Tree trunk in the Lake District of England
Drawing plants and birds is humbling. Nature will always surpass anything I can create. But that doesn't stop me drawing. The process has opened my eyes and made me even more aware of the world around me: the face in the trunk of a twisted tree, the flash of flame red on a Northern Flicker, that little patch of blue on a Mallard.
My first botanical drawings were created in high school art class, where the teacher noticed that I could spend hours shading the kernels on a corncob. I'm not sure whether the 'A' she gave me was for my work or for my endurance.
My first botanical drawings were created in high school art class, where the teacher noticed that I could spend hours shading the kernels on a corncob. I'm not sure whether the 'A' she gave me was for my work or for my endurance.
Rufous Hummingbird
It was many years before I returned to drawing and painting. But finally I did pick up a pencil again, then watercolor brushes and finally colored pencils. After taking classes from botanical artist and teacher Kathleen McKeehen, I joined the Pacific Northwest Botanical Artists in 2008. Through this organization I continued to learn from artists such as Catherine Watters, Eileen Sorg and Susan Rubin. In 2014 I joined the Guild of Natural Science Illustrators, Northwest Chapter, and the Colored Pencil Society of America. In 2019 I joined the Scottish Society of Botanical Artists as a long-distance member. A wee connection with my roots.
Mallard Duck
My preferred medium these days is colored pencil on Grafix drafting film. I use Derwent, Faber-Castell and Caran d'Ache pencils.
I might have inherited my eye for detail and desire for perfection from my father, who was an Archaeological Illustrator in Edinburgh, Scotland, where I was born. The Borthwick name is used in his honor. For inspiration my father's paintbrushes sit beside me. He'd often say: "Good, better, best. Never let it rest. 'Til your good is better and your better best." He was told this by an old friend who'd seen it on the back of a Furphy's water tank in Australia.
I might have inherited my eye for detail and desire for perfection from my father, who was an Archaeological Illustrator in Edinburgh, Scotland, where I was born. The Borthwick name is used in his honor. For inspiration my father's paintbrushes sit beside me. He'd often say: "Good, better, best. Never let it rest. 'Til your good is better and your better best." He was told this by an old friend who'd seen it on the back of a Furphy's water tank in Australia.
The picture of the Rufous Hummingbird was taken in my garden in Washington State where I now live. The Mallard was photographed at The Bloedel Reserve on Bainbridge Island.