Timed drawing practice for botanical illustrators
Artist Prompt
Set your location to begin
Load a specimen to see details
A free, browser-based timed drawing tool for botanical illustration students at any level. Real plant specimens from your area are sourced from iNaturalist's database of research-grade observations — every image comes with a verified common name and Latin binomial.
The premise is simple: load a specimen, set a timer, and draw. Each session is guided by a focus prompt to build deliberate observational habits over time.
Observation photos sourced from iNaturalist under CC BY, CC BY-SA, and CC0 licences. · About · Contact · Privacy Policy
Botanical Illustrator · Denver, CO
Matthew Raya Steinbeiss is a botanical illustration student at the Denver Botanic Gardens School of Botanical Art and Illustration (SBAI), one of North America's premier programs dedicated to the scientific and artistic documentation of plants. A scholarship recipient, Matthew brings an eye for precision and a genuine curiosity for natural form to every study.
He works across pencil, watercolor, and ink — mediums that reward patience and close observation. Each piece begins with the same question a field botanist might ask: what is actually here, and how does it grow?
Botanical Gesture Lab grew out of a personal need for a daily practice resource that felt substantive — real specimens, real science, real places. It is, in essence, a sketchbook for the curious.
Share Your Practice Work
Finished a study? Post it and tag #BotanicalGestureLab — we'd love to see what you're drawing. Include the species name for extra credit.