#naturalscienceillustration
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lizzie-harper.bsky.social
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
Cut to white watercolour illustration of the Green sea turtle, pacing right with front flippers outstretched and face in profile.
February 6, 2026 at 12:11 PM
lizzie-harper.bsky.social
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.
December 29, 2025 at 12:00 PM
dpulera.bsky.social
I’m pleased to announce that I’ll be offering my carbon dust course again in the new year. You’ll have the option of taking a 1 day workshop or a 6 week course. If you're interested, check out the link below.

lymeartassociation.org/online-class...

#SciArt, #CarbonDust, #NaturalScienceIllustration
December 16, 2025 at 2:36 PM
sazsak.bsky.social
#watercolor is one of my #FavoriteThings to create with. #BlueSkyArtShow

#watercolorpainting #botanicalart #naturalscienceillustration #botanicalillustration #art #watercolour #iris #fkowes
A red, orange, and purple iris painted with watercolor.
December 13, 2025 at 1:19 PM
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
dpulera.bsky.social
Happy Halloween! To get into the Halloween spirit, I created this warty pumpkin illustration as a demo for my carbon dust course offered by the Lyme Art Association Natural Science Illustration Program. #SciArt, #NaturalScienceIllustration #CarbonDust
October 31, 2025 at 12:52 PM
dpulera.bsky.social
One week until my carbon dust course starts. There are still some spots available. This technique combines drawing and ‘painting’ using a dry brush to apply layers of ground dust to achieve realistic 3D illustrations. #SciArt, #NaturalScienceIllustration #CarbonDust
October 10, 2025 at 1:49 PM
sambodia.bsky.social
Happy September! The look back continues…Here’s an Eared Grebe that I did in colored pencils with some minimal digital clean-up. TYSM! ✨🎨🎉😊🙏

#prismacolor #birdart #illustration #artistsupport #drawing #artistsonbluesky #art #traditionalart #naturalscienceillustration #coloredpencils #wildlife
September 1, 2025 at 12:02 PM
sambodia.bsky.social
TYSM! New traditional work up now! ✨🎨🎉😊🙏

#art #artistsonbluesky #artistsupport #traditionalart #naturalscienceillustration #illustration #botanicalart #plants #drawing
August 27, 2025 at 2:20 PM
lizzie-harper.bsky.social
This is the #Adonisblue #Polyommatus bellargus #butterfly. The #insect is an incredible glowing blue, and seeing them in life (in France) was an amazing treat. This #sciart #naturalscienceillustration was completed for a #packagingdesign on chinaware
Adonis blue Polyommatus bellargus butterfly cut to white illustration, shown on a diagonal angle. Watercolour by lizzie harper
August 22, 2025 at 8:26 AM
lizzie-harper.bsky.social
This is my #sciart #illustration of a #Darkgreenfritillary #butterfly #Argynnis (or #Speyeria) aglaja.

They have orange upper wings, the green is only on the underside (with by silvery spots)

The food plant is pansies & violets. They're strong fliers, so can be hard to see clearly unless at rest.
Illustration of the Dark green fritillary butterfly, Argynnis aglaja. It's cut to white and shows the butterfly facing right, with wings folded, showing the underwings. These are spotted with silver and green, although the background colour is beige. This green explains the butterfly's name. The body is brownish with yellow and green compound eyes and brown antennae tipped with orange. You can just see a suggestion of the butterfly's long tongue, curled up. This #naturalscienceillustration was competed for a china ware company along with 5 other #naturalhistory illustrations of #entomology subjects, and will feature on 6 or 7 designs of homeware.
August 8, 2025 at 9:22 AM
lizzie-harper.bsky.social
This #smalltortoiseshell #butterfly, #Aglais urticae.
is a commission for a chinaware company.

Painting this insect is a real treat as the colours are so vivid.

The species name is urticae (nettle) because the caterpillars often feed on stinging nettle.

#sciart #naturalscienceillustration
Small tortoiseshell buttefly cut to white. This insect has a brown central body, orangish eyes, and striped antenaae (black and white) with orange tips. The wings are brown, deep orange, fade to areas of bright yellow before hitting the outer margin/ The top wings have a dash of white. the rest are all deep orange until they hit the black cresents which border glowing turquoise blue semi circles along the upper and lower wing edges. Beyond these is a thin black line, then a thin brown line, then a white edge cut through with the veins that support the wing and come out diagonally from the thorax to the wing edge. Detail of the hindwing of the Small tortoiseshell butterfly. Top corner is dark brown black, then there is an area of yellows and golds that blends into orange which gets darker towards the wing edge. It hits scalloped black edges which enclose bright sky blue patches of colour. Then another black stripe, a brown line, and the white wing edge. Painting this insect is a real treat as the colours are so vivid. I love the way the blue areas look against the orange, they almost glow. This is probably because the colours are opposite each other on the colour wheel. #sciart Another detail of the Small tortoiseshell wing, this time tthe top of the top left wing, part of the margin above the costa. Deep oranges are cut across with solid black bands, and two little black spots. there are areas of light bright yellow at the edges of the black bands. Colour is built up with loads of tiny #watercolor brushstrokes
July 9, 2025 at 3:22 PM
sazsak.bsky.social
I just finished an art class that explores patterns in nature. We began with the golden ratio and ended with stripes, Turing spots, and meanders. More in comments below.

#art #illustration #naturalscienceillustration #painting #scienceillustration
June 1, 2025 at 11:18 PM
robinstudio.bsky.social
#strongwomen #motherslove #happymothersday #womeninscience #naturalscienceillustration
May 12, 2025 at 2:12 AM
asilinart.bsky.social
What should I draw next?

#naturalscienceillustration #penandinkart #penandinkdrawing #newyorkartist #asilinart
Pen and ink drawing of a pansy with three leaves coming out of its stem.
March 24, 2025 at 10:54 PM
lizzie-harper.bsky.social
This is the #Comma #butterfly, #Polygonia c-album, one of my favourite UK species.

The latin name "c album" refers to the little white comma you see on the underside of the lower wings.

I love the undulating wing margins which make it instantly recognizable.

#sciart #naturalscienceillustration
Watercolour #naturalhistoryilliustration of the orange and brown comma butterfly. On the left is as adult with wings outstretched showing dark brown wavy wing margins and black and orange wing markings On the right is the sane species with wings fded, facing right. The wing underside is dark brown and blacks with a very clear bright white comma on the bottom wing, hence the butterfly name, "comma"
March 14, 2025 at 9:33 AM
lizzie-harper.bsky.social
My #sciart #illustration of the #Orange-tip #Anthocharis cardamines #butterfly with the #Cuckoo-flower #Cardamine pratensis.

Cuckoo flower is also called lady's smock and flowers in late spring. It's the host plant for the Orange tip's caterpillars. We can eat it too, rather delicious and mustardy.
Two Orange-tip Anthocharis cardamines butterflies with a Cuckoo-flower Cardamine pratensis in bloom. One butterfly has wings outspeed, the other has them folded as it perches on the four-petalked pale pink flowers. The cuckoo flower has leaves of paired leaflets with a terminal leaflet, and the illustratikn shows that these are larger and the leaflets are a bit broader lower down the plant. The orange only covers the top third of the upper wings and is edged with a darker margin. The rest of the wing is a greenish white, with clearly visible veins. The underside of the lower wing is blotched with an irregular yellowish green pattern. #botanicalillustration #sciart #butterflypainting #entomology #naturalscienceillustration
February 5, 2025 at 10:52 PM
dibbledabbble.bsky.social
Checking out a new platform for my art! 🕊️ #ornithologicalillustration #scientificillustration #naturalscienceillustration
January 29, 2025 at 11:22 PM
lizzie-harper.bsky.social
More details of #insects, like the #tigerbeetle #commonlizard and a #wheatear, along with solitary #wasps. Part of a larger #naturalscienceillustration of a #sanddune landscape featuring plants and animals seen in this habitat. Used on an #interpretation panel. #sciart
Wheatear, a detail of a larger illustration if a uk succession sand dune landscape. The plants are all part of the sand dune ecological community, along with the insects. Tiger beetle, a detail of a larger illustration of a uk succession sand dune landscape, Bentham in Devon. The plants are all part of the same sand dune ecological community Common lizard, a detail of a larger illustration of a uk succession sand dune landscape, Bentham in Devon. The plants are all part of the same sand dune ecological community Parasitic wasp carrying caterpillar and another species of wasp which favours sandy habitats. A detail of a larger illustration of a uk succession sand dune landscape, Bentham in Devon. The plants are all part of the same sand dune ecological community, along with the insects.
January 17, 2025 at 8:10 AM
lizzie-harper.bsky.social
For #artadventcalendar day 20 I'm posting this #Redwing #Turdus iliacus

A few years back, in a heavy snowfall, I saw lots of these birds, sheltering by a hedge. Later, I returned with bird seed; one had died in the cold. I took it home for colour reference, it was invaluable for the underwings.
Redwing Turdus iliacus watercolour #sciart #naturalscienceillustration #birdart #naturalhistoryilliustration by lizzie harper
December 20, 2024 at 8:10 AM
lizzie-harper.bsky.social
#artadventcalendar day 17. This is the #seven-spot #ladybird #entomogoy #naturalscienceillustration

With these #beetles, I can never decide whether to lay the black spots on top of the red elytra, or whether to paint them separately as black areas. Next time I'd overlay.

#sciart #🐡
Scientific illustration of a seven spot ladybird in watercolour by lizzie harper
December 17, 2024 at 7:33 AM
lizzie-harper.bsky.social
Ooh just seen the ##artadventcalendar. I'm a little late to the party, but let's have these #fieldfare #turduspilaris on a #Hawthorn for day three.

Unlike lots of my stuff, this #naturalscienceillustration was self initiated not commissioned, after I saw a flock of these beauties #sciart #🐡
Fieldfare pair Turdus pilaris in hawthorn tree
December 3, 2024 at 11:20 PM
m57lyra.bsky.social
#NaturalScienceIllustration WIP! Western thatching ant. Part of an infographic WIP, with reference image. Affinity Photo+Mac+Cintiq.
Western thatching ant WIP partially in circle inset, with a reference image
December 1, 2024 at 9:56 PM