Spotted fish
Spotted fish is another of my blogs on patterns in nature. You can [...]
Spotted fish is another of my blogs on patterns in nature. You can [...]
Scots Pine Pinus sylvestris Scots pine is one of a series of [...]
Researching a wildflower involves gathering information on the anatomy, distinguishing characteristics, family, and [...]
Watercolour paint choice is very personal, and everyone will have their own favourite [...]
Small-leaved lime Tilia cordata and other Lime or Linden trees This is [...]
Potatoes are ubiquitous vegetables, a staple in the west since their introduction from [...]
Introducing patterns One of the things in nature which is worth taking a [...]
What is Variegation? Many of the patterns you see on plant leaves, especially [...]
Stripes Stripes are seen across the animal and plant kingdoms. Although the first [...]
Sand hill Screwmoss Syntrichia ruraliformis ruraliformis is one of the species completed for [...]
Recently, I’ve illustrated the Great Burnet, Sanguisorba officinalis for an interpretation board, to [...]
As you may have noticed, I’m rather obsessed with grasses, and have blogged [...]
A recent commission involved illustrating 30 species for Braunton Burrows, a very beautiful [...]
This is the fifth and final of my blogs and linked films, looking [...]
Comparing Synthetic Watercolour Brushes – Part 4 is the fourth of my blogs [...]
Orchids have always been a bit of a mystery to me, so when [...]
This is the third of my blogs (and films, the one specific to [...]
Introducing the African Malaria mosquito, Anopheles gambiae The mosquito is one of the [...]
Cannock Chase Berry Vaccinium x intermedium is a really tricky subject to illustrate, [...]
The non eco-garden is a companion blog to my earlier one, explaining and [...]
Illustrating a wildlife garden is always a challenge, but something I embrace. Not [...]
When I was asked to “illustrate the Carbon cycle” for a brochure on [...]
Fungal subjects always make my heart sing, so I was really pleased when [...]
Spotted Flycatchers Muscicapa striata are lovely birds, often overlooked because of their seemingly [...]
Birch trees: The Silver and the Downy Birch There are two main [...]
Bird’s-foot Trefoil: Where to find it? This blog is in praise of [...]
Plant Evolution is complicated, and in this blog I plan on simplifying it [...]
Beatrix Potter is known to people the world over as the creator of [...]
Introduction Beech trees are common across Britain, favouring chalky soils. The oldest Beech [...]
Natural History Illustration and Life-long learning: Field Studies Council Courses is my blog [...]
Montserrat is an island in the Carribbean, part of the Leeward isles and [...]
Botanical illustrations of yellow flowers can be really challenging. As you try to [...]
Having recently written a blog on the anatomy of ants, and been on [...]
Rocky shore ecosystem: a lucky break I recently illustrated The Hidden Universe [...]
The Brecknockshire flora is written by John Crellin and Mike Porter, and is [...]
Monocots and Eudicots are enormous groups, making up over 80% of plants on [...]
I recently went on another excellent FSC course, this time on identifying grasses [...]
I’ve recently gone on a couple of fabulous courses with Field Studies Council [...]
Hay Festival approached me early in the year, to see if I could [...]
Trees: Yew is another blog inspired by my illustrations for The Tree Forager [...]
Geraniums, Crane’s-bills and Stork’s-bills is a guest blog from the wonderful Stewart Roberts, a [...]
The Hidden Universe by Alexandre Antonelli is a short and powerful book. I [...]
This blog is a follow up to one I wrote a while ago [...]
Trees: Elder is another blog inspired by my illustrations for “The Tree Forager” [...]
Buzzards, kites, and kestrels in a guest blog from a naturalist who lives [...]
Nature notebooks seem to have run in my family for a long time. [...]
Heath star moss is one of three invasive species I’ve just illustrated for [...]
Step by step blogs can be tricky to write – I often don’t [...]
Holly: History & Folklore is a guest blog from the wonderful Stewart Roberts, [...]
Habit sketches are an important aspect of doing botanical illustrations. They need to [...]
Cow parsley Anthriscus sylvestris was on the list of plants I recently illustrated [...]
Cannock Chase Museum: Botany Cannock Chase museum was our destination on a recent [...]
I recently completed a blueberry illustration for a packaging job, and thought it’d [...]
Trees: Rowan is another blog inspired by my illustrations for “The Tree Forager” [...]
Equipment: Paintbrushes is another in the series about what tools I use when [...]
A recent commission saw me completing pen and ink illustrations for “30 animals [...]
Illustrating bracken and ferns may seem to be a really difficult job. However, [...]
Earlier this year, I had one of the hardest and most wonderful jobs. [...]
This blog shows how to ink up the Downy Birch leaves and catkins, [...]
Trees: Hawthorn is another blog inspired by my illustrations for “The Tree Forager” [...]
The Gwent levels are a fascinating corner of Wales, tucked between Cardiff and [...]
In Equipment: Magnifiers and scalpels, I won’t only be looking at these two [...]
Chequered skipper butterflies used to be comparatively common in England, but became extinct [...]
Being hacked on Instagram: this blog is the tale of a scam. Luckily, [...]
Trees: Ash This is the third in my series on common trees, and [...]
This is another blog in the series on equipment used. Check out earlier [...]
A Life on Our Planet, David Attenborough’s recent book, is extremely important. In [...]
Equipment: Paints is another in my series about materials and equipment used for [...]
Trees: Sycamore Acer pseudoplatanus is a maple, and is Europe’s largest maple species. [...]
I’ve been working on illustrations for “The Tree Forager” by Adele Nozedar, due [...]
Equipment: How to Choose a Waterproof Pen and Ink for Watercolour is a [...]
This blog follows on from my earlier step by step post on drawing [...]
Periwinkle species feature on the list of a recent job of invasive plants [...]
Several butterflies are included in the recent landscape illustration completed for South Devon [...]
A recent commission for South Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty involved creating [...]
A recent job involved highlighting differences between the Japanese hop Humulus japonicus, and the [...]
Drawing is at the heart of being a botanical illustrator. You need to [...]
A recent job involved trying to show the differences between two species of [...]
Comparing Goldenrod species was one of my tasks in a recent commission for [...]
The Garden Lupin, Lupinus polyphyllus, is one of the invasive plants I was [...]
Unexpected Thrills: Adventures of an Illustrator is a blog about some of the [...]
Illustrating a wild Welsh meadow complete with clouds of butterflies was a wonderful [...]
I’ve recently completed work on a series of sketchbook illustrations of invasive plants. [...]
My earlier blog, Wild Shreds: Illustrating Pet Food packaging gave an overview of completing [...]
Wild Shreds is a range of dog food produced in the US. It [...]
In my last blog, Botanical illustration of Rose leaves, I discussed the processes [...]
A recent job involved illustrating the Japanese Rose, Rosa rugosa. It’s not the [...]
This guest blog on how love for nature can make us optimistic is [...]
In February, my series of Coastal Flower postage stamps were published by Jersey [...]
Jersey Post recently brought out their “Coastal Flowers: Post and Go” stamp issue, [...]
Halophytes: Salt Tolerant Plants Halophytes are plants that tolerate or thrive in salty [...]
I’ve recently completed a series of thirty three botanical illustrations of coastal flowers [...]
Illustration and packaging have always gone hand in hand. By their very nature, [...]
Save the bees and make your garden a Bee haven! This week’s Guest [...]
Illustrating butterflies is wonderful, but has its challenges. I recently taught a two [...]
Flora Margarine Repackaged Flora in Sweden have recently re-designed their packaging. And [...]
Pied Wagtail The Pied Wagtail Motacilla alba yarrellii is a common garden and [...]
Sycamore trees can have distinctive shapes, and be well loved by those who [...]
Guest blog is by Mark Harris of Awareness Toolkits who wanted to share [...]