Botanical

Rosa spinosissima 

Burnet Rose
Coloured Pencil

This Rose is part of the Red List series. It was made for a Botanical Garden to show people some plants that are on the Red List of the Netherlands. Those wild plants are more or less considered threatened in this country.

Tragopogon porrifolius

Common Salsify
Coloured Pencil

This Salsify is part of the Red List series. It was made for a Botanical Garden to show people some plants that are on the Red List of the Netherlands. Those wild plants are more or less considered threatened in this country.

Allium ursinum

Ramsons
Watercolour and Coloured Pencil

This Wild Garlic is part of the Red List series. It was made for a Botanical Garden to show people some plants that are on the Red List of the Netherlands. Those wild plants are more or less considered threatened in this country.

Epipactis palustris & Epipactis helleborine

Marsh Helleborine &
Broad-leaved Helleborine
Watercolour and Graphite

These Orchids are part of the Red List series. It was made for a Botanical Garden to show people some plants that are on the Red List of the Netherlands. Those wild plants are more or less considered threatened in this country.

Aconitum vulparia

Wolf's Bane
Watercolour

This Aconitum is part of the Red List series. It was made for a Botanical Garden to show people some plants that are on the Red List of the Netherlands. Those wild plants are more or less considered threatened in this country.

Malus domestica "Blenheim Reinette"

Apple Blossom
Watercolour

This apple blossom was painted for small film made for an exhibition. The entire process of making a botanical illustration was filmed by Haye Bijlstra. You can watch this video on You Tube if you follow 

Hydrangea serrata 'Preziosa'

Hydrangea
Coloured Pencil

I made this large drawing of Hydrangea 'Preziosa' for an exhibition of the Dutch Society of Botanical Artists in the SieboldHuis in Leiden. Between 1823 and 1829, Philipp Franz von Siebold took a lot of plants back from his travels to Japan and many Latin plant names remind us of this. The Hydrangea was one of those introductions. 

Hydrangea paniculata 'Unique'

Flowers of Panicled Hydrangea 'Unique'
Watercolour

Over the years I have painted many "flowers" of half dried Hydrangeas from my garden. They never get boring.

Rose Hips

Hips of an unknown Rose
Coloured Pencil

Not only Hydrangea flowers are lots of fun but rose hips are too. This was a twig in a mixed flowers bouquet and of course I couldn't resist them. Click the image to see the entire drawing.

Arum italicum

Lords-and-Ladies
Coloured pencil

Leaves that are shiny, like this Arum leaf, are perfect to "paint" with coloured pencil. This drawing was done for a tutorial but it turned out pretty well. The purpose of the tutorial was to show my students how to layer the greens, how to get the light veins and the highlights on the leaf. 

Arum italicum

Lords-and-Ladies
Coloured Pencil

The leaves of Arum italicum are nice to draw in coloured pencil but the seedheads of the plant are even more fun. I tried to capture the transition of the fruits going from green to orange. 

Ribes rubrum

Redcurrants
Watercolour

I think every botanical illustrator loves the summer and autumn when there are so many fruits to paint. The red paint is not very often used by me so when red fruits are in season it's party time!

Ascophyllum nodosum

Knotted Wrack (dried)
Pen and Ink

This pen drawing was made on Schiermonnikoog, a small island in the Wadden Sea in the North of the Netherlands. You can often find this seaweed on the beaches there. I love the shapes and the dark colour. Somehow it always reminds me of the photographs by Karl Blossfeldt. 

Prunus laurocerasus

Cherry Laurel
Graphite Pencil

I hate this shrub. It's like plastic. BUT... when you take the berries and you make a pencil drawing of it it suddenly looks a lot better. Of course the most fun of all it to use the very softest pencils to make the darkest tones. 

Akebia quinata

Chocolate Vine
Graphite Pencil

I love graphite drawings more than I do watercolours or coloured pencils. Not only to draw but also to look at when I see the work of other artists. I always notice the shapes of the plant better. Like this Akebia. I did a test in colour first but in graphite you see much better the strange flowers it produces.

My botanical work is usually done in watercolour or coloured pencil. I also sometime use graphite pencil and often like to combine watercolour and coloured pencil to get the effect I want. That also depends on the subject I'm working on.