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.
Did you use the digital plant specimen database yet?
ReplyDeleteI've logged in a looked around. It seems to contain less reference photos and more illustrations so I don't think I'll be using it very much.
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