The English and French specialised in miniature watercolour portraiture from the 1500s, starting with Queen Elizabeth I, as aristocratic boasting on the back of playing cards. This art form developed into a high art and still continues today. In London's Victoria and Albert Museum there is a room with the history of miniature portraits. I was trained to paint botanical watercolours and I wanted to see if I could achieve the same extraordinary standard of detail in the way I had been developed my ability to document plants and flowers.