Aloe vera pencil sketch

I went to the Auckland Botanical Gardens with Sandra Morris and some other friends from my botanical illustration classes and spent the day sketching the variety of plants they have. It was a stunning day and we all had a great time. My most successful sketch of the day was this aloe vera plant, from the African Garden. I drew the whole piece using only an HB pencil. I didn't have time to finish the sketch on the day, so took some reference photos and completed it at home.

The finished drawing inspired me to create a larger, full colour illustration of the same plant, which is currently a work in progess.

I now have an agent!

I am excited to announce that I am now a member of New Zealand illustrator Sandra Morris's illustration agency! http://www.illustration.co.nz/haslimeier.html

Nature Journaling course

Last weekend I attended a nature journaling course, run by Sandra Morris, at the Miranda Shorebird Centre. It was the first time I had done nature journaling and it was a lot of fun. Over the two days we spent the mornings down at the shell banks observing the local wildlife and sketching them while looking through telescopes. Some of the many birds we spotted were spoonbills, wrybills, caspian terns, mallards and pied stilts. 

In the afternoons we went for walks looking for plant specimens to take back to the centre to draw.

The photos here show the stunning scenery, plants specimens, sketches, using the telescopes and photos I took of the birds through my telescope.

Botanical illustration class - month 1

Graphite leaves drawn using 2H, 4H and B pencils as part of my botanical illustration class with Sandra Morris.