How to illustrate species characters using herbarium specimens

To know a species, is to know its unique characters when compared to other species. The leaves could be heart-shaped in a particular species while they are long and thin in other species. Perhaps the flower petals are purple in one and yellow or any other colour in another species. In most instances it is a combination of many characters that allow us to distinguish one species from another.

Herbarium specimens allow us to look at many examples of the same character and to pick up any variations. A description of each character, as well as the variations that can be found, are all included in the general description of a species. It is one thing to be able to read a description of a species, but when that same description is illustrated for you, it becomes so much easier to understand. Illustrations of the different characters allow for the descriptions to become more interactive, as the reader is able to see what is being described in a simple line drawing.

This illustration needs to be in proportion with a good indication of the scale at which it has been drawn. Scale bars are horizontal lines that represent a certain measurement in real life (so that the viewer is aware of the true size of the plant parts that are being illustrated). If you place a ruler next to a specific plant part and take a photograph of it, you could enlarge the image as much as you want and the ruler will always reflect the true size of the plant parts (in this instance, your ruler is your scale bar).

Now let’s have a look at a quick and easy way to do simple and beautiful illustrations.

Step 1: Grab some paper, a pencil and some pens!

You will need some normal A4 printing paper for your pencil drawings and smooth water colour paper for your final (line maker) pen drawings. Ask for assistance at your nearest stationary shop when choosing your paper and pens.

Step 2: Photograph the plant part that you will be illustrating.

When you take a picture of the plant part that you will be illustrating, make sure that you place a ruler or any other accurate measuring tool next to your plant part (this is for the scale bar, as described above).

Step 3: Print your image and trace the lines on the reverse side

You can now print out your image.

The page that your image is printed on, needs to be flipped, so that you can trace the outline onto the none printed side using a pencil and a lightbox (or even a window pane). It is important that you have adequate light from either your lightbox or window pane in order to see all the details of your image. The surface that you are working on needs to be flat to avoid having bumpy or distorted lines. Don’t forget to draw your ruler markings for your scale bar as well.

Step 4: Stamp your traced lines onto your final drawing paper

Now that you have your leaf or fruit drawn on the reverse side of your paper, you will “stamp” your drawing onto the paper where you will do your pen drawing (I use smooth, dense, acid free water colour paper; get assistance at the stationary shop when choosing your paper). Place your printed image with the drawn lines facing down onto your drawing paper. Now draw your lines on the printed side; press hard while drawing to ensure that the lines on the reverse side get stamped onto your new paper. It will be helpful to have a look at the original image, or even the specimen itself, to ensure that you include all of the important structures.

You will now have a light pencil drawing that will ensure your pen illustration is proportional and exactly to scale.

Step 5: Pen time!

Now comes the fun part, with your pens.

You can either get a pack of pens with different size nibs or you can choose which nibs you need (a pack contains the following sizes: 0.05, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.5 and 0.8). You might only end up working with two or three sizes depending on the size of your drawing. This part really is trial and error and will also be determined by what you are drawing. You will use the thinner nibs to do dotting or scratching to create depth and roundness, or to add texture and hairs. If a fruit is quite thick and woody then you will use different size nibs compared to the nibs you will use to draw petals.

This method of illustrating species characters is so simple that it almost feels like cheating. Cheating or not, it allows you to illustrate your characters in proportion and to scale.

Once you have drawn all of your characters, you might want to make a figure plate to help describe your species. To learn how to create a figure plate using Photoshop, have a look at this article.

Acknowledgment: Thank you to Luvo Magoswana for his valuable review of this article.