W3P3: Observational Drawing

The emphasis placed on close observation and precise measurement by the course this week fits well into the idea that visual arts build skills that help in the sciences. Despite the course not drawing those connections itself, it's implied that Natural History Illustrators have a fascination with the world around them very similarly to the way that scientific researchers do. I think that the general overlap of interests is what leads great Polymaths like Leonardo da Vinci to pursue different outlets for their curiosity in the arts and sciences.

I wonder if there are any other similarities between artists and scientists besides curiosity and wanting to document the natural world? Clearly, both require a variety of technical skill and attention to detail, but are there any other areas where the two fields overlap?

W3P2: Observational Drawing

The thing that sets observational drawing apart from other forms of drawing and painting is the immense attention to detail that it requires. Natural History Illustrators are responsible for depicting nature as accurately as possible and to do so must use specialized measurement, shading, and observation techniques. It is also important for these artists to understand the context of their illustrations so as to represent subjects in motion or interacting with the environment.

In order to measure subjects, many Natural History Illustrators use bounding boxes. This technique helps to define proportions within the illustration. On top of specialized observational skills, Natural History Illustrators also employ the elements and principles of art as other artists would.

W3P1: Observational Drawing

Observational drawing skills involve being able to accurately observe, contemplate, measure, simplify, and draw subjects in nature.

"Drawing, properly taught, is the best way of developing intelligence and forming judgement, for one learns to see, and seeing is knowledge." (Eugene-Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc 1883: p.305)

Observational drawing simply means drawing what you see. The job of Natural History Illustrators is to draw and represent objects as accurately as possible using observational drawing skills.

When studying an object, think. Think about the overall shape, and the shape of the individual components. Think about the size and proportion. Think about the texture of the surface, the tones and the markings. Think about how it was formed, and try to identify the key characteristics that need to be depicted. Slow down and contemplate the object, become familiar with all of its intricate details before even picking up the pencil.

It's also vital to measure subjects to ensure that they are being depicted accurately in terms of scale.

Transcribing from three dimensions to two is tricky, and you should always consider the structure and form of the object you are depicting. This is particularly important when drawing the edges of your object. Let them curve away from you rather than coming to an abrupt end. Look at where the light hits the surface and where the shadows are placed and mark these areas onto your sketch.

Keep in mind the surface form and the underlying structure of the object you are drawing.

It's also important to record context notes that can be used later when refining a sketch.

Overlapping – The placement in a composition of one object in front of another in order to create the illusion of depth

Relative size – The size of one object in relation to another. For example, a tree in the foreground would be painted much larger than a tree in the background

Graduating tone – Tones weaken the further away they are therefore lighter tones should be used in the background and stronger tones in the foreground

Line weight – Heavier lines should be used for the objects closer to the viewer and softer lines for the elements that are further away

Colour – The value and intensity of colours change depending on the distance of the object from the viewer. Objects that are close to the viewer should be strong and vibrant while objects that are further away should be softer and bluer

Details – Objects that are closer to the viewer should have more details than those that are further away

Directing the eye flow – Use minor objects (the support characters) to direct the viewer’s eyes towards the focal point. In the example below, the higher monkey is the focal point and the lower monkey and the branch it is sitting on are leading the viewers eyes to the focal point.

W2P3: The Correlations Between Art and Scientific Success

I was pleasantly surprised this week when I discovered the amount of scientific research that has been done into polymathy. Choosing to focus on a single article this week, I read through a 13 page study and gained several statistics that will be useful as I move forward and try to form an argument for my presentation. I think that there is a good balance between the fluidity of the edX course that focuses mainly on artistic skills and the rigidity of the more quantitative research papers I found that will enable me to take my learning in a direction that suits me. I am genuinely excited to learn more about the science behind the minds of famous polymaths like Leonardo Da Vinci.

The questions I have this week are:
How does pursuing the arts change the brain? Do the arts have a concrete, quantifiable means of changing the brain? Is there a discipline of science that lends itself to art more than others?

Also as a means of documenting my learning, I will occasionally use this third post to share natural history illustrations I have produced while following the course. Here is a goose for your viewing pleasure.

W2P2: Correlations between the Arts and Scientific Success

Over the years, several scientific studies have identified a quantifiable correlation between artistic pursuits and scientific success. One theory as to why this is that individuals truly passionate about learning exhibit dedication in across all fields of study. These individuals can usually be classified as polymaths, or people who excel and learn in multiple disciplines. Many researchers believe that the most successful scientists have an unquenchable curiosity that contributes to their success in research, but also leads them to pursue other outlets for that curiosity.

Although it may be hard to believe, curiosity is a key element to scientific discovery. Those who dare to question and observe the world around them have a tendency to succeed in the sciences, but those attributes also often lead to those people exploring the world through artistic means. Creative individuals have the greatest potential to change the world. Creativity heightens ones ability to solve problems and is often the largest contributor to scientific breakthroughs.

A study by R. M. Milgram concluded that having intellectually stimulating hobbies like the arts indicates potential for career success better than standardized testing scores. This is because of the traits that these hobbies endow in their participants. People who engage in the arts foster creativity, attention to detail, and observational skills that become helpful in virtually any career path, especially the sciences.

W2P1: Correlations between the Arts and Scientific Success

Polymathy- The ability to learn and excel in multiple different fields

Renaissance Man- A person with many talents, or areas of study



Notes from "Arts Foster Scientific Success: Avocations of Nobel, National Academy, Royal Society, and Sigma Xi Members" by Robert Root-Bernstein, PhD
http://emilkirkegaard.dk/en/wp-content/uploads/Arts-Foster-Scientific-Success-OCR.pdf

Being good at one thing increases odds of being good at another, those good in art have a tendency to also be good in science.

White study (1931): “geniuses” have a wider range of avocations carried out more intensively than the average college graduate

Milgram study: having at least one persistent and intellectually stimulating hobby is a better predictor for career success in any discipline than IQ, standardized test scores, or grades.

Bebow study: Precocity in scoring very high on standardized tests such as the SAT also has been shown to be predictive of creativity and career success

Root-Bernstein:

It has been shown that innovative scientists develop “correlative talents” (Root-Bernstein, 1989) that combine their vocations and avocations into what have been variously called “integrated activity sets” (Dewey, 1934) or “networks of enterprise” (Gruber, 1984, 1988). These terms describe the ability of creative scientists to explore a wide range of apparently unrelated activities and to connect the knowledge and skills gained thereby into integrated networks that can be brought, effectively to bear in raising and solving important scientific problems.

Fine arts also develop skills of value to scientists. J. H. van’t Hoff (NP) (1967), Wilhelm Ostwald (NP) (1909), Santiago Ramon y Cajal (NP) (1951), and Max Planck (NP) all argued in Planck’s words that, “The pioneer scientist must have . . . [an] artistically creative imagination” (Planck, 1949, p. 8)

Creative process is a transdisciplinary link between the sciences and arts (cf., Bohm & Peat, 1987).

For C. H. Waddington, understanding how art was made was a way to understand his own field of embryology, because, “An art object is always an instruction, to do or to experience, not a piece of information; and living things are organized instructions, not organized information” (Waddington, 1972, p. 37)

1947 poll by the starred scientists in American Men of Science: while 74% reported little (35% ) or no (39% ) fine arts training, 80% strongly recommended fine arts training as an essential component of scientific education

Both visual arts and science require "unusual degree of curiosity, desire for learning, puzzle solving, and a desire to think carefully about ideas"

W1P3: Intro to Natural History Illustration

I can already tell that I'm going to need to supplement this edX course with a great deal of outside material. My plan was to focus my learning on the relationship between art and science and it's my understanding that this course leans strongly towards the arts and different drawing techniques. I am still excited to take the class and I plan on using my learning in order to produce art throughout the semester. I plan at this point on alternating weeks where I study the course with weeks where I do outside research more geared towards the sciences

My main question as of now is how much of the edX class material is going to be relevant to my final presentation. I am also wondering where I am going to find the material to independent study and what direction that material is going to take my learning.

W1P2: Intro to Natural History Illustration

I have decided to take the edX course "Drawing Nature, Science, and Culture: Natural History Illustration 101" through the University of Newcastle for GT ELS this semester. The first week's worth of content was focused on establishing the foundations and importance of Natural History Illustration as well as giving examples of famous Australian Natural History Illustrators.

Natural History Illustration is an ancient practice that has been used since the beginning of humans' existence on Earth in order to document the natural world. This documentation of life has served an important function in scientific research over time because of the attention to detail of more recent Natural History Illustrations. Famously, many renaissance thinkers like Leonardo Da Vinci used both Natural History Illustration and scientific research together in order to advance their understanding of the natural world to a greater degree.

Today, there are two prevailing styles of Natural History Illustration. Ecological style illustrations focus on showing subjects in context, often drawing or painting the setting in which their subject can be found. These illustrations usually contain multiple specimens even if they are focused on only one. The other style of Natural History Illustration, Linnean style is inspired by the German illustrator Georg Ehret who worked with Linneus to classify specimens. Ehret's style was geared towards helping researchers and displayed usually just one subject, often with parts magnified to show them in greater detail.

W1P1: Intro to Natural History Illustration

Natural History Illustration has been a tool used by humans for thousands of years in order to document and better understand the natural world around them. 


Examples of NHI can be seen in the cave paintings produced by early humans, the Renaissance thinkers, and modern scientific explorers
Professional Natural History Illustrators learn from Leonardo da Vinci, Albrecht Dürer, George Stubbs, Sydney Parkinson, Ferdinand Bauer, George Forster, David Roberts and the formidably braveThe purpose of natural history art is to assist the scientist in their work of identifying, describing, classifying and naming a speciesLinnaeus' classification system was aided by the german natural history illustrator Georg EhretLinnaean style NHI: Inspired by Ehret's artwork, this illustration is designed to assist scientists as best as possible. Subjects are rendered in color, but certain parts are magnified to be shown in greater detail. Ecological style: Inspired by the naturalists and William Bartram, this style illustrates subjects as they appear in the wild, often surrounded by other natural elements. Natural History Illustrators are visual learners (Hey! Just like me!) who are responsible for collaborating with others, and having a keen eye that often notices details missed by researchers.NHI is different from other forms of art because of the careful observation skills it demands.The Newcastle course has granted all participants access to JSTOR's digital plant specimen database that I will use to obtain references throughout the course.
Maria Sibylla Merian, Ellis Rowan and Margaret Mee among other artists.