the stem and bract edges, and painting in the leaf mid ribs.

Next stage is to cover each leaf with a very very pale yellowish green.  It’s vital to make sure the distinctive white patches aren’t swallowed up.  I also pop in the underside colour of the leaves which is a chalky blue colour.  Leaving details of damage on leaves is a lot of fun, so enjoy working into the hole on the leaf.  Mixing up a maroon (crimson lake, Purple, and vandyke brown), I put in the intiricate network of veins you can see on the bracts.

I also use this same mix to bulk up the darkest areas of bract.  The flushed stem shadows use a similar hue.  I plot in the blue and pale underside of the leaves.

Watercolour: Painting the clover florets

I paint in the darkest parts of each clover floret. I love this bit, playing with such incredible bright colours is a treat after seas of green.  This magenta colour is a mix of Doctor Martin’s hydrous inks – 9H Cobalt violet with 5H Quinacridone magenta.  I get a paler hue by diluting the mix with water.

Red clover – painting the florets

Red clover – Magenta areas all plotted in

Adding depth to the leaves

Now I work into the green of the leaves, to give them some bulk and colour.  I do this by using the same colour I used earlier, but with a touch of yellow added, and in a far wetter, more dilute mix.  I pop this over the entire leaf which helps give colour to the paler patches without swallowing them up in dark green.  Make sure the leaf tips are where the wash collects to dry, this darkening of the leaf apex gives shape to the leaflets.

Red clover – working into the leaves

Finishing touches and shadows

A few more steps are involved before the illustration is complete.  First, go over the flowers with an exceedingly pale pink watery wash.  This stops the dinstinction between the painted areas and the white of the page from looking so stark.  I also add some bright yellow to the base of each floret, where they attach to their individual bracts and to the stem.  I also use the same bright yellow to pick out the midribs of the leaflets and the darker areas in the white leaf splotches.  This is, in retrospect, ill-advised.

I also mix up green and yellow ochre, and add the haris to the plant.

I add shadows with a mix of winsor blue and purple lake; sometimes I mix cobalt blue and cobalt violet to the mix to soften it a little.  This helps the leaflets jump out a little more.

Red clover – finished!

This Red clover is a funny one, because of the simplicity of the shadows on the leaves, and the complexity of the flowers, it’s a reversal of the normal process where the leaves take a great deal longer to work up than the flower.  However, I’m pleased with the finished illustration, and the fact that it took 3 hours instead of my more average 5-7 hours is an added bonus.

The post Botanical Illustration of Red Clover- step by step appeared first on Lizzie Harper.