Botanical illustration: Illustrating grasses & gathering reference

This real-time film shows me explaining how to do a botanical illustration of a plant (in this case a grass) when you can't get your hands on a specimen; explaining where to find references and how to use them.
It also shows me doing a botanical illustration of the False Oat-grass Arrhenatherium elatius, in watercolour. This is filmed with my commentary in real time.
I begin with a detailed pencil drawing, and finish with the completed illustration.
Hopefully, by the end of the film (which I'm afraid is rather long!) you'll have a good idea of where to get reference to illustrate out-of-season plants, why working form life is always easier, and how to tackle the seemingly complicated task of illustrating a grass (hint: it's actually quite a lot easier than illustrating a lot of other plants).
Below are lists of the equipment I use, the books I've referenced in the video, and links to the 2022 Painting grasses workshop I mention in the film (at Cambridge Botanical Gardens in June 2022)
Equipment List
Paper: Fluid 100 by Global arts
www.speedballa...
Pencil: Pentel P205 HB lead
www.pentel.co....
Brush: Winsor & Newton Series 7 sable, size 1
www.winsornewto...
Paints:
Winsor & Newton watercolours
Colours used include: Vandyke brown, Naples yellow, Yellow ochre,
Cerulean blue, Cobalt blue, Purple, Black,
Gold green, Cadmium yellow light, Purple
www.winsornewto...
Daniel Smith watercolours
Colours used: Spring green, Moon Glow (mentioned in passing)
danielsmith.co...
Reference Books for Grasses, Sedges, and Rushes:
Philips, Roger Grasses, Ferns, Mosses & Lichens of Great Britain & Ireland
(Pan)
Rose, Francis Colour guide to the Grasses, Sedges, Rushes & Ferns of the
British Isles & North-western Europe (Viking)
Fitter, Richard & Alistair Collins Guide to the Grasses, Sedges, Rushes &
Ferns of Britain & Northern Europe (Collins)
Streeter, David Collins Flower Guide (Collins)
Cope, Tom & Gray, Alan Grasses of the British Isles: BSBI Handbook 13
Online Reference Sites for Wild Plants:
www.plantillust...
www.inaturalis...
www.naturespot...
wildflowerfind...
www.luontoportt...
plant-identifi...
www.biopix.info/
Grass and Sedge Illustration Workshop:
Cambridge Botanical Gardens June 28th & 29th
Book here: www.botanic.ca...
Thanks for watching, and do feel free to like and subscribe, and to leave comments.
Thanks
#watercolor, #watercolour, #paintingtechniques, #watercolourtechniques, #paintinggrass, #botanicalillustration, #botanicalart, #howto, #howtopaintleaves, #howtousewatercolour, #howtopaintflowers, #sciart, #naturalhistoryillustration, #naturalscienceillustration, #wildplants, #wildflowers, #botanical,, #illustration, #illustrating, #botanicillustration, #grassillustration, #grassart, #botanicalart, #flowerpainting, #details, #plantdetails, #sketch, #grasses #poaceae, #graminaceae, #false oat-grass, #oat grass, #oat-grass, #blade, #Arrhenatherium, #arrhenatheriumelatius, #notahobby, #nature, #biodiversity,

[@hanawatercolour2872]

I'm so thrilled to see another video from you Lizzie! I love the way you chit chat with us and paint, makes it feel like we are right there with you!

[@LizzieHarperillustrator]

Aww Hana, thanks! I like it too, feels like I have some company in my little studio. Glad it feels like that to you guys, too. x

[@jacqulynhilyard1561]

Another wild grasses lover here in northern coastal New England; and am enjoying all the interesting info you talk about while working. We have the same grasses here which is no surprise, your representative drawings have a flowing lyrical quality that I find very instructive to remind me that these are energetic, living systems that show themselves best with a little poetry in their gesture, thanks. It is so great to see your dedication to the perfection of your art..you set a good example for us.

[@LizzieHarperillustrator]

You do say the kindest things, and Im so glad you love grasses too! I didnt know you had similar grass species in NE, thats interesting. and useful to know

[@jeanettebaumann8099]

Thank you so much for being so generous with the time and care you take to explain all the detail. Very appreciative from Manitoulin Island Canada.

[@LizzieHarperillustrator]

You are so welcome! And Im glad it helps. x

[@creativecolours2022]

I think that it would be a good idea to write a book Lizzie. You are a great teacher and your videos and blog posts were those who helped the most to improve my technique. I'm always grateful for the help that you gave me several years ago and I would gladly attend a course if you ever offer any online courses or a workshop in case you schedule a workshop in Greece. I send you my greetings from Athens Marialena

[@LizzieHarperillustrator]

Hi there Marialena, lovely to hear from you and glad you like the film. I flirted with the idea of writing a book, but the publishers I chatted to were very resistant to anything that's not guaranteed to succeed; it's a pretty tough industry right now, I don't envy the commissioning editors one jot. Maybe one day. And thankyou! If ever any Greek botanical society wanted me to come and run a course, Id be sure to let you know. I'd have to learn some Greek first, not to mention get accustomed to your beautiful flora. It's a lovely thought, though. Thanks, Marialena x

[@creativecolours2022]

@@LizzieHarperillustratorYou don't need any publisher. Write the book and then self publish it either on Amazon or any micro publishing company as an ebook for downloads. That is how 90% of authors do it nowadays and that because a large number of people prefer ebooks because they are cheaper and more convenient. I have for instance a load of art books into a tablet along with my reference photos, my favourite music, my recipes all and everything is in the tablet . Whenever I need to check something I have it handy into the tablet instead of looking up something on the pc. You don't have to speak Greek in order to make a workshop in Greece. Most Greeks speak English and at the end of the day a painting workshop doesn't require that much talking. The true value of such workshops is to see an artist work live. And if you don't want to do a workshop come either way. I'll be more than glad to meet you.

[@sandraworrall-hart3840]

Hi Lizzie, this is fantastic. Thank you. While I prefer to draw from live specimens I do need references to learn the parts of the grasses. I always thought I was a bit slow in the need for several reference books, but you have allayed my fears and I will continue to immerse myself in many books to learn the botany. Sandi in Australia

[@LizzieHarperillustrator]

Hi Sandra, I know. Oh the joy of a live specimen to work from. This week I'm painting Yorkshire fog, another one on the False-oat sheet, and have found a little tuft of it growing that I can work from, so can double check the culm and blueness of the leaf blades. Bliss. But yes, if the plant ain't in flower, what's a girl to do? And I agree, the more books we have to work from, the less likely we are to perpetuate the mistakes of others. And the more information we can try to pour into our illustrations. So glad to find someone else who likes painting grasses, too! It's a bit niche!

[@SuzanneLegault]

How generous of you to share your knowledge with us! I love how we can see that your process is very meditative. Beautiful 😍

[@LizzieHarperillustrator]

Thank you so much! What a lovely comment. I just love that people out there are generous enough with their time to indulge me, and join me as we watch paint dry together!

[@MoiAussie1]

Hi Lizzie, I’ve missed the last year or so of your videos. I am so happy to see some long instructional videos( films 🤣🤣 you call them). Have you considered a Patreon account?.

[@LizzieHarperillustrator]

Welcome back! I spend a lot of time flirting with the idea of Patreon / Domestika etc. But I worry Id never have enough time to give any subscribers to such a platform the consistent stream of films and info they'd deserve, were they to follow me. I make my films in the quieter times between my commercial jobs for wildlife guides etc, so never know when the next hiatus is coming. But thanks for the suggestion and yes, were I to expand my business, it would defintiely be something in the line of Patreon etc. Glad to have you back! x

[@eileent8989]

Oh, Lizzie! This was so much fun. I love grasses, too.....their elegant habit, their dancing alertness to the slightest breath of air, their subtle colors and their casual manner of hiding their complexity. You made me miss my own days of first studying botanical painting in a class. I chatted back at the screen quite a lot this evening. Did you hear me?

[@LizzieHarperillustrator]

Eileen, what a fab message! I know just what you mean about loving grasses. I do need to spend more time lying in fields and watching the grass grow, as well as drawing them. The way they move in the breeze is indeed so elegant. Ah, wish I'd been listening in as you watched with a cup of tea, we could've geeked-out together! x

[@deborahgoodwin3426]

Another exquisite tutorial! Honestly, Lizzie, I could watch you paint all the day long. And the most wonderful addition is all of the botanical knowledge that you are sharing with us. Utterly fascinating. I am a certified horticulturist and was taught in Florida. I remember being so amazed to learn that palm trees are grasses.

[@LizzieHarperillustrator]

I know isn't it mad, about palms? More like a bit of Yorkshire fog than an Oak. The joys of the monocots. I'm far from being an expert on botany, but am certainly keen to learn more, always. Glad the mix of painting and botanical wittering is appreciated. Thankyou xx

[@LoriF25403]

wow, you are amazing. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge with us

[@LizzieHarperillustrator]

My pleasure! x

[@fionagardner1105]

👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

[@alexissalazar2579]

Uaaaaaaooooooo me encantó tu vídeo👍👍👍👍👍🌼

[@LizzieHarperillustrator]

Muchos gracias, Alexis!

[@tgordon4881]

Having just begun on this amazing adventure of botanical painting I cannot thank you enough for making this video!

[@LizzieHarperillustrator]

Wonderful! Enjoy yourself. The number and variety of things to draw, paitn and generally get obsessed by is gloriously overwhelming!

[@tgordon4881]

@@LizzieHarperillustrator The book reviews that you do really helped me to start. To finally find someone who does comprehensive reviews was a pure blessing for me. Not to mention your delightful tutorials!

[@LizzieHarperillustrator]

That's so good to hear. Thanyou!

[@karolfrench5816]

Absolutely perfect information inspiration and delightful artist. THANKYOU

[@LizzieHarperillustrator]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@ashleyevans3330]

Watching you paint your fine very long, very straight lines I find I'm dizzy from holding my breath! Excellent work!!! ❤️ it!

[@LizzieHarperillustrator]

Hah! So YOU hold your breath as well! Isn't it an odd thing to do? And I sometimes wonder about the miniaturists of olden times, like the monks who illustrated manuscripts etc. Did they hold their breath when they got to an especially tiny bit, or a gold line on the edge of a letter? I love thinking about these links with the past. Glad you liked the film! x

[@wendyizod923]

Many thanks for showing your wonderful work, I love watching you draw and paint your skill is amazing.

[@LizzieHarperillustrator]

Thank you so much Wendy 😀 x

[@CarlosHernandez-le6ds]

Wonderful work, the details are amazing, I like to watch your videos to learn how to do them, greetings.

[@LizzieHarperillustrator]

Thank you very much! And Im so glad you like the films.x

[@elenadel5152]

Hi Lizzie, thank you so much! Your paintings are so inspiring and love watching your videos. Such a precious gift to all of us.

[@LizzieHarperillustrator]

What a lovely thing to say. Thank you so much.

[@violetsands]

Thank you so much for sharing more of your process and how to create a composition when you do not have an actual live plant to reference. However the biggest takeaway for me, is that sketchbook work is invaluable and the more one does the better it is - so painting and drawing as many plants, seeds and flowers in season to build up a solid reference base for the times when you need to work without an actual live reference or indeed need more information about a plant. Thank you for being so generous with your time and explainations - i am always thrilled when you post a detailed vlog and as usual am not disappointed. Such beautiful work and a great lesson.

[@LizzieHarperillustrator]

Tash, what a fabulous and flattering comment. Thankyou. Yeah, the sketchbooks are great, really helpful. Once when I was illustrating tons of grasses for an identification book I went through a phase of pressing and preserving everyone. This was really helpful too, although inevitably (because I'm a bit chaotic) the pressed grasses dried out and crumbled. But for a while the pressed specimens were incredibly helpful. I stick leaves in my sketchbooks too sometimes, helps with venation and leaf margin shape. Thanks again Lizzie

[@lindasplaylist100]

Yet again a wonderful illustration. Thank you so much.

[@LizzieHarperillustrator]

Thank you too!

[@gianlucacallara]

Hi Lizzie, i love your videos! Thanks so much for sharing. x

[@LizzieHarperillustrator]

You are so welcome! My total pleasure, Gianluca. x

[@Jeanne88B]

Hi Lizzie! I was thrilled to see another video! Loved this so much!

[@LizzieHarperillustrator]

Thanks a million Jeanne

[@samiyrah4244]

Beautiful!!! ❤

[@jandaniel9133]

Thank you your work is amazing such skill and delivered in such a way to make me belive I too could have a go. Love your presentation style. A real treat to watch.

[@LizzieHarperillustrator]

Thank you very much! And I truly do think everyone should give it a go, there's no mystery or mystique to illustration. Just putting the hours in. You're so right, anyone can have a go. And hopefully enjoy themselves, too. x

[@jandaniel9133]

@@LizzieHarperillustrator Thank you for encouragement.

[@MsRain49]

It's absolutely Beautiful! ❤

[@LizzieHarperillustrator]

Thank you! 😊

[@sandunikulasekara8818]

Thank you so much Miss. Lizzie!!So interesting topic! 🙏😍

[@LizzieHarperillustrator]

Thank you!

[@yuliafeldman8441]

Thank you! Wondeerful video, as always. I learned a lot.

[@LizzieHarperillustrator]

Glad it was helpful! x

[@elizabethmaia4680]

Hello Lizzie! I'm not an illustrator, I just appreciate this work. Since I was a child, I love the illustrations in books, not just the botanical ones, although they are my favorites. I like to draw, but just for my fun. Nothing created by me, always copying everything I consider beautiful... I love to observe and draw the stems and branches of the grass too. And after I saw your books and notes, I thought to myself: How can something so simple keep so much beauty and so many details, to the point of making us study and research so much, my God??!! You do a beautiful and precious work, Lizzie! Thank you so much for sharing your studies with us. Hugs from Brasil. ✍🗒🌱🌾🖼🖌🌱🌿🌾🤗

[@LizzieHarperillustrator]

Elizabeth, what a fabulous comment. You're so right about even the simplest things needing attention, and providing us with overwhelming beauty. Maybe that's why I love the grasses so much - I find them endlessly fascinating and mostly we just walk across them without even looking down. I love the way you explain that, and are full of awe for it. me too. x

[@elizabethmaia4680]

Yes, this is the secret you pass on in your classes: developing attention. Then train the line to express the beauty that was observed. Thank you, Lizzie! Blessings to you!! ✍🗒🙌

[@creativecolours2022]

What confuses me the most is how to organize the reference images. I'm always unsure what is the best angle in order to depict accurately all the different parts of a plant. I know that it is supposed to show them all but I usually mess up the composition. I don't have problems with drawing and colouring. Composition is my weak point that I'm working to improve. I would suggest to avoid mixing your colours with your W&N Series 7 No1. I'm saying that because you wrote the other day on your blog that you are looking for cheaper alternatives. There are no alternatives, these brushes are the best and what destroys them is using them for mixing colours speaking from my own experience because I did it my self after following your suggestion to switch to these brushes, but it is the mixing that literally kills them. I 've now use an old synthetic flat brush for mixing and also a sticky note on my mixing palette that says "DON'T DO THAT" to remind this to myself!

[@LizzieHarperillustrator]

You're totally right about the paintbrushes. it does kill 'em. But when I'm tweaking the colours so often it interrupts to switch out brushes - believe me, I have tried. I'll keep on trying though. As you say, those W&N beauties should NOT be squandered in such a way! I do know what you mean about using ref. What I tend to do is to collate all the ref. Then choose the best bits from many different sources, with a sheet of scrap paper nearby. So if I have 5 sheets of images pritnted out, Ill number them 1 - 5 and give each image a letter. Then I do thumbnails, making notes of which ref I used for what. So it'll be a picture of grass, with something like "5c" written by the flowering head, "2b and 3f" by the stem, and perhaps "Collins flower guide p.524" by the leaves at the base of the plant. Then I draw them together. But you're totally right, it IS difficult. its like juggling with images instead of oranges! I need to do more of these films showing the early stages - the composition and pencil drawings. I'm probably going to buy a document camera soon, and hopefully that'll make it easier to film things like pencil....composition is definitely a good topic. You're not alone in finding it a challenge. X

[@creativecolours2022]

@@LizzieHarperillustrator I know that it interrupts the work flow but there is no other way to make them last a little bit longer. And these particular brushes are expensive compared with other brushes from other brands and difficult to find here in Greece. I see what you do. You combine the references. But even this is a bit tricky because it is not all the reference images shot from the same angle and then you have to figure out the exact colours of the plant that you are painting that might not be the same on the different photos. How do you figure out what is the colour let's say of the leaves of a plant if you don't have a sample of the plant but just reference photos? I usually go by the photo hoping that the photographer's camera was an expensive one and that s/he has not edited the photos that much! lol I bought some online tutorials from other botanical artists and this winter I'm dedicated to improve further my technique and figure out the exact methods that are used for botanical illustrations. I don't follow of course a particular method or any exact protocols that are required by the botanical associations but I'm doing my best to improve. I think that if I manage to resolve the composition problem I'll be fine. I have already filled countless sketchbooks with sketches and paintings but I didn't have time to update my website because I was after some exhibitions too, as I told you the other day and I didn't have time to scan and upload anything from the sketchbooks. But as you see I"m improving. I've even got a youtube account!! Your painting technique is completely different from that of the other illustrators. Most of them work in layers ( and I do so) but your way of painting is the easier and most convenient for complicated subjects because you plot the details from the very beginning and as such you don't lose .... the plot ha ha ha something that is a constant problem for me when I have to deal with very complicated structures. Anyway at this point I'm able to paint without drawing, with drawing, in layers and in your style, plotting the mid tones and then smoothen the whole thing and then adding the darker tones. ( the contrast).