A LEVEL BIOLOGY

DRAWING SKILLS
Biological Drawing

www.ocr.org.uk/science

CONTENTS
Introduction to biological drawing 3
Guidance for biological drawing 4
Drawing from a microscope slide 8
Teacher resource 1 common errors activity 15

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A Level Biology

Biological drawing

INTRODUCTION TO
BIOLOGICAL DRAWING
This biological drawing skills handbook has been developed
to support GCE Biology H021/H421. It could also support GCE
Human Biology H023/H423, and from September 2015, GCE
Biology A H020/H420 and GCE Biology B H022/H422.

Why bother?
The ability to draw, label and annotate biological specimens
is an important and useful biological skill. These days students
may well challenge the need for making biological drawings,
particularly given the ease of using digital photography for
record-keeping. So how can it be justified? The following points
help to provide a rationale for developing biological drawing
skills:

Accurate observation and attention to detail is

encouraged. Having to draw a biological specimen not
only increases the amount of time spent examining the
specimen, which in itself will aid learning, but requires a
much greater level of accurate observation than a casual
examination.
Active recording aids memory. The educational
philosophy behind this is neatly summarised in the
well-known Chinese proverb:

I hear and I forget

I see and I remember

I do and I understand


Confucius
The drawing provides a permanent record of what
has been observed. There is a historic tradition within
biology of providing accurate records of specimens so that
the images could be used for future reference purposes.
Todays taxonomists are often indebted to the illustrators
of the 17th and 18th centuries, particularly where the
type (reference) specimen may only exist as an illustration.
Even today, when digital photography can be used to
store images, artists are still often commissioned to record
biological specimens of interest by drawing or painting.
This is particularly true for flowering plants. This is partly
because all the features of interest can be combined in
one or several scientifically accurate, but aesthetic, images
with great clarity (see Figure 1).

Figure 1: Antique botanical illustration of

Limon vulgaris (lemon tree), including detail
of flowers and fruit.

A Level Biology

Biological drawing

GUIDANCE FOR
BIOLOGICAL DRAWING
What equipment is needed?

Sharp pencil - HB is generally preferred, but H, 2H or B (for

emphasis) can all be used according to preference.
Pencil sharpener - A nail file may also be useful to keep
the point really sharp.
Eraser
Ruler - For label lines.
Plain paper

General Principles
When assessing biological drawing, marks are awarded for
both quality of drawing and labelling. The latter may include
annotation. The general principles described below apply to
all types of biological drawing:

Make the drawing large enough. If the specimen is a

relatively large structure such as a plant or a section of
an organ, it should normally occupy more than half the
available space on the page. In microscopy, individual
cells drawn at high power should be about one to several
centimetres in diameter.
Correct mistakes. If you make a mistake, use a good
quality eraser to rub out the lines completely.
Include a title. Include a title stating what the specimen is.
Include a scale. Include a scale if relevant (see Labelling
below). If you are drawing from a microscope, it is useful
to state the combined magnification of the eyepiece plus
objective lenses used when making the drawing, e.g. x100
(low power) or x400 (high power). Note, though, that this
is not the same as recording the scale.

Labelling

Use a sharp pencil only. Dont use pens or coloured

pencils.
Use clear, continuous lines. A line which encloses a
shape, such as a circle, should join up neatly without
obvious overlap. Overlapping lines is a common error in
hastily drawn sketches and is easily spotted and penalised
by examiners.
Dont use any form of shading. This includes stippling,
cross-hatching and shading. Students find this is a hard
instruction to follow, and it is sometimes difficult to justify.
Although shading may help to make the drawing look
more realistic and/or to discriminate between areas of the
specimen, it does not represent a permanent structural
feature. Artistic impression is certainly not what is required.
Accuracy is paramount. It shows good observation.
Remember that observation is assisted by understanding,
so a good knowledge of theory goes alongside good
drawing. Pay particular attention to the outlines of
structures and to the relative proportions of different parts
of the specimen. Dont draw what you think you should
see, for example text book style drawings. Draw what you
observe.
Guidelines can help. Faint sketching of the main areas of
the specimen which can later be erased may help. Some
students find a simple grid helps them.
Magnification and illumination. To help in the
drawing process it is often useful to use a hand lens or a
magnifying glass for larger specimens and, for microscopy,
both low and high power lenses when making preliminary
observations. Field biologists usually carry a hand lens
as standard equipment. Dissection, and drawing from a
dissection, is greatly aided by good illumination of the
specimen by a lamp and by a tripod lens placed over the
material where possible.

When labelling biological drawings, follow the guidance below:

Use a sharp pencil.

Label all relevant structures, including all tissues in the
case of microscopy.
Use a ruler for label lines and scale bars.
Label lines should start exactly at the structure being
labelled; dont use arrowheads.
Arrange label lines neatly and make sure they dont
cross over each other. It is visually attractive, though not
essential, if the length of the label lines is adjusted so
that the actual labels are right or left justified, i.e. line up
vertically above each other on either side of the drawing.
Labels should be written horizontally, as in a textbook, not
written at the same angle as the label line.
As previously mentioned, a title, stating what the
specimen is, should be added at the top or bottom of the
drawing.
Add a scale bar immediately below the drawing if
necessary (see below).

A Level Biology

Biological drawing

Annotating

Unfamiliar specimens

Annotation adds concise notes about the structures labelled

on a biological drawing. It is often used to draw attention to
features of particular biological interest, either structural (such
as shape, size, colour, hairiness) or functional.

As stated above, the same basic principles of drawing

technique apply to all drawings and specimens. Nevertheless,
it can be daunting for a student if they are asked to draw
something they have not seen before or in a new situation, for
example a plant growing in a field, a fungal colony growing on
an agar plate or an unfamiliar slide. Assessment questions will
always be phrased so that it is clear exactly what is required
and any relevant information the student is not expected to
know will be provided. The important thing to remember is
to follow instructions carefully and to observe and draw the
actual specimen and not try to guess what should be visible.
For example, roots should not be drawn on a plant growing in
the field if they are not visible.

See Figure 3, 4e, 4h and 5e for examples of annotation in this

booklet.

Scale and magnification

It is useful to give an indication of the scale/magnification
of a drawing, particularly for large specimens drawn without
the aid of a microscope. The actual size of a plant or leaf, for
example, may be impossible to judge simply from a drawing.
For drawings made using microscopes, if the actual scale or
magnification is not given, it may be useful simply to indicate
whether a low or high power lens was used, preferably the
actual magnification achieved by the combined eyepiece and
objective lens, usually just below the title.

Specimens should be studied carefully before any drawing is

undertaken, noting particularly where the outlines of structures
are going to be delimited in the final drawing. Depending on
the subject, separate, more detailed drawings may be useful to
highlight features of particular biological interest.
The following figures are good biological drawings. Figure 2
shows a drawing made from a heart dissection and Figure 3
shows two flowers during a fieldwork exercise.

Calculating scale/magnification of a drawing

Scale, or magnification, is simply how much bigger or smaller
the drawing is compared with the actual specimen. Calculate
as follows:
1. Measure between two appropriate points of the drawing
(e.g. total length or width).
2. Measure between the same two points of the specimen.
3. Divide measurement 1 by measurement 2.

A Level Biology

Biological drawing

Figure 2: Drawing of the base of the aorta showing the aortic (semilunar) valve through which blood leaves the left
ventricle of a mammalian heart. (Note the fibrous swelling at the middle of the cusps may not be present in some
mammalian hearts.) This is a good biological drawing, fully labelled, and clearly showing detail from the dissection,
although care should be taken to ensure lines do not overlap or are left incomplete. Also, a scale bar is not present.

A Level Biology

Biological drawing

Figure 3: The difference in arrangement of the sepals in two species of buttercup, Ranunculus bulbosus and R. repens.
Again, this is a good biological drawing, showing specific details of the flowers and labelling them accordingly.
However, care should be taken to ensure lines do not overlap or are left incomplete. Also, a scale bar is not present.

A Level Biology

Biological drawing

DRAWING FROM A
MICROSCOPE SLIDE
Low power drawings

Examples

The purpose of a low power drawing is usually to show the

distribution of the main tissues within an organ, for example
in a transverse section of a stem or a trachea. Students are
required only to identify the tissues and to delimit the different
tissues with boundary lines. No individual cells should be
drawn. There should be no mysterious gaps between tissues.
The temptation is to try to make the drawing look like the
specimen, hence the tendency to fill spaces with cells. The final
drawing is basically a map accurate details of the cells can
only be revealed at high power.

Figures 4a-i show photomicrographs and low and high

power drawings of a section of mouse pancreas. Two
versions of each drawing are shown, one based on tracing
the photomicrograph and one an example of an acceptable
drawing of the same structure/cells completed by an able
student. Students are not expected to produce facsimiles
of what they observe, but drawings should show an
understanding, realistic proportions and recognition of key
features.
Figures 5a - e show photomicrographs and low and high
power drawings of transverse sections of leaves of beech
(Fagus) from sunny and shaded conditions. A student would
not be expected to have seen sections of this leaf before and
would be given sufficient information to make the drawings
based on knowledge of the specification content.

Follow these guidelines:

Identify the different tissues, using high power to help if
necessary
Draw all tissues and completely enclose each tissue by
lines
Dont draw individual cells
Accuracy is important the specimen will not necessarily
look like a textbook drawing. For example, vascular
bundles in a stem may vary in size and shape.
A representative portion may be drawn if the structure is
symmetrical, e.g. a wedge or half of a transverse section
of root or stem, or in the case of a leaf, half a midrib and a
small portion of the adjacent lamina.

High power drawings

The purpose of high power drawings is to show as much
accurate detail as microscopy will allow. It is important to
realise that the high power and low power drawings are
complementary neither on its own looks like the whole
specimen being viewed, but the combination would allow
someone to reconstruct the structure being drawn. As with low
power drawings, students often fall into the trap of wanting
the drawing to look like what they see down the microscope
and draw a lot of cells, none accurately.

Draw only a few representative adjacent cells (assessment

questions will usually give specific instructions about what
exactly is required.) If all the cells are similar, then three
cells is often sufficient to show both cell structure and the
way in which cells are arranged in relation to each other.
In such a case, detail of only one cell may be needed, with
outlines only of adjacent cells just to show their relative
positions.
Dont shade in nuclei just draw the outline. Similarly with
nucleoli.

A Level Biology

Biological drawing

Figure 4a: Photomicrograph of part of a section of the pancreas of a mouse taken at low power.

Figure 4b: Low power plan trace of one lobule from

the pancreas shown in Figure 4a showing an islet of
Langerhans and one acinus.

Figure 4c: Low power plan of the same lobule as

in Figure 4b but drawn by a student. This is a good
attempt at drawing the lobule shown in Fig 4a,
although some lines are thicker than others.

A Level Biology

Biological drawing

Figure 4d: High power photomicrograph of the pancreas shown in Figure 4a. The acinus drawn in Figures 4e and 4f is outlined.

Figure 4e: High power drawing of the acinus

outlined in Figure 4d, obtained by tracing and
fully labelled.

Figure 4f: High power drawing of the acinus outlined

in Figure 4d, drawn from the slide by a student. This is
a good attempt at drawing the acinus from Figure 4d,
although there are some overlapping lines.

10

A Level Biology

Biological drawing

Figure 4g: High power photomicrograph of an islet of

Langerhans from the pancreas shown in Figure 4a.
The chain of four cells drawn in Figures 4h and 4i is
outlined.

Figure 4h: High power drawing of the chain of four cells outlined in Figure 4g, obtained by tracing.

Figure 4i: High power drawing of the chain of four cells outlined in Figure 4g, drawn from the slide by a student. Again, this is a
good attempt at the drawing but this student needs to be careful they do not overlap lines.

11

A Level Biology

Biological drawing

Figure 5a: Photomicrograph of a transverse section of the lamina of a shade leaf of beech (Fagus) taken at low power.

Figure 5b: This is a low power plan of the beech leaf section shown in Figure 5a drawn by a student. The student has correctly
drawn and labelled the different tissues, rather than drawn individual cells.

12

A Level Biology

Biological drawing

Figure 5c: Photomicrograph of a transverse section of the lamina of a sun leaf of beech taken at low power.

Figure 5d: This is a low power plan of the beech leaf section shown in Figure 5c drawn by a student. Again the student has
correctly drawn and labelled the different tissues, rather than drawing individual cells.

13

A Level Biology

Biological drawing

Figure 5e: This is a student drawing at high power detailing cells in a transverse section of the lamina of a shade
leaf of beech (a different part of the same leaf shown in Figure 5a). The student has correctly included a title and
scale bar. The student has labelled the drawing and there is good use of annotation. The drawing itself is detailed
and clear. (Note: the cell walls of all the plant cells have been drawn; this is because they were visible with the
microscope and slide used. It is not always possible to see this much detail using a classroom light microscope).

14

A Level Biology

Biological drawing

TEACHER RESOURCE 1 - COMMON

ERRORS ACTIVITY
Figure 1 below shows a drawing of a transverse section of Helianthus stem at low power. The left
hand half of the drawing shows some common errors that are avoided in the right hand half. Students
could be asked to try to spot the errors.

Left-hand side

Right-hand side

Figure 1: Transverse section of a young Helianthus stem showing some common drawing errors in
the left-hand half of the drawing. The right-hand half shows examples of good technique.

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