***Intern Event Alert*** Join NMNH botanical scientific illustrator, Alice Tangerini THIS Friday (June 6th) from 2-4pm for a hand-on workshop on scientific illustration. No experience required. Here’s an opportunity to see how scientific illustrations are prepared from specimen to publication. You will also have the chance to try the techniques yourself! Tour is limited to 12 participants. Sign up by posting a comment to the below. When I “like” your comment, you’re on the list! Meet in the Constitution Avenue Lobby by 1:55pm! Know before you go . . . Workshop is a hands-on opportunity to try pen and ink line drawing and to experiment with the tools used by professional scientific illustrators. On display are examples of illustrations showing different methods of botanical illustration and the steps generally followed to progress from concept to published illustration. Illustration tools, including camera lucida use, will be demonstrated and interested participants will be given the opportunity to experiment with the various illustration equipment and techniques. The workshop will also include an opportunity to experiment with drawing on the computer using the Wacom tablet. Botanical scientific illustrator, Alice Tangerini will explain the processes she uses to produce a scientific illustration and then students will have the opportunity to prepare and ink an illustration.. Scientific illustration differs from traditional works of art in that exact representation is most important, not artistic creativity. A botanical scientific illustration typically consists of a drawing of the habit of the plant along with dissections of floral parts, most enlarged 2X to 50X. Floral dissections include the corolla (petals), calyx (sepals), stamens, pistil, ovary, fruit, and seeds. Displayed from dried herbarium specimen to published scientific illustration, the steps in-between may surprise you. Alice first prepares a photocopy - yes a photocopy - of a representative specimen and then, using the photocopy, begins to construct the habit and structure to be illustrated, often tracing the photocopy using clear film (matte acetate). Next she dissects parts. Using a camera lucida, traces - yes traces - small structures to enlarged size thereby ensuring exact proportions and accurate representation. Sketches are prepared on see-though film and overlapping sections arranged. The use of translucent film allows the illustrator to view all the overlays and decide what should be blocked out in the inking. Once all the sections are complete and the design decided, the scientist checks the sketches for exact accuracy. Finally, the plate is inked. The final rendition is done in pen and ink or brush and ink (or a combination of both) on a sheet of clear drafting film taped over the layout. Alice is famous for her line work illustrations, which is especially effective for illustrating new species of monocots. Stippling, a method of multiple dots, is most often used to give form to a figure or to indicate surface texture that is soft. The final work is most often reproduced 50% of original size of the illustration. Botanical scientific illustrations are mainly used in descriptions of new species, but also in monographs and floristic treatments. In a publication of a new species, the drawing accompanies a written description in botanical Latin. The features illustrated must agree exactly to the Latin description. Most illustrations for botanical journals are prepared and published in black and white (pen and ink) because the printing is less expensive. Continuous tone (generally using graphite or wash) may be used when tonal change is needed to successfully illustrate the features.
Posted on: Mon, 02 Jun 2014 16:24:20 +0000
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