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 the work or 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 the work or 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 American Society of Botanical Artists and the Pacific Northwest Botanical Artists, in 2008. Through these organizations I continued to learn from artists such as Catherine Watters, Eileen Sorg, Susan Rubin and Gaynor Dickeson. 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.