1.1.2—Cell drawings

A biological drawing is a large, accurate line record of the structures that can actually be seen in a microscope slide or photomicrograph—not a reconstruction of the textbook cell.

1. Inspect the image first and decide which structures are genuinely visible.
2. Set the drawing size and relative proportions from the image; include a title and magnification or scale bar when supplied.
3. Draw the observed outline and internal features with clear, single lines and no shading.
4. Label only visible structures with straight, separate label lines that point precisely to the feature.

A cell drawing records individual cells and their internal features, usually at higher magnification. A plan drawing records the distribution of tissues at lower magnification, so it should not invent cell-level detail.

Neatness cannot justify an unseen organelle. If a feature is not resolved in the image, leaving it out is more accurate than drawing the expected textbook version.