ASS2 - Project 4 - Natural sciences
Project Natural science
I am really looking forward to this area in illustration it is something that I have always wanted to venture into just to see with my skills and ideas that it may be another area which I enjoy.
I am very interested in looking at insects, flowers and animal bodies particularly in this illustration type.
Research point
Visit the Wellcome Collection gallery or website or do your own research to find examples of illustrators who have adapted their image-making approach to accommodate advances in imaging technologies. You could take this from a historical perspective, looking at illustrators who brought new technologies into their work at a particular point in time, or find contemporary examples of illustrators working with new technologies.
How does this compare with more traditional image-making approaches?
Here below I have researched and looked at contemporary Science Illustration and then looked at the history of science to see what tools they used in the past to compare to today.
Karen Gustafson
Above: Raw onion
Illustration of raw onion as seen through a scanning electron microscope. Raw onion reveals an ordered underlying structure similar to cracks or fracture lines in rocks.
Above: Raw potato
Illustration of raw potato as seen through a scanning electron microscope. Raw potato reveals a structure made up of smooth ovals that look like miniature potatoes which conform to a fractal-like pattern.
An illustration of a french fry (chip) as seen through a scanning electron microscope. The french fry no longer conforms to the fractal-like pattern seen in raw potato, and instead forms triangular shapes joined together with deeply grooved and seemly shrivelled surfaces.
These illustrations were really interesting to look at especially comparing a raw potato to a cooked chip under a microscope,. You can see after cooking the potato the molecules of the chip have changed from a lot of circular areas to larger oval shapes. It reminds me of popcorn before you put it in the microwave (the raw potato) and then afterwards (the chip) the explosion of the seed popping By using an electron microscope this illustrator really gets inside and upclose to see what we cant usually see.
David S. Goodsell
https://wellcomecollection.org/works/ah34mcug?query=%22David%20S.%20Goodsell%22
Above: Watercolour and ink on paper illustration of HIV. There are 8 different point in . HIV cycle.
Above: Watercolour and ink on paper illustration of HIV maturation.
Above: Watercolour and ink on paper illustration of a cross section through a mycoplasma cell, showing all the macromolecules found inside.
This illustrator is well know and advanced in Science illustration today - His work has been able to help patients with HIV and understand it better. To capture his images he uses a cross section metaphor, which allows viewing of many molecules in the same image area. His style has been said to somewhat reminiscent of the post-impressionist style of Henri Rousseau. Goodsell draws molecules with flat colours and outlines to emphasise their relative sizes. His drawings usually are printed at a consistent 1,000,000x magnification, which enlarges the objects to visible size.
Lucy T Smith
www.lucytsmith.com/?q=image/tid/4
Above: Plectocomia elongata, watercolour on paper
Above: Raphia farinifera, single fruit watercolour on paper
Above: Nepenthes attenboroughii
Interestingly, this illustration above was commissioned in 2016 by the Carnivorous Plant Society and presented to their patron, Sir David Attenborough, to celebrate his 90th birthday. The rare plant, which grows in Palawan, Phillipines, was named after Sir David upon it discovery in 2009.
The production of line drawings is driven by two main purposes: to contribute to plant life in todays world and to document new species. Most illustrators specialise in illustrating one or a small number of plant families. Lucy favourite subject is to illustrate palms, She gets examples of dried palm leaves. These specimens are too brittle to unfold and so the artist re-imagines the specimen by measuring each part of the palm leaf and then uses this information to draw it to a smaller scale as it would be if it was unrolled.
I discovered that Lucy works out her initial drawings and layout first. She uses a camera lucida attached to a microscope to draw some of the most minute specimens.
"I get to try this out with some tiny grass seeds and soon realise how long it must take to master this technique – it is very hard to look down the microscope and draw the outline of the specimen without looking at my hand and the pencil!"
After making initial sketches Lucy will then consult with the botanist for whom she is illustrating in order to determine which parts of the plant should be included and to get approval of the accuracy of her work. Once the elements of the drawing have been decided she then lays them out on the page in a logical order with the main specimen in the middle and details such as habit, vegetative details, and illustrations of flower and fruit carefully placed around it. She then inks over the top of her pencil work with a very fine pen using fine stippling to mould form.
Lucy’s illustrations are beautiful but she emphasises that they are science led and that the main consideration is accuracy and care to include enough information without cluttering the drawing with unnecessary detail.
Alison Schroeer
I came across this couple who work together Alison is a Medical and botanical Illustrator.
She also does a lot of illustration for the natural science with her partner. Her partner is a scientist and together they work as a team to discover and get information from animals, plants and humans and portray it as accurately as they can. They have used various technology such as microscopes and electron technologies to grasp the form of their subjects. Alison is the main illustrator out of the two, she uses coloured pencil and mixing photoshop to render her work.
Science illustration in the past and early years
This book covers all different types of illustration - In here pg103 - pg113 it talks about science illustration and its history. Based on history of science illustration I found on page 113 a paragraph which was interesting:
"Today the human models are represented as healthy and it is no longer acceptable to decipt cadavers with exposed internal organs removed for exposition amid shreds of peeled back skin and flayed muscle! The days of glorifying a body autopsy by painting or illustrating or illustration is now something of the past"
This informs me that illustration was very hand on in dissecting people, animals and more where as today we have technology to do this for us.
Back in the medieval period I discovered that science illustrators used basic drawing techniques to convince the viewers that the image contained was an exact likeness of the artist observation. as well as manuscripts. To convey the impression of accuracy and lifelikeness, artists often depicted objects against a plain background and offered highly detailed renderings of surfaces and textures.
Back then in the early ages people did not get around much so seeing these images would have made them marvel at both the beauty of natural forms and the artists skill.
During the early modern period classic artists such as Leonardo da Vinci and Albrecht Dürer's studied plants, animals and people.
I also read this article which came out today with was very fitting to my research about a famous science illustrator - Ernst Haeckel
https://www.mnn.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/blogs/Ernst-haeckel-illustrations-showcase-nature-beautiful-ways
How does this compare with more traditional image-making approaches?
In my opinion it compares greatly. In todays Science Illustration they use technology such as a camera lucida, which is attached to a microscope. Scientific illustrators looks at the human body and natural things using todays technology to visualize molecules and other things the naked eye cant't see. They use various 3D programs, to create teaching illustrations for medical work.
I have also learnt that they borrow anonymous MRI data from the radiologists and recreate artworks using MRI data as reference. With the technology of today there is no need for dissecting, most can be seen through different technology such as microscopes, scans, blood samples and X-rays.
All of the above technology was not available in the past, which made drawing not entirely accurate and not as much detail and information that Science illustrations can get and attain today.
I tried to think to myself if I was living in the past before technology, how could you draw something so accurately without photos and other technology that we have today? It's quite a beautiful and exciting idea, exploring and discovering something new to show the world. Back then everything was a discovery and new to the viewers. It must have been so marvellous to look at a drawing ay a brand new unseen animal such as this great example by example by Artist Durer. Here below is a sketch of a Rhino (which has likeness, except for the added horn and the armour appearance of his skin)
It was great to look back but also great to look at contemporary artist who also create wonderful work.
Science illustration overall has helped cure illnesses, exploration and discovery of new species. I think Science illustration is only going to get more popular by helping understand what is happening to nature with climate change, how to protect it and make changes to how we live in order to protect our planet.
Other research in different styles of Botanical Illustration Today
Angie Lewin
www.angielewin.co.uk
Above: Wood engraving
Above: Honesty Blue
Island Celebration Linocut
Lewin's work is so wonderful and captivating, the contrasts of colour make her work bold and she has got a good sense of mark making. She creates her illustrations using wood engraving, linocut, silkscreen, lithograph and collage. Lewin is Inspired by both the clifftops and salt marshes of the North Norfolk coast and the Scottish Highlands, She depicts these contrasting environments and their native plant life to show the relationships between plant communities on an intimate level with the landscape.
Hannah McVicar
I really like Hannahs style, there is so much to look at. She has developed her style through years of practicing the technique of screen-printing. she is a modern botanical artist using multi-media printmaking to illustrate plants in all their forms. Specialising in detail, texture, composition, colour.
By looking at these two modern artist, you can see that there are other ways to record natural life through illustration using various tools to help show their own style to Science illustration. They have an interest in plant species but not as advanced as the Science illustrator who use scientific technology who do it for research, rather than the joys of looking at its beauty.
Exercise: A rose by any other name
Exercise: A rose by any other name Choose a house plant, a cutting from the garden or a bunch of flowers. Focus on a small area and draw what you see. Be as accurate in describing shape, form and details as you can. Aim to create a drawing from which somebody else could recognise your plant. Now, draw the plant again, this time from a much more creative perspective. Describe the plant but in simpler and bolder terms. You might want to play down your use of colour, line and form, for example. You drawing should try to summarise the essence of the plant, so it becomes more universally recognisable rather than a specific specimen.
Detailed Observation:
This morning I brought a plant to do this exercise.
The plant is called a Blue Primrose:
The plant is called a Blue Primrose:
They mainly flower in the springtime and can last throughout summer. It is a common plant in gardens here in the UK. They love shaded areas and like to keep cool. As well as blue they can come in many different types of colours.
Out of all the plants in the garden centre, I chose this one because looking at it closely I really liked the blue lines going around on each petal. I also liked the fact that the center of the flowers are orange and yellow tones, which compliment the blue on the petals.
I have with me a magnifying glass to do this exercise to grasp the details and see the form better to produce a detailed illustration.
Here above is my detailed illustration, I used fine liners to capture the details and pencils and felts to capture the colours. I am happy with it and it was a great chance to observe a plant and really look at it something. I think my illustration is true to the shape and details of the flower. I think I could have gone darker with the leaves and less blue in some areas on the petals, but apart from that I think I have captured a likeness of the Blue Primrose very well and people would recognise it.
Creative Flower Illustration
Now, draw the plant again, this time from a much more creative perspective. Describe the plant but in simpler and bolder terms. You might want to play down your use of colour, line and form, for example. You drawing should try to summarise the essence of the plant, so it becomes more universally recognisable rather than a specific specimen.
Now, draw the plant again, this time from a much more creative perspective. Describe the plant but in simpler and bolder terms. You might want to play down your use of colour, line and form, for example. You drawing should try to summarise the essence of the plant, so it becomes more universally recognisable rather than a specific specimen.
Here below is my attempt to create an illustration of the flower but in a looser, creative way.
I have captured the flower shape using loose simple shapes and added less colour then the detailed drawing. I have done this by adding fast simple streaks of blue for the patterned petals and a quick splash of yellow for the flower centres. To create this illustration in an even more creative way and a pinch of my own style I then ripped around the edges of the flower drawings to leave the ripped texture on the papers edges.
For the leaves I picked out some green paper and scrunched it up t to create creases which enhances the leaves textures. I then went over them fast with a felt pen with a thick tip which when pushed across the surface captured only certain areas of the paper in between the creases. I then also added black simple lines in the middle of the leaves to show the stem.
Once done two leaves and two flowers I then used double sided tabs to stick down on to a bright yellow background which makes the flower and leaves stand out at you really well.
I like my design and the creative process I thought of and used, however I think my illustration has still some features that recognise the type of plant instead of just recognising it as a flower that could be many different types.
To help make my illustration less like the original Primrose I am going to edit my work in photoshop and see how I can manipulate it to become less recognised as a type of plant and more like the sense of a flower.
Above: Photoshop using Smudge Tool 1
Above: Photoshop using Smudge Tool 2
Above: Photoshop using blur tool and paint tool 3
Above: Photoshop using blur tool and paint tool 3
Above: Photoshop adding geometry layers of shapes 4
Above: Photoshop using paint and burn tool 5
Above: Photoshop using burn tool and dodge tool 6
Above: Photoshop using sponge and burn tools 7
Above: Photoshop using burn, sponge and paint tools 8
From out of the above edits in photoshop my favourite one is Attempts no 3 and 8. This is because I think it fulfils this exercise in keeping the essence of a plant but not actually understanding what type of plant it is. I have enjoyed the exercise as it has allowed me freely to edit and be creative in photoshop - I am still learning photoshop and want to keep dipping into it to improve my skills as well as experiment and find ways to improve my traditional style with the use of paper.
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