Creating a Botanical Illustration

Meet the artists tasked with creating pictures that look good enough to eat.

If it wasn’t for them, you might not have bought that particular tin of tomatoes or that bottle of wine.

Enya Todd, a Chinese illustrator living in the UK, and Rocío Egío, a Spanish illustrator living in Switzerland tell Ruth Alexander how they translate a love of food into irresistible images on a page; while award-winning British botanical illustrator Bridget Gillespie reveals the ups and downs of capturing every exact detail of a fruit or vegetable. Just don’t ask her to paint you a strawberry.

Presented by Ruth Alexander Produced by Beatrice Pickup

(Picture: an illustration of a dish of paella on a tablecloth, designed by contributor Rocío Egío. Credit: Paella by Rocío Egío)