NEWS
2023
My scientific illustration of the species Phoenix canariensis has been awarded by The Royal Botanic Garden Sydney with the second prize in the 2023 edition of the prestigious Margaret Flockton award for excellence in scientific botanical illustration.
Poenix canariensis, (Palmaceae), is endemic to the Canary Islands, where it grows naturally on all the islands. It is abundant on La Gomera and Gran Canaria and scarce on El Hierro.
The Canary Island palm is one of the most beautiful emblems of the islands and, together with the dragon tree (Dracaena draco), is the most internationally recognised plant symbol of the Canary Islands.
I am very happy to announce that my illustration of the species Victoria cruziana has been recognised with a special mention in the category of naturalistic illustration, awarded by the jury of the International Award for Scientific and Nature Illustration (Ilustraciencia), in its tenth edition, sponsored by the Ministry of Science and Innovation (MICIN), the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), the Museum of Natural Sciences (MNCN-CSIC) and the Catalan Association of Scientific Communication (ACCC).
Victoria cruziana is an aquatic plant belonging to the Nymphaeaceae family, native to South America where it frequents backwaters in the Paraná and Paraguay river basins.
It has large circular leaves up to 2.5 metres long that float in the water. The flower, with a pineapple-like scent, blooms at night for only two days. On the first night, the white female flower raises its temperature by means of a thermochemical reaction, favouring the diffusion of the aroma and attracting its pollinators, among which is the beetle Cyclocepahala castanea. This is trapped when the flower closes its petals at dawn.
On the second day, the flower develops stamens, covering the beetles with pollen. At dusk, it opens its petals again, releasing its prey, which can then visit another flower and complete pollination. This second night the flower turns pink.
2022
A. arboreum subsp. arboreum
Welwitschia mirabilis
My scientific illustrations of the species Aeonium arboreum and Welwitschia miriabilis, have been
A. arboreum subsp. arboreum, belonging to the Crassulaceae family, grows on cliffs and anthropised areas from sea level to 1600 m, on the Iberian Peninsula and Canary Islands (Gran Canaria).
Welwitschia mirabilis is endemic to the Kaokoveld Desert in the Namib Desert.
2021
Echium simplex
Quillaja saponaria
My scientific illustrations of the species Echium simplex and Quillaja saponaria have been selected by The Royal Botanic Garden Sydney to participate in the 2021 edition of the prestigious Margaret Flockton award for excellence in scientific botanical illustration.
Echium simplex is an endemism of the Canary Islands, rare and scarce, that lives in almost inaccessible cliffs and walls of the northern slope of the Anaga mountain range, in Tenerife, while Quillaja saponaria is a native tree of Chile that has recently become very famous since the American company Novavax has used some saponins present in its bark as an adjuvant to the vaccine that they are developing against COVID 19.
Blue hydrangea
Private collection of B. Smith
Hemerocallis Daria Daylily
Private collection of B. Smith
Leucospermum glabrum
Private collection of B. Smith
Rhododendron
Private collection of B. Smith
At the end 2020 was published the volume XIX (I) GRAMINEAE (partim) of Flora iberica.
In this volume are described 58 genera and 232 species.
I am the author of 10 original plates.
Congratulations to everyone!
If you would like to learn more about it:
2020
Private collection of D. Senn
Theobroma cacao is the scientific name given to the cocoa tree belonging to the Malvaceae family with about 20 species. Theobroma comes from the Greek and means "food of the gods", while the word cacao derives from the Nahuatl word "cacahoatl" which means "bitter juice". The Aztecs learned from the Mayas its cultivation and use, calling "cacauatl" to cocoa and "xocolatl" to the aromatic drink obtained from its fruits.
Euphorbia bourgeana
Anagyris latifolia
My scientific illustrations of the species Euphorbia bourgeana and Anagyris latifolia, have been selected by The Royal Botanic Garden Sydney to be exhibited in the 2020 edition of the prestigious Margareth Flockton award for excellence in scientific botanical illustration.
Both species are endemic to Canary islands ; Euphorbia bourgeana is endemic to Tenerife and La Gomera islands while Anagyris latifolia is endemic to Gran Canaria, Tenerife and La Gomera islands. The second one is Endangered according to the World Conservation Union (IUCN) Red List Criteria.
In January, the publishing house Espasa published the book "El Jardín del Prado", written by Eduardo Barba. It speaks about some of the most beautiful botanical representations present in the works of masters such as El Bosco, Titian, Botticelli, Velázquez or Goya that you can admire at the Prado Museum.
A trip through museums and gardens of other countries and vital experiences, seduced by the attractiveness of an attentive look.
The book has 46 illustrations made by myself that reflects a more scientific and contemporary look of the plants present in these masterpieces.
Congratulations to all for such a magnificent book.
https://www.planetadelibros.com/libro-el-jardin-del-prado/307395
2019
I am very pleased to announce that two of my botanical paintings from endemic plants to Canary Islands series, Dracaena draco subsp. draco and Echium wildpretti subsp. wildpretti, will be exhibited at the Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew, within the exhibition "Modern Masterpieces of Botanical Art" that will take place in London from16 November 2019 - 15 March 2020.
I am deeply honoured to be part of "The Shirley Sherwood Collection" comprising more than 1000 botanical artworks by 303 artists from 36 nationalities, which makes it one of the most important private contemporary botanical art collections in the world.
I am very pleased to announce that my painting Nepenthes attenboroughii A.S. Rob. et al. (Nepenthaceae), will be exhibited at "The 16th International Exhibition of Botanical Art & Illustration" that will take placed at Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation from 17 September- 18 December 2019 in Pittsburg (USA).
41 botanical artists from 14 countries have been selected by the Institution to be part of this international exhibition.
Attenborough’s pitcher plant is a new species of Nepenthes L., from Palawan Island in the Philippines and is Critically Endangered according to the World Conservation Union (IUCN) Red List Criteria.
I am deeply honoured to be part of one of the most prestigious international scientific and botanical art exhibitions.
"There is nothing more difficult for a truly creative painter than to paint a rose, because before he can do so he has first to forget all the roses that were ever painted"
Henri Matisse
On 2019 was published the volume XVI (III) COMPOSITAE (partim) of Flora iberica.
In this volume are described 90 genera. I am the author of 125 original plates and 3 figures .
Congratulations to everyone!
If you would like to learn more about it:
Lotus pyranthus
Solanum vespertilio ssp. doramae
Private collection of B. Walker
My scientific illustrations of the species Lotus pyranthus and Solanum vespertilio subsp. doramae, have been selected by The Royal Botanic Garden Sydney to be exhibited in the 2019 edition of the prestigious Margareth Flockton award for excellence in scientific botanical illustration.
Both species are endemic to Canary islands ; Lotus pyranthus is endemic to La Palma island while Solanum vespertilio subsp. doramae is endemic to Gran Canaria island. Both are Critically Endangered according to the World Conservation Union (IUCN) Red List Criteria.
2018
Nepenthes attenboroughii A.S. Rob. et al.
My scientific illustration of the species Nepenthes attenboroughii A.S. Rob. et al. (Nepenthaceae), has been selected by Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation, Carnegie Mellon University to be part of the16th International Exhibition of Botanical Art & Illustration that will take place next year 2019 in Pittsburg (USA).
Attenborough’s pitcher plant is a new species of Nepenthes L., from Palawan Island in the Philippines and is Critically Endangered according to the World Conservation Union (IUCN) Red List Criteria.
I am deeply honoured to be part of one of the most prestigious international scientific and botanical art exhibitions.
Many thanks to Dr. Alastair S. Robinson for his cooperation.
Theobroma cacao L.
Coffea arabica L.
In April, my scientific illustration of the species Theobroma cacao has been awarded by The Royal Botanic Garden Sydney with the Highly Commended Award in the 2018 edition of the prestigious Margareth Flockton award for excellence in scientific botanical illustration.
Theobroma cacao (cocoa) is a spindly, evergreen tree 5-8 m tall distributed around Brazil, Ecuador, Mexico and Venezuela .
I am deeply honoured to accept this recognition.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/botanic-gardens-sydney albums/72157666068588497/with/41634596371/
2017
On Decembre 2017 was published the volume XVI (II) COMPOSITAE (partim) of Flora iberica.
In this volume are described 32 genera. I am the author of 50 original plates and 2 figures belonging to the genera Taraxacum, Hieracium and Pilosella.
Congratulations to everyone!
If you would like to learn more about it:
My scientific illustrations of the species Dracaena draco subsp. draco and Echium wildpretti subsp wildpretti have recently been purchased by Dr. Shirley Sherwood and will be included in her Contemporary Botanical Art Collection. A Collection comprising about 1000 botanical artworks by 200 artists from 30 nationalities.
Soon, my artworks will be displayed in the Dr. Shirley Sherwood Gallery, located in the emblematic Kew Gardens in London, in her New Acquisitions Exhibition.
I am deeply honoured to be part of such a prestigious Collection.
Dr Carlos Aedo, a researcher at the Real Jardín Botánico de Madrid, publishes Revision of Geranium (Geraniaceae) in the Western and Central Pacific Area.
Keys, identification and 51 plates illustrated by me complement the work.
Congratulations.
If you would like to learn more about it:
Aedo, C. (2017). Revision of Geranium (Geraniaceae) in the Western and Central Pacific Area. Systematic Botany Monographs 102: 001-240.
Private Collection of Dr. Shirley Sherwood
In May, my scientific illustrations of the species Dracaena draco subsp. draco and Echium wildpretti subsp. wildpretti have been awarded by The Royal Botanic Garden Sydney with the Highly Commended Award in the 2017 edition of the prestigious Margareth Flockton award for excellence in scientific botanical illustration.
Dracaena draco subsp. draco is a plant native to the Canary Islands and is also present on the Azores Islands, Madeira and Cape Verde. On the other hand Echium wildpretti subsp wildpretti is a plant endemic to the subalpine zone of las Cañadas del Teide on Tenerife (Canary Islands).
I am deeply honoured to accept this recognition.
Gunnera bracteata Phil. in the family Gunneraceae, is a species endemic to Robinson Crusoe Island, located in the Juan Fernández archipelago, declared National Park in 1935 and Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO in 1977.A rhizomatous plant, trunk erect between 3,8-5,7 m high and up to 30 cm in diameter. Lepidofils 8-15 x 2-3 cm, deeply laciniate. Peltate leaves, broadly orbicular with succulent scores, rough to the touch, with dark green colour , up to 2 m wide, petiole up to 90 cm long and 1.5 cm in diameter, dense to slightly spiny. Dioecious inflorescence, up to 1.2 m long. The fruit is a sub-globose drupe, 1-1.5 mm in diameter and coral red in colour.
The species is distributed from the Sector of Puerto Francés to the Cerro Tres Puntas between 250-650 masl, mainly in the Quebrada de Villagra and at the foot of El Yunque, in damp valleys.
The conservation category according to the Reglamento de Clasificación de Especies Silvestres, is: vulnerable VU D2.
This original digital painting belongs to the Serie of endemic vascular plants in the Juan Fernández Archipelago on which I am currently working on.
Over 3000 meters of altitude, on the stark slopes of the White Mountains, in the eastern Sierra of California, north of Death Valley, (Sierra Nevada, United States), lives one of the most extraordinary beings on the planet, The Pinus longaeva, commonly referred to as the Great Basin bristlecone pine.
The average size of the tree ranges between 5 and 15 m tall reaching 2.5 to 3.6 m in diameter with a bright yellowish-orange bark, thin and scaly at the base of the trunk. The latter distinguishes itself by its extreme twisting
The needles are in fascicles of five, stout, 2.5 to 4 cm long, deep green to blue-green on the outer face, with stomata confined to a bright white band on the inner surfaces. The leaves show the longest persistence of any plant, with some remaining green for over 45 years.
The cones are ovoid-cylindrical, green or purple at first, turning orange-buff when they reach 16 months old. It possesses numerous thin and fragile scales ending in a sort of bristle-like spine. The seeds are mostly dispersed by the wind, but some are also dispersed by Clark's nutcrackers (Nucifraga columbiana).
Pinus longaeva is often the dominant species in high-elevation dolomite soils, where few plants can grow.
The species occurs in Utah, Nevada and eastern California.
The studies conducted in 2012 by Tom Harlan, an assigned Tree-Ring Research Laboratory researcher, found a specimen of this species located in the White Mountains of California, ageing 5,062, which make it the longest living non-clonal tree on the planet.
The former oldest specimen of this species, named "Methuselah", is also located in the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest of the White Mountains. Methuselah is 4,845 years old and the object of this illustration.
This original digital painting belongs to the Serie of Monumental Trees on which I am currently working on.
In January, 2017, appears published "Coiba, Parque Nacional y Patrimonio de la Humanidad, Panamá. Orquídeas". A collection of 22 original scientific plates, in colour, of orchids that live in the archipelago of Coiba, located in the Gulf of Chiriquí southwest of the Republic of Panama, on the Pacific coast which I have the honour to sign.
Coiba National Park with its 2701 km2, is one of the jewels of the Eastern Tropical Pacific Marine Corridor. It connects the island ecosystems of Central America (Coco Island National Park in Costa Rica) and South America (Galapagos National Park and Marine Reserve in Ecuador; and Malpelo Flora and Fauna Sanctuary and Gongora National Park in Colombia).
Its forests are the home to over 1000 plant species. These include the orchid family with more than 60 species, one of the vascular families most diversified in the Neotropics and the widest in Panama.
2016
My scientific illustration of the species Paradisaea minor has been selected by The New York State Museum to take part in Focus on Nature XIV, the most prestigious Natural History exhibition in New York State. This edition will take place at the Roger Tory Peterson Institute of Natural History from 3 December 2016 to 9 April 2017.
This painting is a humble tribute to the work of William T. Cooper, an Australian scientific artist who died in 2015 and was defined by Sir David Attenborough as the most renowned ornithological illustrator in that country.
Some years ago I got my hands on his book "Birds of Paradise and Bower Birds" and was fascinated by his mastery in the use of colour, technique and spatial distribution. Also, of course, with the biology and beauty of these birds.
http://rtpi.org/rtpi-to-host-focus-on-nature-xiv-exhibition/
Private collection of B. Walker
My scientific illustration of the species Aeonium balsaminiferum has been awarded by The Royal Botanic Garden Sydney with the Highly Commended Award in the 2016 edition of The Margareth Flockton award for excellence in scientific botanical illustration.
This plant is an endemism of the eastern Canary Islands: Lanzarote and Fuerteventura and belongs to the group of shrub or sub-shrubby species with branched stems and yellow flowers. The principal characterist is that its leaves give off a very penetrating odour to balsam. I am deeply honoured to accept this recognition.
Dr Pilar Catalán, a researcher at the Universidad Politécnica de Huesca and the Institute of Biology Tomsk State University of Russia commissioned me to perform the painting of the species Narcissus x aloysii villarii (with the invaluable help of Dr Javier Fernández Casas) to pay tribute to our Instituto Pirenaico de Ecología (IPE_CSIC) colleague and friend Dr Luis Villar before his imminent retirement.
My best wishes on this new stage that now begins Luis.
Dr Pilar Catalán, a researcher at the Universidad Politécnica de Huesca and the Institute of Biology Tomsk State University of Russia commissioned me to perform the painting of the species Brachypodium stacei to pay tribute to Clive Stace a British botanist and Professor of Plant taxonomy at the University of Leicester, president of the Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland and the author of numerous publications regarding the vascular plant flora of Britain and Ireland.
Dr Blanca M. Rojas-Andrés a researcher at the Universidad de Salamanca publishes the first complete revision of the genus Veronica, subsection Pentasepalae (Plantaginaceae).
Keys, identifications and eleven plates illustrated by me complement the work.
Congratulations.
If you would like to learn more about it:
Rojas-Andrés, Blanca M. & Montserrat Martínez-Ortega (2016). Taxonomic revision of Veronica subsection Pentasepalae (Veronica, Plantaginaceae sensu APG III). Phytotaxa 285 (1): 001-100.
Dr Pilar Catalán, a researcher at the Universidad Politécnica de Huesca and the Institute of Biology Tomsk State University of Russia publishes the taxonomic description of the species Brachypodium distachyon, B. stacei and B. hybridum (Poaceae). Keys, identifications and three plates illustrated by me complement the work.
Congratulations.
If you would like to learn more about it:
Catalán, P. et al. (2016). Updated taxonomic descriptions, iconography, and habitat preferences of Brachypodium distachyon, B. stacei, and B. hybridum (Poaceae). Anales del Jardín Botánico de Madrid 73(1):01-14.
http://www.rjb.csic.es/jardinbotanico/ficheros/documentos/pdf/anales/2016/73_1_e028_435-458-1-PB.pdf
2015
On 2 November 2015 was published the volume IX (Rhamnaceae-Polygalaceae) of Flora Iberica.
In this volume have collaborated 20 authors and are described 19 families, 36 genera and 167 species.
I am the author of 70 plates and 12 figures.
Congratulations to everyone!
If you would like to learn more about it:
Dr Ricarda Riina, a researcher at the Real Jardín Botánico de Madrid, publishes a new species of vascular plant for the science, Croton amentiformis (Euphorbiaceae).
Identification and one plate illustrated by me complement the work.
Congratulations.
If you would like to learn more about it:
Riina, R. et al. (2015). A new species of dragon’s blood Croton (Euphorbiaceae) from South America with singular inflorescences. Webbia 70 (1): 187-192.
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00837792.2015.1020129
In February 2015 my illustration Juan Fernandez firecrown and cabage tree has received one of the ten awards (illustration category) from the prestigious National Science Foundation and Popular Science in the Vizzies (Visualization Challenge). A meeting that rewards the most outstanding visuals in the world of science in 2015.
During two rounds, experts in science and visual representation of the National Science Foundation and Popular Science, meticulously judged 303 entries, selecting 50 finalists, 10 for each category. The choice of the best 10 works was made considering their scientific accuracy, artistic merits and communication excellence. The winners were each vetted for accuracy by independent experts.
http://www.popsci.com/2015-vizzies-science-visualizations-video-images
Drs Jose Maria Cardiel and Pablo Muñoz, researchers at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid publish a critic revision of the species of the genus Acalypha (Euphorbiaceae) from Argentina Uruguay and Paraguay. Keys, identifications and three plates illustrated by me complement the work.
Congratulations.
If you would like to learn more about it:
Cardiel, J.M. & P. Muñoz (2015). Synopsis of Acalypha (Euphorbiaceae) of Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay. Ann. Missouri Bot. Gard. 101: 384-405.
https://repositorio.uam.es/bitstream/handle/10486/675582/Synopsis_Cardiel_amvg_2015.pdf?sequence=3
Dr Patricia Barbera, a researcher at the Real Jardín Botánico de Madrid, publishes a new to science vascular plant species, Grossera angustifolia (Euphorbiaceae) from Guinea Ecuatorial. Keys, identification and one plate illustrated by me complement the work.
Congratulations.
If you would like to learn more about it:
Barberá, P. et al. (2015). Anew species of Grossera (Euphorbiaceae) from Equatorial Guinea. Phytotaxa 221(2): 175-180.
Dr Joel Calvo, a resercher at the Real Jardín Botánico de Madrid, publishes a critic revision of the species belonging to the genus Senecio, section Crociseris, a group of plants located in Europe, north-west of Africa and west of Asia. Keys, identifications and ten plates illustrated by me complement the work.
Congratulations.
If you would like to learn more about it:
Calvo, J. et al. (2015). Systematics of Senecio section Crociseris (Compositae, Senecioneae). Phytotaxa 211(1): 001-105.
