A small selection of botanical line drawings made for the National Botanic Garden of Belgium with pen and ink; published in various books, papers and online.
All images © National Botanic Garden of Belgium
On the left the herbarium specimen of Allium scorodoprasum I used to start from. The preliminary drawing on the right, the reconstruction, needs to be approved by the scientist before I start the final rendering in ink (see below).
On the left the herbarium specimen of Allium scorodoprasum I used to start from. The preliminary drawing on the right, the reconstruction, needs to be approved by the scientist before I start the final rendering in ink (see below).
The preliminary pencil drawing on the right is a partial reconstruction of the dried herbarium specimen of Allium scorodoprasum on the left. Drawing from a live specimen is always recommended, but is often not possible.
After the preliminary drawing is approved by the scientist - as it absolutely needs to be accurate -
I start the final rendering in ink (see below, left).
This illustration of the inflorescence of Cyperus involucratus is done with a live specimen in front of me.
It takes less time, is easier to draw and is more accurate : every aspect
of it's natural form can be examined in detail.
Plant morphology can be quite complex, and scientific illustration can be the key to communicating quickly, clearly and effectively in ways that words cannot.
Details of the leafs of three different Hedera species, showing the different kinds of structures :
the scale bar on the right gives an idea how small those structures really are.
