Lizzie Harper Illustrator
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lizzie-harper.bsky.social
Lizzie Harper Illustrator
@lizzie-harper.bsky.social
4.5K followers 920 following 280 posts
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.bsky.social
New blog out, this one is all about the #Asteraceae, the #Dandelion and #daisy family of #wild flowers:

lizzieharper.co.uk/2025/11/wild...

It's an incredibly diverse family, & the fact that each "flower" is hundreds of tiny florets still amazes me.

#compositaceae #botany #botanicalillustration
Wildflower families: Asteraceae - Lizzie Harper
Wildflower families: Asteraceae is another of botanical illustrator Lizzie Harper's blogs on common wildflower familes
lizzieharper.co.uk
November 28, 2025 at 8:06 AM
lizzie-harper.bsky.social
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
November 26, 2025 at 4:09 PM
lizzie-harper.bsky.social
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
November 25, 2025 at 11:53 AM
lizzie-harper.bsky.social
#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.
November 25, 2025 at 11:45 AM
lizzie-harper.bsky.social
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.
November 14, 2025 at 9:16 PM
lizzie-harper.bsky.social
Just published, my blog on doing #botanicalillustrations of some of the #grasses of #montserrat in the #caribbean:

lizzieharper.co.uk/2025/11/gras...

Grasses are one of my favourite #sciart subjects, so this was a dream job. Their variety and tiny flower details are a constant source of joy to me.
Grasses of Montserrat and the Eastern Caribbean - Lizzie Harper
Grasses of Montserrat showcases some of the botanical illustrations by Lizzie Harper of grass species found in the region
lizzieharper.co.uk
November 6, 2025 at 7:40 AM
lizzie-harper.bsky.social
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
The Angerona hairstreak or Bronze hairstreak Electrostrymon angerona Butterfly, on a Tridax daisy. The nuances of the oranges, blues, and mottled blacks are hard to untangle, but make for beautiful markings. You can see them blending on tge lower wings which are held closed. The upper wings has less markings. This Butterfly is found in Montserrat and Dominica, along with other islands in the lesser Antilles, where it is endemic. Cut to white #watercolour #illustration #sciart #naturalhistoryillustration #naturalscience #hairstreaks #electrostrymon #insectart #lepidoptera #nature Up close detail of the Butterfly head and striped antennae, showing the butterflies palps, striped legs, abd beige wings. You can see individual disc florets on the Tridax Detail of the outer edge of the folded wings showing patches of sky blue, burnt orange, and lines of white and black, alongside the distinctive elongate tail.
November 1, 2025 at 12:19 AM
Reposted by Lizzie Harper Illustrator
jajeumm.bsky.social
Finished painting of Thuidium cymbifolium (Hawaiian name: mākole mākō pi`i) #sciart #botanicalart #watercolor
Watercolor painting of Thuidium cymbifolium
October 29, 2025 at 8:47 PM
lizzie-harper.bsky.social
These are Red-rumped #agouti #Dasyprocta leporina nobelie, completed for the National trust of Montserrat. They fill the same ecological niche as rabbits, grazing on grass & fruit. As ever, my #sciart #naturalhistoryillustrations end up having distinct (& usually irritable) expressions. * Sigh *
cut to white #naturalscience #natural history illustration of two ref-rumped agout. One is standing, about to walk toward the one of the right. His foot is extended and depsite my efforts not to give him an expression, he has a frightened yet hopeful expression. The other agouti looks tired and sullen, and is holding a half eaten fruit. She is sitting on her haunches. Both have much oranger bums than the rest of their fur which is a mousey brownish purple colour, with paler bellys and darker legs. Close up of the irritable and tired agouti. You can see the watercoloour brush strokes and the simple approach to getting shine in the eye (leave two spots of paper as white). The chin is pale. Ears are rounded and a brown pink. The agouti has many whiskers. The last sentence sounds like something from a badly translated phrase book, apologies. Close up of the eager frightened agouti. Again, you can see the different coloured brush strokes, white chest, large eyes (prey species) and rounded ears. Fur is orangish brown with a white chin and chest. Eyes are chestnut brown. As with the other close up, this agouti is also in possession of a fine set of whiskers, including a few exciting ones which emerge from the eyebrow region.
October 24, 2025 at 3:40 PM
lizzie-harper.bsky.social
October's Newsletter is out!

mailchi.mp/4be6c0f21bbc...

Fancy catching up with what Lizzie's been working on, accessing her films and blogs, and having the chance to buy originals? You know where to look...

#botanicalillustration #sciart #naturalhistoryillustration
Small tortoiseshell butterfly Aglais urticae and Common blue #butterly illustrations cut to white with blue butterfly above the tortoiseshell, both with outspread wings Watercolour #naturalscience #illustration of the Hooded #crow #Corvus cornix showing the pale grey body with black wings and head Cut to white botanical illustration of the Caribbean grass Bamboo grass Lasiacis divaricata, completed in watercolour. It shows the black seeds and broad leaves of this #graminaceae species Completed #botanical illustration of the #Twinflower with paint-box and brush alongside
October 17, 2025 at 6:23 PM
Reposted by Lizzie Harper Illustrator
steffopp.bsky.social
NEW JOB in #ornithology with @RSPBScience to oversee research in #Wales with #seabirds and #waders: buff.ly/qkTVU6m
October 10, 2025 at 6:39 AM
lizzie-harper.bsky.social
A question for #botany peeps.

Which #wildflowers have widest global distribution?

Looking for spc which grow in Asia, Europe, Americas (&Africa & Australasia too?) for a #botanicalillustration project

Suggestions please!

@bsbibotany.bsky.social @botsocamerica.bsky.social #ecology #plantscience
Cut to white autumn leaf watercolour #sciart #illustration with red brown edges but the leaf blade centre, by the midrib is still bright yellow. It's a spc of Acer maple from a botanical gardens in Sussex, uk Daisy Bella perennis and Violets grwoing together, cut to white botanical illustration in watercolour. There are 5 flowering heads on the daisy plant and four on the violet, showing the flower at different angles. There's also some roots and substrate include, along with leaves of both species #botanicalart illustration of #poa annua, Annual meadow #grass showing the plant, stolons, flowering head, and leaves. Cut to white watercolour Common #polypody #fern #Polypodium vulgare cut to white #botanicalillustration by #sciart #naturalscienceillustrator Lizzie, showing 4 leaves of the fern, the rootstock, and details of the sori on the leaf tip. Three leaves are showing their top side, the smallest one, third across, is showing the spores on the underside
October 11, 2025 at 1:14 PM
lizzie-harper.bsky.social
Well,that's this week done.

I managed to knock out 16 watercolours in 1 week. Very pleased,relieved, & surprised.

They're all animals from Montserrat, and include several endemic species; they're a mix of mammals, birds, insects, & reptiles/amphibs

#naturalhistoryillustration #sciart #notahobby
16 watercolour completed #sciart illustrations of birds, insects, amphibians, reptiles, and mammals found on the island of Montserrat. All illustrations are cut to white of seperate sheets of paper.
October 10, 2025 at 4:29 PM
lizzie-harper.bsky.social
Latest blog is out, it's on the #Lamiaceae, or Dead-nettle family of #wildflowers:

lizzieharper.co.uk/2025/10/wild...

It's one of a series on common flower families I've been doing, featuring my #botanicalillustrations #sciart and attempts to simplify the complexities of #botany & classification.
Wildflower families: Lamiaceae - Lizzie Harper
Wildflower families: Lamiaceae is one of Lizzie Harper's botanically illustrated blogs on wildflower families
lizzieharper.co.uk
October 10, 2025 at 6:25 AM
lizzie-harper.bsky.social
Had a excellent weekend painting a #botanicalillustration of a penny bun #boletus edulis #Fungi & a Rosy button one, and chatting to Fungitown visitors in Hay. My mate filmed me at work in a borrowed (appropriately themed) shirt. #sciart
October 9, 2025 at 6:05 AM
lizzie-harper.bsky.social
Had an amazing day at #Fungitown in #HayonWye today, sat upstairs painting this gorgeous pink-flushed Rosy bonnet #mushroom, Mycena rosea.

So many fascinating people to talk to , and so much sharing of #fungal inspiration and ideas. A privilege to be there

Come and say hi
,from 10 - 4pm tomorrow.
Photo of the speciemen of the rosy bonnet fungus, looking a little the worse for wear, alongside my illustration of it on a sheet of white paper. The mushroom has a pinkish brown silky cap, pale gills and a pale stipe flushed pink. Both specimen and illustrations have soil and moss and bits of dead leaf on the stipe. My illustration of the Rosy bonnet #mushroom, cut to white #watercolor #sciart #botanicalillustration completed in #hayonwye. The mushroom has a pinkish brown silky cap, pale gills and a pale stipe flushed pink. The soil and moss and bits of dead leaf on the stipe have also been illustrated.
October 4, 2025 at 5:58 PM
Reposted by Lizzie Harper Illustrator
martin-nunez.bsky.social
New paper!
I am excited about it, since it has some very cool contributions on:
-Status of Invasive ectomycorrhizal fungi
-Definition of what is a invasive mycorhizal 🍄
-Cool picture of trees being brought from Europe in 1920!
Lead by @nahpo.bsky.social! nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Invasive ectomycorrhizal fungi: belowground insights from South America
Ectomycorrhizal fungi (EMF) are essential for nutrient cycling and plant symbiosis, yet their invasions remain understudied, particularly in South America. Large-scale forestry introductions have spr...
nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
September 29, 2025 at 11:15 AM
lizzie-harper.bsky.social
This weekend, Hay on Wye hosts #Fungitown.

www.fungitown.org.uk

There are talks, walks, films, and stalls in #Hay Castle (where I'll be selling #fungus prints, drawing, and selling originals of my animal and #botanicalillustrations from 10 - 4 on sat 4th and sun 5th October)

Come and visit!
Cut to white #sciart #botanicalillustration of the fly agaric #Amanita muscaria. Red cap with white remnant flakes of the universal veil, pale stipe with annulus, and the base complete with bits of grass and grains of soil. The cap is a shiny orange red.
October 3, 2025 at 8:07 AM
lizzie-harper.bsky.social
Sorting prints and original #illustrations for @fungitownhay in #hayonwye this weekend.

Looking forward to drawing & painting #fungus in Hay castle, sharing sketchbooks, chatting to visitors, and selling original botanical, animal, and fungal illustrations to all mycologically minded visitors.
Assortment of prints of fungus on my desk red abd white fly agaric, an assrmblage of edible Fungi, some holly parachute tiny hlass light mushrooms growing on a browned Holly leaf, a line drawing of elf cap fungus growing in a bed of moss. You can see my tubes of watercolour paints and my pencil box too. #sciart #botanicalillustration #fungus #fungitown @fungitown
October 1, 2025 at 11:17 AM
lizzie-harper.bsky.social
This is Purple #toadflax #Linaria purpurea, it's a common enough plant, but one that benefits from a closer look.

Like most wild flowers, the closer you look, the more amazing details and structure, not to mention nuances of colour, you see.

#purple ##linariapurpurea #botanicalillustration#
Detail of cut to white illustration of #Purpletoadflax Linaria purpurea, showing a portion of the flowering stem with seed heads as well as the distinctive flowers which have a wide lower lip, two lower side lips, a bilobed upper lip, and a "tail", all of which are a deep blue purple. #sciart Detail of cut to white illustration of #Purpletoadflax Linaria purpurea, showing a portion of the vegetative stem. Leaves are linear, and in a turret. Upper leaves are a bright yellow green, lower ones a blue green. Full illustration and detail of cut to white illustration of #Purpletoadflax Linaria purpurea, showing flowring stem with deep purple flowers. vegetative stem with yellowish top and blueinsh lower leaves, and a close up of the distinctively shaped bilateral and lobed purple flowers.
September 26, 2025 at 8:42 PM
lizzie-harper.bsky.social
New step by step botanical illustration film out:

youtu.be/BrhlvsnfYEc

This one shows me painting a Cosmos flower, and explains the materials and processes involved

Make a cup of tea and take a look?

#stepbystep #botanicalillustration #cosmos
Cosmos step by step botanical illustration
YouTube video by Lizzie Harper
youtu.be
September 19, 2025 at 12:06 PM
lizzie-harper.bsky.social
This is a sprig of #Silverbirch #Betula pendula I painted years ago

I was messing about on photoshop, and just like the way it looked with unattached leaves.

Something as inconspicuous as a twig with #leaves can make a really interesting and challenging subject.

#botanicalillustration #sciart
Silver birch sprid on white paper, showing several catkins and pairs of leaves, pointing from right to left on the page. There are 4 loose leaves at the base of the sheet, and two in the upper right hand corner. This makes it look a bit like the leaves are fluttering down to earth after being blown off the twig in the wind.
September 12, 2025 at 10:40 AM
Reposted by Lizzie Harper Illustrator
teepeecider.bsky.social
Apples fall from when ripe due of 2 hormones auxin & ethylene with apposing effects on the abscission zone AZ in the stem Auxin from the fruit pips stops this. Ethylene from the fruit flesh stops auxin production The apple falls after the cell walls in the AZ dissolve No one told this tree! #apples
Apple tree in Spring with last years apples! Close up of surprisingly fresh apple!
September 4, 2025 at 9:08 PM
lizzie-harper.bsky.social
This week's blog is about illustrating a #wildflower meadow for a seed #packagingdesign:

lizzieharper.co.uk/2025/09/wild...

It discusses creating roughs, #watercolor technique, layout considerations, & how I do a commercial #botanicalillustration by hand for the client.
Detailed pencil drawing of flowers in a field with insects for a wildflower seed packet design. Species include poppy, corn marigold, corncockle, cornflower, common honey bees, and red tailed bumble bee as pollinators. There's an acetate overlay with design elements like logos and the company and flower name. #sciart Illustration in progress, and the photo shows my hand holding a watercolour paintbrush as I work on the fur of a red tailed bumble bee. The flowers are yet to have colour added. the leaves and grass are outlined in green but do not yet have much body colour. the bee is flying over two large poppies and a bed of small daisy-like corn chamomile flowers. Species include poppy, corn marigold, corncockle, cornflower, common honey bees, and red tailed bumble bee as pollinators. Work in progress, again showing my hand with a paintbrush as I work on this watercolour landscape of a meadow full of wild flowers. The poppies, insects, corn cockle, and chamonmile and marigolds are all coloured in. The only flowers remaining as white paper are the blue cornflowers. It's a very vibrant illustration with thew red tailed bumblebee as the focus. Species include poppy, corn marigold, corncockle, cornflower, common honey bees, and red tailed bumble bee as pollinators. Super saturated seed packet design featuring a wild flower meadow with poppy, corn marigold, corncockle, cornflower, common honey bees, and red tailed bumble bee as pollinators. The acetate design overlay has the wrong text, but shows where the logos and species names sit. #sciart
September 5, 2025 at 8:27 AM
lizzie-harper.bsky.social
Excited to be part of #Fungitown in #HayonWye this Oct 3rd - 5th

Fungi Town 2025 | Explore Fungi Events Now www.fungitown.org.uk

Ill be selling prints & original illustrations of plants and animals; & hope to draw fungus too.

Come along!

#fungusday #fungus #sciart #botanicalillustration
#sciart #botanicalillustration of #fungus by Lizzie Harper, to promote her selling art at Fungi Town 2025 | https://www.fungitown.org.uk/ This cut to white illustration shows the purple #brittlegill #russula atropurpurea growing from a substrate of pine needles. The stipe is white, the cap and deep crimson with a little damage revealing pale gills. There is a second smaller brittlegill next to the main one. #fungusday #hayonwye #sciart #botanicalillustration of #fungus by Lizzie Harper, to promote her selling art at Fungi Town 2025 | https://www.fungitown.org.uk/ This cut to white illustration shows a whole array of edible #Britishfungi. Clockwise from bottom left theres chanterelle. Beefsteak fungus, the pennybun, inkcap, wood blowout, parasol, and common field mushroom. Limited edition prints of this watercolour illustration will be available to buy from Lizzie on site. #fungusday #hayonwye #sciart #botanicalillustration of #fungus by Lizzie Harper, to promote her selling art at Fungi Town 2025 | https://www.fungitown.org.uk/ This cut to white pen and ink illustration shows some #oyster #mushrooms, #pleurotus ostreatus. #fungusday #hayonwye #sciart #botanicalillustration of #fungus by Lizzie Harper, to promote her selling art at Fungi Town 2025 | https://www.fungitown.org.uk/ This cut to white watercolour illustration shows the Crimson #waxcap #Hygrocybe punicea growing in grass. The caps are orange to crimson and stipes a yellow beige colour. There are three fungus shown, with the central one upturned abd showing its buff gills to the viewer. A few limited edition giclee prints of this illustration will be on sale from me at Hay castle over the weekend #fungusday #hayonwye
August 28, 2025 at 9:48 PM