How to become a botanical illustrator

How do you become a botanical illustrator? What does the job involve?

​How do you get a job in botanical illustration at one of the major botanical gardens that employ botanical illustrators?

Below is a 5 minute video created to illustrate a career in botanical illustration. It features botanical illustrator Catherine Wardrop, who is one of two botanical illustrators employed by the Royal Botanic Garden in Sydney. She works at the herbarium and prepares black and white illustrations in pen and ink for botanists and publication in of Flora of New South Wales revisions, Flora of Australia, Telopea and other scientific journals.  She also curates key Margaret Flockton works. ​

Note: the video is old but the principles of the approach to creating a botanical illustration for a scientific publication remain the same.

Still from the video showing Catheron Wardron working on a botanical illustration created from pressed Herbarium material

It shows techniques used by botanical illustrators - including

• the use of mechanical pencils and Rotring pens,
• retrieval of pressed materials for the herbarium and other specimen material
• discussions of the brief for the illustration with the botanists as to key features for inclusion in a plate
• scanning and tracing of herbarium material
• tracing of material in pencil to get dimensions correct
• use of a loupe
• review of drawings with the botanist to ensure the illustrator has understood what the drawing needs to display
• scanning of the diagrams into Photoshop and then transferring them into Illustrator software in order to manipulate images to design a botanical plate.
• inking of images on drafting film using Rotring pen
• scanning of images for publication

It also illustrates how much of her work is done while sitting over a microscope!

You must love both nature and detail and have a number of drawing skills to be a professional botanical illustrator. Skills required include:

• how light works on form
• how forms appear as they turn
• how plant material looks as it is coming at you or going away
• knowing how to represent both form and articulate how it moves in space very clearly - with no ambiguity.
• technically realistic in image-making
• proficient in use of a technical pen
• use of technology and image software.

The video finishes by explaining her educational background and how she got a job in botanical illustration. Catherine has a a first degree in printmaking and a Diploma in Plant and Wildlife Illustration from Newcastle University in New South Wales.

[Note: Newcastle University has a Degree in Natural History Illustration. This page outlines requirements and the core and optional courses for the degree.]

More about jobs in botanical illustration

• Botanical Illustrator Profile - again featuring Catherine Waldron
• Careers in Botanical Art and Natural Science Illustration - article by Mindy Lighthipe
• For Scientific Illustrators: Finding Jobs - Gina Mikel