Three-Dimensional Design: How to Prepare Models- By Mieke Roth
< Figure 1. 3D Printed Snail. All images © 2023 Mieke Roth
Journal of Natural Science Illustration Volume 55, No. 1: Abstracts
Welcome to the first Journal edition of 2023!
Member Spotlight - Sara Lynn CrambSara can often be found drawing in her studio with some tea, lazy cats dozing nearby, with a view of the Alaska Range out her window.
< All images © 2023 Sara Lynn Cramb unless otherwise noted. 50 States map art from Smithsonian Young Explorers Fact Book & Floor Puzzle: 50 States, published by Silver Dolphin Books. Illustration © Silver Dolphin Books.I like to say that I draw things for a living. It’s what I’ve wanted to do for as long as I can remember. I grew up in rural Ohio and had abundant time to explore outside when the weather was agreeable, and a wonderful library of beautifully illustrated children's books to pore over when it was not. I illustrated stories on loose sheets of paper that my mom helped me staple together into makeshift books. I wanted to be like my idols: children's illustrators Jan Brett, Eric Carle, and Charley Harper.
Book Review: The Cold Canyon Fire Journals: Green Shoots and Silver Linings in the Ashes, by Robin Lee CarlsonReviewed by Linda M. Feltner
Robin Lee Carlson’s book is an up–close–and–very– personal study of fire’s relationship with Stebbins Cold Canyon ecosystems. Her familiarity with this canyon grew through many years of walking, observing, and sketching in the Reserve. She watched with sadness and grief as her familiar trails and forested canyons succumbed to wildfire. Her journey begins armed with her scientific background, creative and curious mind, while she devotedly recorded its recovery.
Creating a Fine Art Painting: From Research to Exhibit
by Erin E. Hunter
Erin E. Hunter’s most ambitious piece yet is “Look Closer,” a large painting of California native bees and wildflowers that anchored a 2022 solo show at the San Francisco Botanical Garden. She tells the story of its creation – inspiration to process – from the sketching, designing and painting, to presenting the piece in multiple formats to various audiences.
Journal of Natural Science Illustration Volume 54, No. 3: Abstracts
Welcome to the third Journal edition of 2022!
To inspire you, we offer you excellent and innovative stories in this issue. The journal begins with a recap of our third online Visual SciComm Conference, an introduction to 19th century author and illustrator William Hamilton Gibson, Erin E. Hunter’s process for creating a large pollinator piece of artwork, a book review about the Cold Canyon Fires, an article about modern Medical Illustrators’ challenges, some photoshop tips for your traditional illustrations, an overview of Kathleen Garness’ grant project identifying orchids, and a Memoriam to the late illustrator Peg Estey. Thank you to all our contributors!
- Elizabeth Morales, Marla Coppolino, Carla DeMello, Lucy Gagliardo, and Annie Zygarowicz
Journal of Natural Science Illustration Volume 54, No. 2: Abstracts
Welcome to the second Journal edition of 2022!
To inspire you, we offer you excellent and innovative stories in this issue, ranging from affordable 2D and 3D renderers, an overview of the 2022 Visual SciComm Conference, a decal project at Cayuga Lake, selected artworks from the graduating class of CSUMB program, and watercolor paper tests by Kathryn Killackey. Thank you to all of our contributors!
GNSI 2021 Special Projects Award: Joel Floyd
Presented by GNSI President Kalliopi Monoyios at the All-Member Open Board Meeting on August 4th, 2021
Book Review: Natural History Illustration in Pen and Ink, by Sarah MorrishReviewed by Camille Werther
There are few instructional books that are dedicated to the use of traditional pen and ink materials in natural history illustration. Those interested in developing those skills now have a new reference thanks to GNSI member, Sarah Morrish, who has written Natural History Illustration in Pen and Ink. The beautifully illustrated book provides instruction for both the beginner and the experienced illustrator who is looking for inspiration or new ways to combine media. Morrish is an illustrator for Curtis’s Botanical Magazine and has produced work for the Natural History Museum in London.
Book Review: Natural History of Edward Lear, New Edition, by Robert McCracken Peck foreword by David AttenboroughReview by C.Olivia Carlisle
Edward Lear (1812–1888) is best known for his witty limericks and nonsense verse. But the celebrated author of The Owl and the Pussy-Cat also created some of the most stunning paintings of birds and mammals during an age when many species were just being discovered and brought to private menageries and zoos throughout Europe. In the Natural History of Edward Lear, New Edition, author Robert McCracken Peck, an authority on ornithological illustration in the United States, sheds light on Lear’s creativity, productivity, attention to natural science detail, and success as an artist. Through Peck’s extensive 20-year research in the Houghton Library at Harvard University, this book contains more than 200 of Lear’s beautiful and detailed illustrations of animals, plants, and landscapes.
- Anthony James Gustafson
Our ancient ancestors told stories of great prehistoric beasts in the form of drawings on the walls of caves. These animals played a significant role in their daily lives, and they clearly felt their stories were worth telling. And whether they realized it or not, the stories themselves would long outlive those who wrote them. So, in effect, they’ve been able to tell those stories to us thousands of years later.
When considering my circuitous career path toward botanical and nature art over the past 40 years, I clearly see that—apart from quantum leaps, serendipities, and sheer determination along the way, the seed was well and truly planted during my time living in the Galápagos Islands. Witnessing first-hand the extraordinary forms, colors, and sizes that the flora and fauna evolved into—ensuring survival on these inhospitable islands 600 miles off the coast of Ecuador—engraved on my soul a powerful respect and awe for them. My view of the world we live in and our humble place as human beings was changed forever. Growing up, I was always “arty” and influenced by my father and grandmother, spending creative summers painting or building projects and tasting raw nature in rural Vermont. I went on to pursue Fine Art and a stint of Graphic Art before making my way to London for my semester abroad. I felt I had come home in England’s green and pleasant land. After nearly three years, my visa expired and I never finished at the university... but I knew I would return...somehow.
< The endemic mangrove finch (Camarhynchus heliobates) and red mangrove (Rhizophora mangle) on the Galapagos Islands.
Learn a New Skill, Make New Connections, Renew Your Passion!
Core Conference: July 17–18, 2021; Workshops: July 24–25, 2021
Written by Donald B. Sayner and Gladys Bennett Menhennet. Edited by Lana Koepke Johnson and Jeanette R. O’Hare, foreword by Paul Mirocha.
— Reviewed by Joel Floyd
- Reviewed by Camille Werther
GNSI Past President, Dr. Dick Rauh, has written an invaluable reference book for those who love flowers, those who teach scientific and botanical illustration, and artists who want to deepen their knowledge of how plants work. The author is both an artist and a scientist, having earned a PhD in Plant Sciences at CUNY, and brings his knowledge of both disciplines to the format of the book.
Review by Theophilus Britt Griswold
Product Review: Stonehenge Aqua Black
by Gail Guth and Camille Werther
