Microscope used for getting those details.
My desktop for study
Looks crazy, but awesome tool to hold a subject in place.
How I take photos of my subjects
Examining the Plant Morphology of the Liliaceae family
Hummingbird and Suet Feeders attract lots of feathered friends (and some furry ones) for me!
I love flower gardens and spend lots of time tending mine and visiting and appreciating others!
We have so many white tail deer on our property. That's why I draw them so much!
I have buckets of shells and other seashore finds that I bring home from the beach.
I have been experimenting with all sorts of tools to get the details I need for graphite and watercolor pieces where I'm trying to be true to the subject.
For my surface pattern work, I might take a piece I did in these mediums, bring it in to Adobe Illustrator and/or Photoshop, and then alter it to make it modern.
I'm also big on doing that with my photos When I first started categorizing my nature photos from the years of taking pictures on walks, in the backyard, on vacations, etc., it was daunting. I spent days and days on that project but it was so great not only to walk down memory lane, but to spark ideas of pieces I wanted to try. So I'd highly recommend doing the same if you can.
I'm a big fan of self learning. It's what works best for me and my schedule and there are so many options out there. Each class I've taken in person or virtually has lead to more ideas of things I want to study in detail or create a collection on.