Lizzie Harper Illustrator

@lizzie-harper

Professional freelance botanical and natural history Illustrator Website: www.lizzieharper.co.uk I love all the incredible plants & animals I get to illustrate in pen, pencil, and watercolour. Been painting nature for over 30 years & totally love it.

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Lizzie Harper Illustrator@lizzie-harper· 10d

This is the Wuropean Water Rail, Rallus aquaticus Its a bird I am yet to see in the wild as it is secretive. It's found in wetlands, where it hides in thick vegetation. The last image shows it alongside many tiny toadlets who share the habitat. #naturalhistoryilliustration #noaiart #waterrail

Detail of a watercolour #sciart ##naturalhistoryillustration of a #Waterrail #Rallusaquaticus in a watery landscape. There are iris leaves, a blue skimmer #dragonfly, a #frog hiding, abd #raggedrobin growing alongside an orchid.

Watercolour #sciart #naturalhistoryillustration of a #wetland landscape with animals in the foreground. There is greater reed mace and distant hills. The water is a slow moving stream. In the foreground theres a cross section showing fish, dragonfly larvae, abd waterweed. The focus is the #Waterrail #Rallusaquaticus amongst iris leaves.

Water rail Rallus aquatics creeping amongst mud and lots of tiny #toadlets. Theres water behind the bird, who is mostly grey and brown, with a red bill and striped black and white rump

Lizzie Harper Illustrator@lizzie-harper· 17d

Thistles are brilliant flowers for pollinators, and are the food plants for several butterfly species, like the Painted Lady They're also rather beautiful, so Im trying to leave them to grow in corners of the garden rather than pull them out and label them as "weeds"

Marsh thistle #botanicalillustration cut to white #sciart showing prickly leaves, flowering head, and basal rosette

Meadow thistle #botanicalillustration cut to white #sciart showing 2 elongated prickly leaves, the compact maroon flowering head with one flower turned to thistle down

Close up of two flowering heads of the globe thistle with a background of overlapping #thistle leaves

Lizzie Harper Illustrator@lizzie-harper· 24d

This is a recent #botanicalillustration of the #foxglove #Digitariapurpurea. Although Ive illustrated it before, I wasn't overjoyed with the paintings, so took the opportunity of a free day to complete a better version. With the soft green leanes and purples and spots, its a treat to illustrate.

#sciart #botanicalart of the foxglove right after the paunting is completed. On the left theres my paintbrush, on the right my paintbox with purples mixed in the palette, from painting the magenta tubular flowers with the dark purple spots in their throats.

Photo of me illustrating the foxglove. The basal rosette of floppy soft green leaves I done, and Im working on the turret of flowers, from left to right. My hand is holding the brush and resting on a sheet pf paper to keep the illustration clean

Close up of the leaves of the foxglove. Darker margin teeth have been picked out with a deep blue. Shadows showing the bumpy texture are a darker green, and cling to the lines of the side veins.

Detsil of the foxglove fliwers. They're magenta and tube like with slightly paler rims. Inside the bell shaped flower is an area of dark purple irregular spots, each ringed with white.

Lizzie Harper Illustrator@lizzie-harper· Jul 24

New blog out, one in a series on #trees. This one is all about the Olive, #Olea europea: lizzieharper.co.uk/2026/07/oliv... The colours of olives and olive leaves are a joy to work with, muted greens and warm purples. And drawing the twisted trunk of an ancient olive tree is a treat.

Close up of a #sciart #botanicalillustration of the #Olive #Oleaeuropea showing immature green fruit, ripening green fruit flushes purples, and rip shiny fruit with a distinctive purple colour. Detail of a larger piece of #botanicalart showing two sprigs of olive, one in fruit and one in flower. The olives shown are Kalamata.

Cut to white #botanicalart #illustration, illustrated #byhand #noAI. The image shows two sprigs of olive, one in fruit and one in flower. The olives shown are Kalamata. The fruit sprig curves towards the left and there are plenty of ripe purple olives as well as unripe green olives. The second sprig curves to the left and shows the tiny white olive flowers. Leaves are a soft green with much paler undersides. Bark of the twigs is a pale grey

#penandink illustration of an #olivetree, all twisted and ancient and gnarled. The tree leans sideways to the left, and there are a couple of spindly branches lower down without foliage. Leaves are represented by lots of little dashes and the branches and twigs are visible amongst them. The tree is gnarled and looks ancient. Cut to white. Illustration completed for "The Living wisdom of Trees" by Fred Hageneder

Lizzie Harper Illustrator@lizzie-harper· Jul 18

My #wildflower garden is baking in the UK heat, but these four flowers are thriving, and attracting loads of pollinators. There's Scabiosa columbaria Small scabious, Oxeye daisy Leucanthemum vulgare, Common Knapweed Centaura nigra and Evening primrose Oenothera biennis. (My #Botanicalillustrations)

#Botanicalillustration of #Scabiosacolumbaria, the Small #scabious.

The illustration is cut to white and shows the whole plant, including where it roots at nodes along the horizontal stem. The inflorescence is a mass or pale blue flowers held on a long stem. There's a close up on one of the flowers showing the splayed pointy calyx teeth and emergent stamens and styles. The leaves are pinnate and thin higher up the plant, at the base they become far broader, and have wider lobes.

Cut to white #sciart #botanicalart #illustration of the #Oxeye #daisy #Leucanthemum vulgare, in watercolour. There's one central daisy with individual disc florets at the yellow centre of the flower. Surrounding it is a ring of white ray florets. The stem in ridged and leaves are mildly toothed, spathulate, and alternate down the stem. There is a close up of an individual ray and an individual disc floret on the left bottom corner.

#Botany cut to white #naturalscienceillustration of the Common or Black #Knapweed #Centaura nigra. The illustration shows three flowering heads, tufts of purple emerging from the scale-like rounded capitulum bases. Leaves are a soft green with a much paler stem. Lower leaves clasp the stem and have lobes. Upper leaves are simpler, smaller, and entire. Undersides of the leaves are a much paler green than the top side.

Botanical illustration in watercolour, cut to white, of the #Eveningprimrose #Oenothera biennis with stem detail showing the tiny glands and hairs.

It's a big leafy plant with large floppy leaves and yellow flowers. This image shows the main stem with dour flowers out and several buds yet to bloom.

Lizzie Harper Illustrator@lizzie-harper· Jul 9

Lovely to get my copy of the RHS Wildflower pocket guide by Gareth Richards, which I was lucky enough to so some botanical illustrions for. Putting colour behind my illustrations makes them look really different, its an interesting effect. #botanicalart #botanicalillustration #RHS #wildflowers

Botanical illustration against a coloured background, used in gareth richards rhs pocket guide to wildflowers.

This is #thrift against a blue background

Cover of rhs wildflower pocket guide by Gareth Richards which features many of my #sciary #illustrations. The cover is pink with a blue line drawing on a dianthus

Botanical illustration against a coloured background, used in gareth richards rhs pocket guide to wildflowers.

This is #daisy #bellisperennis against a slightly ill advised orange yellow background #sciart

Botanical illustration against a coloured background, used in gareth richards rhs pocket guide to wildflowers.

This is #tbetony against a blue background

Lizzie Harper Illustrator@lizzie-harper· Jun 26

My Newsletter for June 2026 is just out: mailchi.mp/a54bfedcb99a... Take a look at my latest projects, updates on the books I've been writing and illustrating, blogs, and the chance to buy original illustrations. #sciart #naturalhistoryillustration #botanicalillustration #noaiart

Cut to white #bluebell #hyacinthoides non-scripta with curved flower heads and deep blue bell-shaped flowers. Bulb is also shown.

#botanicart #botanicalillustration #naturalscienceillustration #sciart #naturalworld #illustration #notoaiart #nature

Two #apple #blossom #malusdomestica #botanicalillustrations cut to white, with pink petals and fresh bright green leaves, taken from the same tree. One blossom shows the flower fully out, the other shows it in bud.

Cut to white illustration of #amanita muscaria, the #flyagaric #toadstool. Showing one iconic red toadstool with scarlet cap covered in white flakes of the universal veil, and three smaller #fungi crowded around its base.

Lizzie Harper Illustrator@lizzie-harper· Jun 19

Really pleased with the "Nature in your neighbourhood" leaflets that @staffswildlife.bsky.social have produced, featuring my #naturalhistoryillustrations and #botanicalillustrations. Projects like this make me really happy, and show my #sciart work in the context it was intended and created for.

Front page on "nature in your neighbourhood" leaflet produced by Staffordshire wildlife trust. Species shown include the #dandelion, #hedgehog, #bramble, robin, #bumblebee, and #commonfrog. The illustrations are colour coded so you can tell what habitat you are likely to encounter them in.

"nature in your neighbourhood" leaflet produced by Staffordshire wildlife trust. Species shown include the #dandelion, #hedgehog, #bramble, robin, #bumblebee, and #commonfrog, heath #spottedorchid, #ladybird, #flycatcher, #swift, #yellowrattle, #slowworm, #grasssnake., #curlew, #birdsfoottrefoil, #plantain, burnetmoth #willowtit, #sparrow. #vole, #cuckooflower, #celendine, and #commonvetch. The illustrations are colour coded so you can tell what habitat you are likely to encounter them in.

cut to white botanical illustration of the common spotted #orchid #Dactylorhizafuchsii showing strap like leaves with purple spots and the clustered flowers on the flowering spike. Each flower is marked and spotted, and a pink colour, darker to the outside of the petals.

Lizzie Harper Illustrator@lizzie-harper· Jun 5

This is my recent #sciart #illustration of the Marmalade #hoverfly #Episyrphus balteatus. It's a beautiful and familiar insect, and is one of the easiest UK hoverfly species to identify. Wasp mimics, they're flies, and vital pollinators. Their larvae eat aphids voraciously,so gardeners love them.

Cut to white illustration of the Marmalade hoverfly Episyrphus balteatus, showing the thick-thin bands of golden yellow, orange, and black, and prominent compound eyes. Males eyes touch, but the females have a little space between them; they're mahogony in both sexes. Like all #diptera (flies) they have one obvious pair of wings, with the second set reduced to lollipop-shaped "halteres" which allow them to perform amazing aerial acrobatics. This illustration shows the hoverfly from above, with legs visible below the clear wings.

Not only are they really important pollinators, they also migrate to Britain every year, often from as far away as the Mediterranean.

#entomology #entomologicalillustration #naturalhistoryillustration #naturalscienceillustration

Lizzie Harper Illustrator@lizzie-harper· May 22

Here are two species of #Squill found in the UK, Spring squill #Scillaverna and Autumn squill #Scillaautumnalis. They're members of the #Scilloideae, along with bluebells, hyacinth, and Grape hyacinth. The biggest challenge was ensuring the flowers are as nuanced as possible, and not a vivid blue

Illustration of Spring squill plant with long leaves emerging from the bulb. Roots are shown, as it a detail of the berry-like greenish fruit. There is one flowering head, with six large star-shaped flowers, all a pale blue colour

Close up of the flowers of the Spring squill showing the 5 petalled flowers, blue anthers, and central structures. You can also see the blueish tissue-like bracts at the base of the flowering spike.

#sciart #botanicalillustration #squill #noAiart #botanicalillustration

Close up detail of the flowers of autumn squill, blue at the tips. Some are in bud, some fully opened. Anthers are outlined in blue, filaments are mauve.

Illustration of SAutumn squill plant with little leaves emerging from the bulb. The adult leaves, longer and green, and shown behind the main illustration. long leaves emerging from the bulb. Roots are shown, and there is a spike showing the green fruit as well as one bearing flowers. The flowers are star-shaped with six petals, growing alternately up the flowering spike, all are a very pale blue colour

Lizzie Harper Illustrator@lizzie-harper· May 11

So pleased to have my botanical illustrations in Grasslands by John Wright, published this month. The cover, by Luna North, is a beautiful print, and my pictures, reproduced in monochrome, sit well with the text. It's a lovely book, and a fascinating read, too. Well done @profilebooks.bsky.social !

Monochrome reproduction of a #botanicalillustration by Lizzie Harper, featured in #Grasslands by John Wright, published later this month.

This #sciart illustration is an annotated #grass, Yorkshire fog. Cut to white, and the image is a scan from the pages of the book.

Monochrome reproduction of a #botanicalillustration by Lizzie Harper, featured in #Grasslands by John Wright, published later this month.

The illustration is of Black Medick showing the dark seeds and trifoliate leaves with typical apical points. Within text layout.

Cover of Grasslands by John Wright, not my work, but a gorgeous print by Luna North, printed in bright green, darker green, and black against a cream background. It's a choppy style and features fungus, insects, a swallow, along with the title of the book and the author's name.

Monochrome reproduction of a #botanicalillustration by Lizzie Harper, featured in #Grasslands by John Wright, published later this month.

This is Lesser #Hawkbit with its' basal rosette of leaves. Two flowers are in bloom, there's a bud, and a "dandelion clock" style #seedhead aloing with a close up of the #cypsela. Reproduced alongside text

Lizzie Harper Illustrator@lizzie-harper· May 3

The Thrift clearwing moth Pyropteron muscaeforme on a Thrift flower. One of a series of insects completed for Devon area of Natural beauty. This moth is found in rocky seaside habitats where thrift grows in abundance, and has window-clear rear wings, demarked with dark veins. It also visits thyme.

Thrift clearwing moth Pyropteron muscaeforme on Thrift. This #sciart #naturalhistoryillustration shows the #clearwing #moth #Pyropteran muscaeforme on a flowereing head of #thrift. The moth is dark brown and white, with clear underwings, made visible by dark vein veins. The upper wings have dark brown and white marks. The body of the moth is a furry dark brown thorax with cream side stripes and a thin central line. The abdomen shows three clear segments, each is dark brown with a white horizontal band in its' middle. the moth has a tuft of ginger fur between its eyes and long non-feathered antennae which are black except for a white semicircle on the two terminal segments.

The thrift is in fully flower, an inflorescence of pale pink closely compacted pale pint flowers with pale yellow stamens. The stalk comes up from the right bottom corner, and has the distinctive papery collar just below the flowering head.

Pencil rough drawing of Thrift clearwing moth Pyropteron muscaeforme on Thrift. it's an atonal line drawing showing the moth sitting at a diagonal of the flowering head of a thrift flower

Thrift clearwing moth Pyropteron muscaeforme on Thrift. Detail of the right hand wings, upper and lower, with the thrift flowers behind.

#naturalscienceillustration #insects #moths #insectillustration #notoAI

Lizzie Harper Illustrator@lizzie-harper· Apr 17

I've been drawing Pear blossom this week, in pencil, and loving it. Drawing blossom is always a challenge as the petals tend to uncurl as you draw, and very often simply fall off. Anyone who suggests plants stay still as you draw them hasn't spent long enough alone with a flower and a sketchbook!

#pencil #sciart #botanicalillustration of #pear #blossom, #pyrus communis.

There's a cluster of blossom pointing to the right, with young crinkled leaves behind. Lots of stamens and anthers. Not all the blossoms are fully out, most are yet to flatten out their petal tips.

The twig is a dark shiny colour with few lenticels and limited ribbing. On the left side are two leaf buds, just about to unfurl/

Lizzie Harper Illustrator@lizzie-harper· Mar 27

#Frogs for Friday. The smaller one is the #Montserrat #whistlingfrog, #Eleutherodactylus johnstonei. The larger is Montserrat #mountainchicken frog #Leptodactylus fallax. This species was almost eradicated by chytrid, but has been successfully reintroduced: www.mountainchicken.org/conservation...

he Montserrat mountain chicken frog Leptodactylus fallax cut to white, frog is facing the left and is various shades of brown and green. #naturalscienceillustration #naturalhistoyillustration

This warty little frog is the Whistling frog, a smaller amphibian, and a paler brown. Its toes are larger, and it turns up in bathrooms and indoors, it's common and sings lustily. Cut to white, brown with darker markings and a pale belly. It has large copper coloured eyes with horizontal pupils.

Lizzie Harper Illustrator@lizzie-harper· Mar 12

This is the Great green bush #cricket #Tettigonia viridissima, #sciart illustration, in watercolour. I've seen these insects in the wild, but although large they're amazingly well camouflaged. I loved painting the the network of wing veins, and the sweep of the antennae. #insect #entomology

Cut to white #naturalhistory #illustration of the Great green #bushcricket #Tettigoniaviridissima. It is facing right and has long thin antennae sweeping behind it. The whole insect is a soft pale green with tiny scarlet lines on the wings and top of thorax and head. The ovipositor is large and flushed crimson. Front legs point forward and hind legs are bent, ready to spring into the air. The wings are held at an angle that allows you to see the abdominal segments below. This insect was illustrated for a wildlife reserve in coastal Devon, UK, where the bush crickets hang out in unimproved grassland overlooking the sea

Lizzie Harper Illustrator@lizzie-harper· Mar 2

This is the Polka dot wasp #moth #Syntomeida epilais, also known as the #Oleander moth (on which its yellow caterpillars with their long black setae feed voraciously). Completed for the National Trust of #Montserrat, & UKOTCF. It's used in a colouring book, in a section about patterns in nature.

Polka dot wasp Syntomeida epilais showing a moth with wings outstretched. The wings are metallic black with green and blue highlights. There are 5 large white spots of each set of wings, and also on the furry body. The terminal abdominal segments are a striking rusty scarlet. Legs are black with white tarsi, and the tips of the black antennae are also white. Watercolour #sciart #naturalscienceillustration completed by hand.

Lizzie Harper Illustrator@lizzie-harper· Feb 13

This is the Antillean crested #hummingbird #Orthorhyncus cristatus. I painted a pair for Montserrat National Trust & UKOTCF. They feature in a lovely "Montserrat's Biodiversity Rainbow" educational booklet, which I'm loving. There's a black and white version too, to colour in.

Antillean crested hummingbird male Orthorhyncus cristatus, #sciart #illustration in watercolour, cut to white. The male has his crest erect and is in flight, hovering above the branch of a guava tree, with it's smooth dark green leaves. It has a white throat and black eye band and belly. Much of the plumage is an irridescent green, shown by painting the feathers dark green with stark vivid yellow and bright green highlights.

Page from the colouring in book featuring the humming birds with accompanying text. There is an illustration of a Montserrat anole on the same page, along with my #botancialillustration of the Resurrection fern and the Broad leaf plantain. A strip of green on the far right show the illustrations feature on the "Biodiversity Rainbow: Green" page of the booklet.

Page from the colouring in book featuring the humming birds as black and white line drawings to colour in. There is a line drawing of a Montserrat anole on the same page. Both feature on the "Biodiversity Rainbow: Green" page of the booklet.

Lizzie Harper Illustrator@lizzie-harper· Feb 6

Here's another of the #naturalhistoryillustrations I did of #Montserrat wildlife. This is the #Greenseaturtle, #Cheloniamydas. The pattern of the shell is tough to try and capture. Lots of layers of paint, and treating each scute individually. #seaturtle #naturalscienceillustration #sciart

Lizzie Harper Illustrator@lizzie-harper· Jan 23

This is the Lettuce #seaslug #Elysia crispata, found in the #Caribbean. Completed #sciart #illustration for Montserrat national trust, one version in watercolour, one in pen and ink. Blue is unusual in nature, so working on such an insanely glorious animal was, of course, a massive treat.

Watercolour #naturalhistoryillustration done #byhand showing the sea slug curving towards the viewer. Its body is green with white spots, the frills are sky blue and froth along it's back, obscuring the main body. At the head end are two furled tentacles, also blue but flushed magenta. Illustration is cut to white.

Pen and ink line drawing done by hand of the same subject in the same pose. In effect, a pen tracing of the watercolour. Cut top white. Patterns represented with stippled or dotted lines, edges of body planes with solid black ink lines. Destined to be used for colouring in and e3ducational resources on the island of Montserrat.

Lizzie Harper Illustrator@lizzie-harper· Jan 16

Spent the day illustrating this St. Cecelia apple for a commission. #Apples are some of the toughest things to #illustrate, I struggle with the waxy shine and depth of colour. This time its gone ok. And now....I can eat them!

#watercolor #sciart #illustration of a St Cecelia variety of #apple cut to white. Its a red apple with a warm yellow skin and a wide area of russetting by the stalk.

Desk showing two apples and their accompanying illustrations, alongside other apples and my paintbox.

#watercolor #sciart #illustration of a St Cecelia variety of #apple cut to white. Its a red apple with a warm yellow skin and a wide area of russetting by the stalk.

#naturalhistoryilliustration #botanicalillustration #botanicalart #fruit #malus

Lizzie Harper Illustrator@lizzie-harper· Jan 9

This is the #Bloody-nosedbeetle, #Timarchatenebricosa. When threatened it exudes a red drop of liquid from its mouth It has distinctive beaded antennae.Unlike most #beetles, it's flightless Completed in watercolour for use on #interp & information materials. #sciart #naturalhistoryillustration

#watercolour #naturalscience #illustration of Bloody-nosed beetle Timarcha tenebricosa, with the beetle seen from the side, pointing to the right. it's exuding a scarlet drop of liquid from it's mouth.

The beetle is black with a smooth sheen and is shown in 3/4 view, with 3 legs showing on the near side and only the foot of the back leg visible on the far side. The highlights are painted so tiny black pores from the elytra can be seen in the shiny areas, and in the darkest black areas tiny white dots of gouache are used to suggest the pores on the wing cases.. Feet are comparatively large with each tarsal segment being fringed with grown. The beetle's eye is a chestnut brown..

As with everything I do, this is painted by hand without the aid of AI.

It's one of my favourite #UKbeetles, so I was glad when it popped up on the species list commissioned for South Devon National Landscapes. It'll be used on information boards and leaflets, and on interpretation relating to their push to preserve environments beneficial to #insect species.

Lizzie Harper Illustrator@lizzie-harper· Jan 4

New blog out, on #Orchids lizzieharper.co.uk/2026/01/wild... It's one of a series I've been doing on wildflower families. Hope it helps! #naturalhistoryillustration #botanicalart #botanicalillustration #orchidlovers #orchidaceae #wildflowers

Close up of the flowering head of the Jersey orchid showing purple flowers at the tip of a flowering spike

Desk with completed watercolour painting of orchid on along with photo reference, my paintbox full of mixes of red paint, a magnifier, a brush and an eraser. The species is a red flowered Early marsh orchid.

Part of a labelled pen and ink diagram showing the anatomy of orchid flowers, this mentions the rostellum, perianths, pollinium, column, stigmatic surface, and spur. #sciart

Watercolour of a pyramidal orchid with compact head and pale green leaf and stem. The plant is long and thin so much of the image is black background.

Lizzie Harper Illustrator@lizzie-harper· Dec 29

The #Plymouth #anole #lizard #Anolislividus It's another #sciart #watercolor #illustration completed for #Montserrat National Trust educational materials (the #penandink to be used in colouring books) #naturalhistoryillustration #naturalscienceillustration #madebyhand #NoToAIGeneratedImages

The rainbow coloured Plymouth anole #lizard, found on the #Caribbean island of Montserrat. The head is vivid green with a yellow chin and throat flap, the tail gets bluer and is almost pin and purple at the tip. The lizard has deep orange eyes and very long toes. I saw one scuttle across the path and the colours really were astonishing. This is a cut to white watercolour illustration with the lizard raising its' head slightly and facing right. The tail curls a little and the back foot shows outstretched toes.

Pen and ink illustration of the rainbow coloured Plymouth anole lizard. Details of the tecture and markings of the lizard skin are represented with stippled in lines, the main shapes are a solid black ink line. The illustrations is atonal, and destined to be used in a colouring in book. I create these pen and ink illustrations by tracing the watercolour, either using a light box or a desk-mounted projector.

Detail of the tail and hind leg of the Plymouth anole. There are a few white spots of the thigh, but the remarkable thing is the way the tail fades from a vivid spring green through teal to turquoise, and the tail tip is a pink magenta.

Detail of the head of the Plymouth anole, The individual scales on the edge of the lip are shown, along with white spots of the lizards bright green skin. The eyes and surrounding sockets are a reddish orange, and the throat flap is a bright yellow, The folds in this are clearly visible.

Lizzie Harper Illustrator@lizzie-harper· Dec 19

This is the Narrow-leaved everlasting #sweetpea #Lathyrus sylvestris. It's one of a series of #illustrations recently done for South #Devon national landscapes and will be used on interpretation boards. I saw this beauty in flower in the summer, with the rare long-horned bees pollinating it.

Narrow-leaved everlasting sweet pea Lathyrus sylvestris showing the plant with its paired lanceolate leaves, twisting tendrils, winged stem, and flowering spikes. The flowers are pink, but flushed green toward the calyx. There's a detail of a pea pod on the right, the whole illustration is cut to white.

Detail of the pea pod, which is closed but has the suggestion of developing peas within

Close up of some of the tendrils of the Narrow-leaved everlasting sweet pea Lathyrus sylvestris. I am a sucker for a tendril, and love painting them and making a lot of fuss about the way they cast shadows on themselves (which I show as a purple blue). They're actually quite tricky to do as you have to get the curves and curls right but also keep the width of the tendril consistent. Cut to white hand painted watercolour, a tri-split tendril in ale green.

Close up from my #sciart #botanicalillustration of the Narrow-leaved everlasting sweet pea Lathyrus sylvestris showing the flowers. At this detail it's really easy to see how I approach the painting of these blossoms. Lots of lines to build up colour and show the veins, then a top wash of pink towards the petal edges. The central area of the flower, the in-furled wings, are a deeper purple than the pink standard. The fused calyx is flushed pinkish.

Lizzie Harper Illustrator@lizzie-harper· Dec 12

New blog on doing #botanicalillustrations of Scottish urban #wildflowers for an #identificationguide: lizzieharper.co.uk/2025/12/guid... I am passionate about the beauty, diversity, and resilience of "weeds", so this was a dream job. Most of the species were growing within half a mile of my home!

Chinese bramble Rubus tricolor botanical illustration completed for a fold-out identification guide, "Urban plants of Scotland" produced by Scotland branch of the Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland, published by Field Studies Council, UK

Cut to white botanical #sciart illustration showing the habit and species specific traits of this plant

Some leaves show their pale undersides. the pale green stem is thick with glandular red hairs, and the orange-red fruit, very much like #blackberries, are also in evidence. I enjoyed doing the bumpy textured leaves, which are far more orbicular than other #Rubus family species

Hybrid #bluebell #Hyacinthoides x massartiana botanical illustration completed for a fold-out identification guide, "Urban plants of Scotland" produced by Scotland branch of the Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland, published by Field Studies Council, UK

Cut to white botanical #sciart illustration showing the habit and species specific traits of this plant

The flowers are a pale blue in a flowering spike, with the stem flushed blue to the tip and the bracts also being blue. The basal leaves (only basal leaves as it all grows from a bulb, being a #monocot) are a healthy green and are linear, with darker tips especially where the leaves fold over on themselves.

#Thalecress #Arabidopsis thaliana, Hairy #bittercress #Cardamine hirsuta, and #Sherherdspurse #Capsella bursa-pastoris botanical illustrations completed for a fold-out identification guide, "Urban plants of Scotland" produced by Scotland branch of the Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland, published by Field Studies Council, UK

Cut to white botanical #sciart illustrations showing the habit and species specific traits of these similar plant species, with their white flowers, spindly stems, and #basalrosettes.

It was good to finally get to illustrate all of them, and be able to clearly see their similarities and differences.

#similarspecies #i.d. #wildflower #wildfloweridentification

Front page of the #BSBI and #FSC #foldout #wildflowerguide to #Scottish urban #wildflowers. Along with branding and the "Wild ID" name, it shows Wall rue, #Maidenhair, buddlejai (or #butterflybush), wall #bellflower, ivy-leaved #toadflax, wall lettuce, Polypody #fern, Yellow corydalis (all of which grown on walls and buildings and are thus labelled); then below these are the hybrid bluebell, Purple toadflax, Welsh poppy, Opium poppy, Chinese bramble, and Biting #stonecrop #sedum acre. These are labelled as #gardenescpes.

I know I did the pictures, but it has to be said that as a sheet of weeds go, these are pretty darned pretty!

Lizzie Harper Illustrator@lizzie-harper· Nov 26

The third of my workshops next year is a day long session drawing and learning about grasses. Click on the link to book: www.botanic.cam.ac.uk/education-le... #grasses #botanicalillustration #poaceae #graminaceae #drawinggrass #teaching #botany

Annotated botanical illustration of Yorkshire #Holcus lanatus done #grass in #watercolor, cut to white showing an inflorescence in flower and another still in the grass sheath

Botanical illustration in #watercolour of Carpet grass #Anoxopus compressus showing the plant in flower, the pinkish tiller with roots, and the broad glaucous leaves along with a close up of a seed

Botanical illustration of the False oat grass #Arrhentherium elatius showing tow inflorescence, one still in the grass sheath and the other fully own revealing spikelets with awns. The pink nodes and swollen yellowish root nodes are also shown #botany #naturalscienceillustration #ilovegrass #grassillustration #drawinggrasses

Lizzie Harper Illustrator@lizzie-harper· Nov 25

Here's the second of the #botanicalillustration courses I'm teaching at #Cambridgeuniversity #botanicalgardens in the UK next year. This one is in May: www.botanic.cam.ac.uk/education-le... It's all about #illustrating #blue #flowers. Think #iris, #campanula, #bluebells....

Cut to white #sciart #botanicalillustration of one single #flower of the #bluebell #Hyacinthoides flower, showing pale stamens and recurved petals.

Cut to white #naturalscienceillustration of the #Harebell #Campanula rotundifolia showing a specimen with a great many blooms at all angles, and linear as well as rounded leaves.

Colour #diagram of the #structure of an #iris, #botanicalillustration #sciart #botany. Showing stamens, ovaries, pistil, and the organisation of the petals / sepals.

#Shetchbook sheet on the #Nootka #lupin showing the #flower spike, cross section of a flower, bud, roots, #seedpod, seedling, #habitsketch and seeds. Cut to white #botanicalillustration

Lizzie Harper Illustrator@lizzie-harper· Nov 25

#Botanicalillustration courses I'm teaching next year are now open for booking! All are at #Cambridgeuniversity #botanicgardens in the UK. Here's the first, in late March www.botanic.cam.ac.uk/education-le...

#penandink #sciart botanical illustration of the Sweet chestnut fruit showing its spiky seed case, catkin-like flower, and #chestnut fruit. #Monochrome, cut to white

#penandink #sciart botanical illustration of the #mulberry #morus nigra with watercolour on top, making the leaves green and the fruit a shiny burgundy purple. Cut to white hand drawn #ink #illustration

#penandink #sciart botanical illustration of the #Olive #tree, Olea europea. Showing the fuzzy #foliage and twisted trunk and bark. Cut to white #monochrime #naturalscienceillustration

#penandink #sciart botanical illustration of the #peach with a slice and a leaf. Very intensely stippled to give a soft texture to the #fruit. #Blackandwhite #illustration, cut to white.

Lizzie Harper Illustrator@lizzie-harper· Nov 14

This is the endemic #Bottlebee #Melipona lautipes, on a #Tridax #daisy. It's from #Montserrat in the #Caribbean. It's pouring with rain, so I'm posting a summery #sciart #insect #illustration They have no sting, are fluffy and friendly, and make nests in the shape of bottles. What's not to love?

Bottle bee on a tridax daisy #botanicalillustration #entomologicalillustration. Done in watercolour, cut to white. the bee is tawny with big eyes and brown legs. It's curved over the disc florets, gathering pollen. It's antennae are curled forward, giving her an inquisitive air. the scrappy looking Tridax daisy has white petals and bright yellow central florets.

Detail of the bottle bee zooming in on the purplish eye and brown fur. You can see the segmentation of the tarsus (feet) clearly, and well and the kneed antennae

Another close up, zooming in to the abdomen and rear leg of the bee. You can see the bumpy pollen sack, which is orange and pretty full. Wings are brownish and folded neatly over her back. the dic florets on the daisy are mostly closed, like gold spheres. Only the edge ones are in bloom. You can see a little of the white ray florets too.

Lizzie Harper Illustrator@lizzie-harper· Nov 1

This is the Angerona #hairstreak or #Electrostrymon angerona Butterfly, on a Tridax daisy. This Butterfly is found in Montserrat & is one of a series of illustrations completed for the UK Overseas Territories Conservation Forum (Montserrat) #sciart #naturalhistoryillustration #electrostrymon