Botanical illustration of Little Bluestem grass Schizachryium scoparium

Lizzie gives going live on KZbin a try for the first time, adding watercolour to a pencil drawing of the Little bluestem grass.
This film sees her chat through her process as she works into the basal leaves of this distinctive mid-western grass.
Looking at the footage, it seems blurry and not ideal so perhaps live stream would be better for a chat rather than for showing me at work? Apologies if it's unclear.
Here's a link to the final illustration, it's a bit small, apologies: lizzieharper.co.uk/product/li...
During the livestream, questions came up as to where I find my reference. Below is a list of some of the botanical websites I visit when collating reference for a job. Remember to never copy a photo direct unless you have the photographer's permission. I use these images for guidance only.
Botanical Websites for image reference:
www.plantillustrations.org/
www.inaturalist.org/
www.first-nature.com/
wildflowerfinder.org.uk/
www.luontoportti.com/suomi/en/
www.cabi.org/ISC
www.plantsoftheworldonline.org/
plant-identification.net/
plantsam.com/
www.biolib.cz/
gobotany.nativeplanttrust.org/
naturgucker.de/
www.minnesotawildflowers.info/
www.biopix.info/
www.gerhard.nitter.de/
www.floralimages.co.uk/
www.naturespot.org.uk/
www.cherrug.se/nature/
aurbaniak.de/
www.floraweb.de/
Artlista | Finlands Artdatacenter (laji.fi)
biology.burke.washington.edu/...
www.botanickafotogalerie.cz/
swbiodiversity.org/seinet/
www.seasonalwildflowers.com/
#botanicalillustration

[@LizzieHarperillustrator]

Hi everyone, this was my first go at KZbin live. I would love to learn how to pause a livestream (is it even possible?) and Id like to show you the final illustration, but until I take a tutorial we'll have to make do with this! Enjoy, and please indulge my un-edited ramblings...

[@yvonneparker1588]

Hi Lizzy, always so exciting to find a video of yours that I haven't seen before . I love to watch you work and listen to your 'ramblings' always so informative and interesting.

[@janehodgett959]

Oooo! Lovely Lizzie thank you 👌✨🙏🏻

[@bethcarroll5988]

Wonderful. Lizzie is always great whatever the viewing opportunity. Love watching her work.

[@LizzieHarperillustrator]

Aww Beth, you're always so loyal! Thankyou. x

[@dandfawesome3611]

Loved this livestream. Chatty and interesting to watch. Thank you 🙂

[@LizzieHarperillustrator]

Thank you!

[@vaskointeractive]

This was great, thank you!

[@EricaNicole922]

Wow!! I feel you were speaking directly to me when you were talking about how you start with your medium values instead of building them up from super light like most watercolorists ❤it can get me in trouble sometimes tho when I get way too dark 😂

[@LizzieHarperillustrator]

You know what? Thats a really valid point. I need to remember to mention how that can catch you out if youre not careful, getting too dark too early Thanks for thinking of it! And thanks for the comment,

[@eepsers1]

Love your videos and now your live streams!

[@LizzieHarperillustrator]

Glad you like them!

[@coletteg.4548]

Just beautiful ❣️

[@LizzieHarperillustrator]

Thanks!

[@nancyjohnson7193]

Lizzie, you are beloved!💗💕 I will take a video tutorial from you in whatever form it comes! Your 'ramblings' are priceless. Thank you for being you, and for so generously sharing your time and talent and joie de vivre.🌸🌿

[@LizzieHarperillustrator]

What a lovely thing to say! Thankyou!

[@stephengent9974]

As someone who lives in a prairie state, where this grass grows, I have to say it never looked blue to me

[@LizzieHarperillustrator]

Ah there you are see. The value of experience and knowing a species well, and seeing the living species. Working from photos and the client comments ("make sure it's blue") can never come close to personal experience. Interesting to hear that it doesn't seem very blue-y. Sometimes maybe the botanists (not to mention the illustrators!) can be accused of exagerratiob or even if getting it wrong!

[@jesmarco374]

If you’re looking for synthetic brushes, you should try Rosemary and co. Red Dot series.

[@LizzieHarperillustrator]

Hiya, I did try several of them, the red dot designer series. The tips bent and although they were ok, they didnt end up being as good as the Princeton Velvettouch which is the synthetic I use now. But thankyou for the suggestion. Loads of people adore Rosemary brushes, and I will keep trying them as I have a lot of time for the company.

[@katharinekemp6909]

Hi Lizzie, you inspire me to want to be an artist, just no idea where to start!?

[@LizzieHarperillustrator]

Hey Katherine, start by drawing and keeping a sketchbook. Draw anything that interests you. But some flower guides so you can learn about what you're drawing. I'm currently working on a book called (provisionally) "Botanical art for beginners" so when that gets published in 2025 it might be helpful. If you want to be an illustrator as a career, a blog I wrote a few years back might be helpful: lizzieharper.co.uk/2017/01/starting-out-as-an-illustrator-advice-and-resources/ Good luck! The work is certainly there and if you put the hours in you could definitely make a career from it. We'll never make millions from painting flowers and animals, but the job satisfaction is off the scale. X

[@nooralhoda8618]

👍👍👍👍👍👏👏👏👏👏👏

[@alinadorta8538]

Hello….. would it be possible to show your reference as you paint? Ty

[@LizzieHarperillustrator]

Hi Alina, Ive added a list of where I get my refences from in the write up. Once Ive done the drawing, which refers to the ref but is never a direct lift, I use the reference sporadically, mostly to check on colours. In an ideal world, Id have the plant right there in front of me, but this isnt always possible (as in this case). Hope this helps, and thanks for the comment.