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Blog #2: Illustrating American Beautyberry in the Robert J. Huckshorn Arboretum

Updated: Mar 2, 2022


In this latest installment of Arielle’s Audubon Scientific Illustration Blog, I want to highlight my experience illustrating for the first time in the field. I want to use this post to demonstrate how I connected what I learned in the previous blog posts to what I have completed today.


To begin, I made my way through the Arboretum towards the site where the American Beautyberry resides. For the past two years I’ve lived on campus, I’ve made regular trips to the Arboretum – visiting and taking pictures of its wildlife every week or so. I know of multiple spots in the Arboretum where American Beautyberry, or rather, Callicarpa americana, lives, but I decided on the spot with the most light and biggest berries. This spot was all the way in the back of the Arboretum, towards the parking lot and back of the HC building of the Wilkes Honors College. As Greene (264-270), suggests, I wrote the date, time, location, and weather in my field notebook. He also asserts one should also make a map, which I did as well, although I admit, I know most of the Arboretum by heart now.


Greene also highlights one should write down more information than you believe is necessary, since you are unfamiliar with what may be “interesting” or “important” (Greene 260). Heinrich (39) suggests something similar. He describes that he wrote down “everything” when observing ravens because he was new to observing their new “bizarre behavior.” I did so in my field notebook; I wrote about other organisms near the area, such as a fly landing on a leaf of the berry and a squirrel climbing a tree nearby. I also described other plants above and below the plant, including more American Beautyberry and a white flower.


As Schaller (22) explains, he kept a personal journal about his observations and experience in the field. In it, he describes his feelings at the time. I also included in my notebook how I felt in the field. I wrote about how a black/brown beetle had crawled up my legs, and I screamed and ran away for a few minutes to catch my breath. (I am NOT a bug person at all! Minus butterflies). I also noted how I felt at the time: I was hot, sweating, and a bit frightened at getting bit by ants and other insects in the garden. With sweat dripping down my back and face, I was determined to finish what I had started: observe American Beautyberry in its natural environment.


In my field notebook, I included biological information on the specimen I analyzed. For example, American Beautyberry is an angiosperm (flowering plant), but more specifically a eudicot. This information can be obtained by observing the plant’s leaves. The leaves are veined and do not run parallel (such as that of monocots). American Beautyberry demonstrates pinnate venation with its veins branching from a single stem. I learned how to distinguish between various types of plants in my Biodiversity class last school year.


Describing the plant in more detail, I touched it and examined its berries and leaves up closely. The berries have a rubbery feel to them but can easily be broken. The inside of the berry is white with a yellow-ish center. The outside skin is a bright violet-purple. The leaves felt sort of rough to the touch- not very smooth. I also noticed the leaves are quite large compared to many of the other leaves in the area. Additionally, I collected specimens of both the leaf and berries to use as a reference for my illustration.


American Beautyberry is an edible plant, although humans should only consume the berries in small amounts. It serves as an important food source for birds and deer (Halbritter 2019). It is often used to make jellies and wines.


As for the materials I used to construct this illustration, I primarily utilized Prismacolor colored pencils including Mulberry PC995 and Apple Green PC912, alongside a HB graphite mechanical pencil. I made a color value scale using these two colors in my notebook, and I am quite pleased with their similarity to the actual plant itself. Other colored pencils I utilized include Prismacolor Premier Canary Yellow PC916 for the leaves, Grass Green PC909 for shading of the leaves, Tuscan Red PC937 for the bark alongside the HB pencil, and White PC938 for blending.


My progress so far in recreating this beautiful plant (get it, ‘beautyberry’), begun with drawing the light source. I then wrote my observations and scientific information about the plant, measured the plant (about 1 ft which will be shrunk down to 8 inches in the drawing) and began sketching out the plant.


Here are some pictures outlining my process!





Originally, I drew a lead at the bottom center of the drawing, but I decided to remove it for aesthetic purposes.


(above: coloring the plant using the hatching and curvilinear line techniques)


(above: blending colors for the leaves)





(final illustration! Here I shaded some of the leaves a bit more and added more shading to the branch.)

(844 words)

Works Cited

George, Schaller. “1. The Pleasure of Observing.” Field Notes on Science & Nature. PDF file, Harvard UP, 2011.

Greene, Erick. "12. Why Keep a Field Notebook?" Field Notes on Science & Nature. PDF file, Harvard UP, 2011.

Halbritter, Alicia. "Wild Weeds – American Beautyberry." UF/IFAS Extension Baker County, 15 Feb. 2019, blogs.ifas.ufl.edu/bakerco/2019/02/15/wild-weeds-american-beautyberry/.

Heinrich, Bernd. “2. Untangling the Bank.” Field Notes on Science & Nature. PDF file, Harvard UP, 2011.

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