Progress

Here you can learn the key steps in the production of a botanical plate created for Tom Daniel at the California Academy Of Sciences:

Step 1:

The specimen, collected and carefully pressed using newspaper, undergoes studious observation by the illustrator. Important parts of the plant, such as the flower, developed leaf, and seed capsules, are kept separately, later to be comprehensively rearranged in a drawing that will facilitate the understanding of future botanists and other curious sorts.

In this case, we are looking for branched hairs, dendritic trichomes, that grow on the surface of the mature leaves.

Step 2:

The hairs escape immediate detection. Yet the surface of the leaves feel* softer in some places. Time to use the microscope!

*Handling of the specimens is only advised for those with a confident sense of delicacy. Generally, the various parts will be dry, brittle, and ready to crack upon the slightest unintended pressure.

Step 3:

Aha! Through the eyepiece of the microscope, it's impossible not to see hundreds of the hairs. Without moving to the edge of the leaf, it's difficult to tell where one begins and another ends. Additionally, the hairs are nearly transparent, though the dark valleys of the leafs venation enable clarity of the overlapping trichomes.

A sketch is made, then transferred to tracing paper. Once this is examined for accurate measurements by a qualified botanist, it's ready to become part of the final composition.

Step 4:

Having settled upon a harmonious composition and having transferred all the traced elements to a sturdy paper with the help of a lightbox, it's now just a matter of inking. Find a pen that's comfortable to grip, flows smoothly, and wont bleed. Try to keep a steady hand and remember, this plant once lived. Imagine all that occurred around it as it was growing. Those relationships have everything to do with its biological structure. Though the specimen no longer lives, the information preserved in its remains can be learned and shared.

Step 5:

Take some time to celebrate!

Louteridium sp. nov.