Rock samphire has fleshy-textured leaves and clusters of white flowers grows on cliffs and shingle around the coast of the SW half of Britain and Ireland. This is one of the sketches I did for a document I wrote recently (early 2021) about coastal habitats, for the UK National Plant Monitoring Scheme (NPMS). I’ve done other documents about other habitats, illustrated with photos, but for the coastal habitats I was describing many species for which I had no photo. Instead of copying photos from online sources I thought I’d draw some myself. Quite fun! Despite being a botanist and artist I’d hardly done much botanical illustration before. These aren’t really “botanical illustrations” in the usual, more technical sense though. They’re sketches to give a visual impression.

Details: Coloured pencil; 2021; 14 cm x 14 cm. Unframed: original £30; print £20.

Included in the gallery Other drawings