The Process of Illustration
Lizzie works traditionally, by hand.
After researching the species she’s illustrating, she gathers reference (preferably specimens not images)
Working from a variety of sources, and being sure to emphasise species-specific traits, she draws up her illustration in pencil
Once the client approves this, she’ll complete the illustration in tonal pencil, pen and ink, pen and ink with watercolour wash, or full watercolour
Botanical Illustrations in Watercolour
Lizzie starts by plotting in her dark areas, then blends to lighter colours.
Finally, she picks out her darkest shadows with a deep mix of purple and blue
For more detailed information, check out her step by step blogs
Botanical Illustrations in Pen and Ink
Lizzie begins by drawing in pen and ink outlines
Next, she plots in the darkest areas with patches of solid ink
Finally, she blends these sharply distinct areas with endless stippled dots
If required, she’ll apply a top wash of watercolour
For more detailed information, check out her step by step blogs
Animal Illustrations in Watercolour
Working with specimens from her freezer whenever possible, Lizzie carefully colour matches paint to fur or feathers
Using lots of tiny strokes to add texture, she plots in her darkest shadows
With paler, diluted tints she blends these to lighter colours.
A top wash unifies the illustration and adds vibrancy
Lastly, she plots in the darkest shadows with a deep mix of blue and purple
For more detailed information, check out her step by step blogs
Animal Illustrations in Pen & Ink
First, Lizzie draws in the outlines
She next blocks in the darkest shadows with solid ink
Stippling, she tries to create an easy visual transition between dark areas and the white page
A top wash of colour can be added once the ink is dry
The process is very similar to her botanical pen and ink work
Watercolour Landscape Illustrations
Working from a client list, Lizzie collects species info and visual reference for all the plants and animals involved
Pencil roughs help position each species in the landscape
A more detailed pencil version is sent to the client, with annotations
Once approved, Lizzie “colours in” from distant landscape to foreground
She completes all the plants first
Finally, she will add the “jigsaw pieces” of the animals
For more on this process, check out the following blogs:
Illustrating a Coastal Hay Meadow
Illustrating a Water Meadow Landscape
To see Lizzie’s work as she completes it, follow her on Instagram
She often posts photos of her works in progress in her “Stories” and has links to her blogs, many of which are step by step explanations
This is the Apple maggot Rhagoletis pomonella adult, completed for FOR Sweden, a gardening organisation.
The flies have distinctive "F" marks on their wings and their egg laying, plus the damage caused by their maggots can trash ape crops.
I loved painting the damaged apples, and the browning holes in the fruit.
#fly #diptera #applemaggot #rhagoletis #naturalhistoryillustration #sciart #entomology #insectart #Pests #Apple
I`ve been painting apple blossom over the past couple of weeks for a commission.
I always prefer working from life to working from photos. But there are challenges. The speed at which apple blossom buds open is alarming, and hard to keep up with. Luckily only one of the sprigs I was painting decided to shed all its` petals as I painted, though.
Close inspection of the petals shows many have pink triangles of colour with pronounced edges, and that most of the colour appears on the outside of the petals. There is also evidence of alteration in pigmentation depending on whether or not the blossom is in direct sun, or in shade.
It`s such a good year for it! The orchards are frothy with flowers, and the gentle sounds of buzzing bees is positively bucolic.
Illustrations completed in watercolour, (with a big emphasis on Opera rose, Cadmium yellow light, Cobalt blue, and Permanent magenta).
The varieties shown here are Channel beauty, Col-afallen, and Knight bishop (in progress)
#blossom #appleblossom #malus #Apple #orchard #botanicalillustration #botanicalart #paintingblossom #sciart
This is a speeded up film of me illustrating the Field Fleawort, Tephroseris integrifolia
It`s 3 hours of painting condensed into one and a half minutes. if only my brush worked so fast in real life!
It`s a pretty wild flower, often overlooked, related to ragworts and dandelions. I love illustrating plants with pale green leaves like this, you have to use so much blue in the colour mixing.
Completed for a fold-out field guide to wild flowers for The Field Studies Council
#botanicalillustration #sciart #fleawort #tephrosis #byhand #watercolourpainting #watercolours #watercolor #compositeflowers
This is a #botanicalillustration study of the #potato plant i did for a horticultural society in Sweden.
It shows foods made from potato, and the entire plant, as well as how to propagate potatoes by #chitting.
I hardly ever get to do #foodillustration, so this was a treat.
Latest blog out is all about the Fabaceae, or Pea family:
https://lizzieharper.co.uk/2025/04/wildflower-families-fabaceae-the-pea-family/
It`s one in a series of blogs I`ve been doing on common wildflower families, and how to recognize similarities in species belonging to each family.
For the pea family (which is also known as the Leguminaceae or legumes family), you`re looking for pods, a distinct flower shape, paired stipules, nitrogen-fixing root nodules, and tendrils. Have a read and it`ll all make perfect sense!
#wildflowers #wildflowerfamilies #flowerfamilies #botany #botanicalillustration #BotanicalArt #flowerpainting #Fabaceae #peas #leguminaceae #legumes #sciart
This is an illustration of the Sweet Orange, Citrus sinensis.
One of the things an illustration can do that a photo can`t is to combine fruiting and flowering processes at the same time. This is usually artifice on the part of the illustrator.
However, in this case, the oranges take so long to mature that their ripening overlaps with the flowers which will become the fruit for the following year. So fruit and flower do indeed appear on the same plant at the same time.
Orange blossom is such a lovely scent. I`d love it if someone used my work on perfume bottles or beauty products (although they`d need to commission an illustration of Bitter orange, not Sweet orange). In this case, the illustration was completed for a honey jar label.
#botanicalillustration #citrus #orange #sweetorange #orangeblossom #orangeblossomhoney #sciartt #naturalhistoryillustration #naturalscienceillustration
I`ve just seen some of the seed packets I`ve been designing for Roselyn seeds, ready to hit the shelves
It`s lovely seeing work in context, and comparing the illustration with the original.
There`s another design ready to be made into a packet, and I`ve just started work on another four designs for Roselyn.
Each species shows the plant and a pollinator associated with it, against a blue summer sky.
The wildlife garden mix is a different idea, and for now is being used to package any seeds there`s not yet a specific design for.
#packagingdesign #packaging #seeds #redcampion #cornflowers #buttercups #oxeyedaisy #botanicalillustration #botanicalart #wildflowers #sciart #naturalscienceillustration #naturalhistoryillustration
This is my botanical illustration of Betony Stachys officinalis.
It`s a common plant, but often overlooked or mistaken for dead nettle.
I`ve added pictures of the work in progress & the initial pencil rough sketch which the botanists need to approve before I add colour.
I`ve also added a couple of close up details which show how I use the paint in layers to suggest texture on the bumpy leaves, and how the hairiness of the leaves is shown with either grey lines of watercolour on the leaf edges overlapping the white paper) or in white gouache (where the leaf margins overlap other darker leaves behind them).
Completed for a fold-out wild flower identification guide for @field_studies_council
#botanicalillustration #betony #stachys #stachysofficinalis #sciart
Sketchbooks
Most of Lizzie’s work is done direct to order
However, when she gets the chance she loves sketching for pleasure
Below are some pages from her sketchbooks
