Secrets of Scratchboard with Trudy Nicholson, mornings
Scratching the Surface: Metalpoint Drawing with Scott Rawlins, afternoons

If you're an illustrator who is looking for elegant alternatives to the more common traditional techniques and surfaces such as graphite pencil on coquille board and pen & ink on acetate, AND if you're looking to rediscover clarity and crispness of form...the 2005 GNSI Summer Workshop is for you!

We are pleased to announce that the week-long workshop at the Humboldt Field Research Institute/Eagle Hill Foundation will feature morning and afternoon sessions exploring the refined techniques of scratchboard and metalpoint. We are excited to have as our instructors, Trudy Nicholson and Scott Rawlins, two successful natural science illustrators willing to share their wisdom and insights. The workshop sessions will be structured to accommodate participants at various levels. Both sessions will highlight mark-making, and focus on the versatility of specific black and white media and their potential for producing both subtle and dramatic results. There will be many opportunities to draw inspiration from the environment surrounding the Institute, and both will complement each other by offering a chance to do either studio or outdoor work. Joint field trips and critiques are also being planned!Those of you who are making plans to attend the annual GNSI conference will be pleased to know that the workshop takes place in the week immediately following it, and it's only a 45-minute drive from Bar Harbor! Registrants can arrive on the 14th of August and depart on the 20th of August, with 5 intensive workshop days in between. So, if you're marking your calendar, plan on extending your stay to attend both.

You can't pass up a chance to spend time discovering this fascinating area and building on your technical skill set. This is definitely a chance that shouldn't be missed!!

We hope to see you there!

Trudy Nicholson will present each morning session "Secrets of Scratchboard," exploring this dramatic medium that is applicable to fine arts as well as publication. Through discussion, demonstrations, slides, and practice, participants will learn effective methods of creating a wide range of textures and shading on this versatile surface using pen & ink, graphite pencil, and a scratching tool. The session will focus on efficient sketching, creating well-balanced and energetic composition, and capitalizing on use of contrast. Participants will have opportunities to collect specimens from the field to use as subject matter. Time will be spent addressing the practical applications and advantages of scratchboard in daily production.

Trudy is an illustrator of nature with a background in medical and scientific illustration. Her main interest is portraying animals and plants in natural habitats, showing their dignity in the natural world with accuracy and detail. After receiving a Fine Arts degree at Columbia University and a Medical Illustration certificate from the Massachusetts General Hospital, she worked as a Medical Illustrator at NIH, as well as free-lancing as a natural science illustrator in a number of scientific fields for many years, using primarily the medium of ink and pencil on scratchboard. Her work is featured in Ruth Lozner's "Scratchboard for Illustration", and "Secrets de la Carte a Gratter" by Marco Elliott. Among the numerous nature books that she has illustrated are Warner Shedd's "Owls Aren't Wise and Bats Aren't Blind", Charles Levy's "Evolutionary Wars", and John Avise's "Genetics in the Wild". She has an illustration in the Morton Arboretum collection and has exhibited widely.

Scott Rawlins will present the afternoon sessions "Scratching the Surface: Metalpoint Drawing," featuring one of the oldest methods of drawing. A medium that reached its height of use during the Renaissance, metalpoint-- continues to be popular today, especially among fine artists and illustrators who appreciate line work that is delicate and sensitive. Methods of using metalpoint as a legitimate and viable drawing medium will be presented through lecture, demonstrations, and exercises. Participants will be given the opportunity to record outdoor habitat and landforms found in the surrounding environment through direct observation. The session will focus on precision line work and the creation of subtle and modulated tonality through hatching and crosshatching. Participants will be able to experiment with several types of metal on various grounds.

Scott is an Associate Professor in and the Chair of the Fine Arts Department at Arcadia University in Glenside, PA where he teaches scientific illustration, drawing and design. Scott holds an undergraduate degree in biology from Earlham College and graduate degrees in museum education and medical illustration from the George Washington University and the University of Michigan, respectively. A former museum curator, Scott maintains contact with the museum world through his work as a research assistant at the Academy of Natural Sciences and the United States Department of Agriculture. Currently, he is president of the American Society of Botanical Artists. Scott's illustrations appear in a number of books, and graphics he created 30 years ago are on "permanent" display at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. In addition, Scott has several drawings in the Hunt Institute's collection of botanical art.

Scholarship Opportunities (back to top)
We are very fortunate to be able to continue to offer two scholarship opportunities. Both will be awarded on the basis of the applicant’s artistic ability as judged by a panel of GNSI members and instructors. A very generous GNSI member contributes money annually in memory of her mother to provide the Alexandra Makar Scholarship. Scholarship money up to $450 will be awarded to deserving college students attending the workshop sessions. The applicant must be a college student studying for a career in scientific illustration at the time of the workshop. The Susan Frank Memorial Scholarship was established in memory of a GNSI member to promote art, fellowship, and learning. One scholarship in the amount of $200 will be offered to an applicant, also based on the merit of their artwork.

Click here to download the scholarship application form in PDF format. (You will need Acrobat Reader to read and print it. If you don't have Acrobat Reader, download it from Adobe.)

Important! Please note that if you are registering on the Humboldt Field Research Institute/Eagle Hill Foundation web site, and are interested in applying for the scholarships you will need to send in the scholarship application separately.

Education Credits(back to top)
Regular university credits, in addition to CEUs from the University of Maine are available to workshop registrants. Also, CEUs from the Association of Medical Illustrators are pending. Ask for details.

Refunds and Cancellation(back to top)
Deposit and/or full workshop tuition (minus $25) are refunded if notice to withdraw a registration is received more than four weeks prior to the beginning of a stay at the Institute. A refund thereafter is possible, if the reserved place can be filled by another registrant. If such a situation is not possible, the deposit (minus $25) may be credited towards another seminar during 2005 or 2006.

Travel/Transportation(back to top)
Air Transportation. There are a number of regularly scheduled airline flights to Bangor, ME. Some people prefer to fly (shorter advance notice times and lower prices) to the Bar Harbor/Trenton airport, Portland airport, or Manchester, NH airport.

Ground Transportation. Cars can be rented at the Bangor, ME airport and the Manchester, NH airport. There is also a shuttle taxi from Manchester to Portland (800-696-2463). The Portland airport is a short taxi ride ($10) from the Concord Trailways bus (207-945-4000, 800-639-3317, www.concordtrailways.com) which travels to Bangor (movies are shown on board and snacks are served). Amtrak (800-523-6590) provides regular service to Boston. Concord Trailways travels regularly from Boston via Portland to Bangor. Concord Trailways also provides local bus service from Portland to Bangor via Coastal Route 1. Greyhound provides comparable service (800-894-3355, www.greyhound.com). Bus service from Bangor to Matthew's Country Store in Steuben (1.5 hour trip) is provided by West's Coastal Connections (call Concord Trailways at 207-945-4000 for information). There is one daily departure from Bangor at about 3:00 PM and one daily departure from Steuben at about 11:00 AM (times may be variable, i.e., schedule inquiries are absolutely essential). You can call the station (546-2821) upon arrival at Matthew's to arrange for a ride to the station. For special travel arrangements, covering both air and ground transportation, you may also contact the local travel agent, Jeannette Arnold at Alpine Travel. Tel: 800-564-3395, 207-989-9994, Fax: 207-989-9996 or jarnold@vacation.com.

Detailed Driving Instructions(back to top)
Humboldt Field Research Institute/Eagle Hill Foundation is located on the coast of Maine south of Route #1 about halfway between Ellsworth and Machias. (Everyone who drives to the 2005 GNSI conference at the College of the Atlantic will be driving through Ellsworth).

Click here to download the detailed driving instructions in PDF format. (You will need Acrobat Reader to read and print it. If you don't have Acrobat Reader, download it from Adobe.)

Accomodations and Meals(back to top)
Various levels of accommodations are available at the Humboldt Field Research Institute/Eagle Hill location (see registration form). For ease and convenience (not to mention great food!), it is recommended to register for a meal plan that includes 3 meals per day.

Contact Info (back to top)

To mail workshop registrations and scholarship applications, or to ask any questions, please contact:
Joerg-Henner Lotze
2005 GNSI Summer Workshop Coordinator
Humboldt Field Research Institute/Eagle Hill Foundation
PO Box 9, 59 Eagle Hill Road, Steuben, Maine 04680-0009
Phone 207-546-2821; Fax 207-546-3042
www.eaglehill.us
office@eaglehill.us

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