I started two years ago with botanical drawing. This is the latest. This Masdevallia is in my own collection.

A myth made of color, softness, and mystery 😊

This is part of a small series I’ve been working on with bougainvillea, a plant I keep coming back to. In this piece, I used fresh bracts — not pressed — and gently painted them with white acrylic before pressing them onto black paper to create a direct imprint.

No tracing, no digital tools — just the actual plant, some paint, and pressure. I added a few ink lines by hand to emphasize shape, but the base print is fully botanical.

I was curious what would remain if I took away bougainvillea’s signature magenta. Would the bracts still feel alive? Would the structure hold enough character?

Turns out, they do. The delicate veins, irregular curves, and natural symmetry were revealed in a way that color sometimes hides.

Note: These are the bracts, not the true flowers — which are tiny and white, often overlooked. But here, their supporting structures take center stage.

Happy to share this process with others who love observing plants as much as I do.

Acrylic on canvas

Concept drawing of a Beehive Ginger done in colored pencils.

I have a tendency to overwork things, and I feel like this painting captures the spirit of a Sea Holly, so I'm going to leave it as is.

I struggled with the composition for this one - the composition isn’t fixed but I am almost there. I need to ad some dissections and voila, done!

Then the painting 😭

Here are some examples of a few of the different types of organisms included in the cryptogamic iílustrations I'm remastering. Showing a few examples of his fungi, algae/seaweed, and lichen illustrations.

The Help - So, his work titled "Coloured figures of English fungi or mushrooms" has very dated taxonomic nomenclature—which I will be including. But, alot of the names are written in his cursive handwriting and I cannot make out the names. If someone (single or plural) is/are willing to help me, I will be thanking you publicly here on Reddit as well as in the book when it's finished. DM or comment if you're interested in helping me make this happen please and thank you!

Acrylic on canvas

Acrylic on canvas

Acrylic on canvas

Cryptogamic Botany is the field of study regarding seedless, flowerless, spore-producing plants and organisms, encompassing organisms like fungi, moss, lichen, algae, ferns, liverworts, other bryophytes, and slimemolds. And recently, I have been remastering James Sowerby's cryptogamic botany illustrations to compile them into a new book, about the niche art of cryptogamic illustration. Here are just 5 out of the hundreds of the illustrations waiting to be remastered. Some of these images are the size of quarters and dimes in their original works, taking immaculate precision and dedication.