Casting our minds back 51 years, we find two young natural science illustrators at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. Carolyn Bartlett Gast and Elaine R. S. Hodges had noticed the lack of connection among staff illustrators and had become the prime movers to bridge the gap. In order to do that, Carolyn planned illustrators’ luncheons with programs related to the media that would be helpful to these previously isolated artists. This served as a means to introduce illustrators to one another and for them to recognize the benefits of coming together. Carolyn found Elaine to be a willing ally and, as Carolyn saw it, Elaine had enthusiasm for the project as well as access to a typewriter—and could type. With that skill they produced elegant invitations and descriptions of the programs. Their success in this endeavor led to the founding of the Guild of Natural Science Illustrators on December 2, 1968, and the connection among natural science illustrators that we’ve all enjoyed for 51 years. Thus began a lifelong effort by Elaine to bring together people who specialized in the art of seeing—the art of perceiving an object, not just looking at it. All of this in the service of science. (Above: Elaine in her office, 1987.)

The Geography of the GNSI

What GNSI Conference Planning Is About
by Britt Griswold

It all starts with an urge to give your GNSI friends a place to gather. Then you remember all the cool things you could show them. Then you remember the connections you have to your local institutions and suddenly you think “my friends and I could do this!” Fortunately, the Guild has developed a sophisticated set of tools to help you plan and organize talks, workshops and field trips, along with the celebration of the Guild family gathering each year.

I was born in Minneapolis and grew up on a farm near Benson, Minnesota. Growing up on a farm certainly nurtured my interest in the natural world; I’ve always loved drawing and being outside.

My parents were always very supportive of everything I wanted to do, always encouraging my interests in art and science. Mom would often buy drawing paper and pencils for me; Dad built a great drawing table board that I still use. When I was a little kid, I would often make drawings of different types of animals and staple the sheets together to make simple books. I would create a book about spiders and one about snakes and so on. I never guessed that I would be doing the same type of work as a career.

(Left: In my studio working on a new drawing)

The 2019 GNSI and AMBI Members' Digital Exhibit: Rendering Science - Clarity and Concepts, is now available to view in the GNSI website image galleries. This excellent exhibit combined GNSI and AIMBI member’s work, showcasing traditional and digital illustration, photography and animation entries. From July 1 - July 7, the exhibit displayed across 5 projection panels in the main entrance of the Queensland Museum, and also in the auditorium adjacent to the main entrance.

The evening of the exhibit opening started with a water taxi tour on the Brisbane River, from Women’s College to downtown Brisbane. Walking to the museum from the water taxi stop included a look at the pelican bronzes by Leonard and Kathleen Shillam, an inner-city beach and lagoon, and a treetop squabble between a ring-tailed possum and a fruit bat! The exhibit reception was a highlight of our exceptional conference experience in Australia.

Product Review: Inktense® Pencils by Derwent®
—By Minnelli Lucy France

Are you looking for art materials that may not trigger allergies as severely as paints with fumes, or solvents from oils and acrylics? This summer, I was desperate for just that. To this end, I re-evaluated my various art media and in doing so I ventured upon new discoveries and artistic possibilities. Inktense by Derwent was one of my favorite new discoveries and is now rapidly becoming one of my main media.

I’ve only been using them to sketch for about four or five years since I discovered the artwork of John Muir Laws^1,2—and became more inspired after attending the 2016 GNSI Conference in Santa Cruz where John was a presenter. I really like the freedom to work rough and loose without later worrying about the blue lines competing with the final sketch. This allows me to keep my final sketch and rough sketches together, i.e., in my sketchbook instead of using a separate sheet of paper (and light box/pad) to create the final piece. You can then digitally remove the blue sketch with Photoshop as I learned from Ikumi Kayama’s excellent demo on her YouTube channel. [The video is called Photoshop Tutorial for Scientific Illustrators: Separating Out Non-Photo Blue from Graphite.]

Tuesday, July 2nd, 7:00 PM – 10:00 PM, H. Marks Hall, Women's College. 

The annual GNSI auction is always a conference highlight, full of anticipation, suspense, and excitement!  The 2019 auction will be no different, although there will be some important things to take into consideration this year. Due to the greater distances traveled by many attendees, we will not be able to transport medium to large auction items. Instead, we will focus on small items that fit easily into luggage, AND a whole new suite of non-tangible items this year!  Start thinking about experiences that you might like to offer, such as:

The Bow Seat Ocean Awareness Program is hosting the 2019 Ocean Awareness Contest, for young artists, thinkers, and activists (ages 11-18). The program is seeking entries with the theme of Presence of the Future.

Applicants are asked to create a piece about a coastal/marine species, place, or system that will be threatened, altered, or lost due to climate change. Submissions accepted include visual art, poetry, prose, film, and music. Deadline for submission - June 17th, 2019.

The blog Love in the Time of Chasmosaurus is conducting a survey of paleoartists to understand how paleoartists practice their craft: how they research their work, what they charge their clients, how they work towards scientific rigor and avoid repeating errors in existing work. The anonymous survey can be found here.

The Art of Planetary Science is an annual art exhibition run by the University of Arizona’s Lunar and Planetary Laboratory that celebrates the beauty and elegance of space science and related science fields.

Submissions for fine art and data art are accepted through August 2nd, 2019. The exhibit will be held from November 15th through 17th at the University of Arizona in Tucson. Find out more information and submission instructions here.

The GNSI and AMBI Members' Digital Exhibit - Call for Entries is Open!

Rendering Science - Clarity and Concepts

GNSI is excited to join with the AIMBI (Australian Institute of Medical and Biological Illustration) for our 2019 Conference Exhibit, digitally displayed at the Queensland Museum in Brisbane, opening reception July 1, 2019, at 7 pm.

Two organizations - (1) the American Society of Illustrators Partnership, Inc. (ASIP),
teamed with Artist Rights Society (ARS), and, more-recently formed, (2) The American
Society for Collective Rights Licensing, Inc. (ASCRL) - are promoting distributions of
European reprographic royalties. The GNSI Board has been asked to give their formal
endorsement to or assessment of these organizations.
 
The GNSI Board of Directors, on behalf of GNSI, Inc., cannot endorse any organization
involved with royalty distribution nor advise members on their personal financial
decisions related to those organizations.
 
The GNSI Board of Directors acts according to our mission: “GNSI connects professionals
who promote, educate, and celebrate the visual communication of science”. 
 
If a member wishes to understand the future directions of these reprographic rights and
royalties organizations, they can contact ASIP and ASCRL directly.
 
Most sincerely,
Sara L. Taliaferro, GNSI President

BioImages is an annual visual media competition that showcases the finest still, graphics and motion media work in the life sciences and medicine.

Early this winter, you will be surprised with all the new and improved features at your same trusted URL of many years: www.gnsi.org. We are so proud about the upcoming GNSI website that we wanted to tell you all about it!

It’s interesting to recall that our online presence began in 1998 with a one-page static website created and maintained by GNSI member and webmaster Heike Blum. Step back in time and take a look. We have archived this legacy website to preserve the institutional memory and history: wayback.archive-it.org/10600/20180822190052/https://legacy.gnsi.org/.

GROW YOUR SKILLS. EXPAND YOUR NETWORK. INSPIRE CURIOSITY.

Each summer, the Guild of Natural Science Illustrators hosts a fun-filled week for artists, scientists, and educators from across the nation. The GNSI Annual Conference offers endless opportunities for brainstorming, professional development, and sharing local attractions alongside some of the brightest individuals in our field.  

With 160–200 attendees, every event provides enough diversity to catalyze great conversations and address different skill levels and interests while ensuring a comfortable environment for interacting and networking.

Dearest GNSI Members,

As we navigate through a season that in North America includes the winter solstice and day with the shortest span of daylight in our calendar year, I am in a reflective mood. Since accepting the honor of serving as President of the Guild this summer, I have enjoyed the challenges and rewards inherent in collaborating with the diverse and rich leadership and expertise that all of you bring to this organization. My every meeting and correspondence has deepened my respect for each of you and broadened my hope for what we are and what we can become.