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Archive for the ‘natural science illustration’ Category

Draw Plants Outdoors, Hike & Have Fun This Summer

Posted in botanical art, botanical illustration, Education, general botany, Learning Opportunities, natural science illustration, Sketching & Journaling, tagged , , , , , on May 21, 2013 | Leave a Comment »

Now at Classes Near You > New York!


Gretchen Kai Halpert
www.gretchenhalpert.com
Gretchen Halpert is a scientific illustrator and biologist with many years of experience creating illustrations for the medical field, for scientific research, and for commercial clients. Gretchen also teaches classes in the book arts and leads journaling classes.

    Botanical Illustration and Drawing Workshops
    Choose one of the dates below or register for all four workshops!

    June 1, 2013
    June 2, 2013
    June 29, 2013
    June 30, 2013

    Botanical illustration and basic drawing. Each session above is a full-day workshop using botanical specimens to learn basic drawing techniques. Students will focus on tools and techniques to create realistic and accurate drawings along with observation exercises and botanical study. The first session will focus on graphite sketches, transfers and tonal drawings on white paper. Individual attention and small class size allows participants to receive help with their particular challenges and interests. This workshop is an opportunity for beginners to get your feet wet. As interest dictates, classes can meet during the week – days or evenings – as well as weekends. More advanced students may benefit by having a set time to draw with others and will be given more advanced exercises.

    Each workshop is scheduled for 10 AM – 4 PM. From 4:00-6:00 PM, students may remain to draw outdoors, hike or socialize. There are trails, fields, woods, a pond and plants specific to each ecosystem. Cost: $100. Location: Elmira, New York.

    (Note: Students may sign-up for multiple sessions, the exercises will be different each time so the workshops may progress as in a series.)

    Contact: Gretchen by email or at 607-767-6936.


    Nature and Travel Journaling in Tuscany, Siena, Italy
    June 16-23, 2013
    $2475pp double; $2750 single

    Includes 7 nights lodging in 16th-century villa, 19 meals, wine, field trips, daily classes and evening presentations. This workshop is about creating a journal, focusing on plants and nature and expanding to architecture and travel. Daily lessons in pen and ink, watercolor, composition, text, observation, and writing give participants the tools to document their time in Italy and wherever they go in the world, including home. All takes place on one of the first privately-owned wildlife sanctuaries in Italy. Flower and vegetable gardens, animals, trails and an abandoned castle offer plenty of subject material. Afternoons are set aside for field trips and working on your own, relaxing by the pool, hiking, reading, exploring and enjoying life. The weekends with a wine and cheese opening of our work.  

    For more information, go to Nature and Travel Journaling in Tuscany.

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Observable Trends in the Work of Victorian Artist Marianne North

Posted in botanical art, botanical illustration, Education, general botany, Learning Opportunities, natural science illustration, Special Articles & Interviews, travel, tagged , , , , , on May 13, 2013 |

When viewing North’s paintings, are there any trends that can be observed? For example, did she paint plant “portraits” more often than landscapes? Did her style of painting change during 14 years of traveling? Etc.

I would say North’s motivations for traveling and painting changed more than her style ever did. Her choice of specimens, indeed her choice of destination, became much more pointed towards the end of her career and especially after Sir Joseph accepted North’s offer to build a gallery at Kew. Once North knew her work would be on permanent display…

Continue…

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How did Marianne North paint 832 paintings in 14 years?

Posted in ArtPlantae Books, botanical art, botanical illustration, Education, History, Learning Opportunities, natural science illustration, Special Announcements, Special Events, travel, tagged , , , , , on May 8, 2013 | Leave a Comment »

In my review of Marianne North: A Very Intrepid Painter by Michelle Payne, I ramble though calculations as I think aloud as to how Marianne North could have completed 832 paintings in 14 years. What have you discovered about how she worked that would make such an impressive accomplishment possible?

It is impressive! Calculated out it’s something like one painting every six days for fourteen years! And when we consider that the majority of this work was done on-the-spot in distant locales, the achievement becomes even more impressive. There are a few factors that made North’s project as prodigious as it was: first, and a great lesson to all, was the possession of an extraordinary work ethic. North woke early and worked through all kinds of weather, sometimes for up to twelve hours a day. She also famously preferred plants to people, and was often able to carve extra time to work by excusing herself from the many social obligations central to colonial and ex-pat community life in the places she visited. In Sarawak, for example…

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Botanical Drawing Camp for Kids in Ohio

Posted in botanical art, botanical illustration, Education, general botany, Learning Opportunities, natural science illustration, tagged , , , , , , on May 8, 2013 | Leave a Comment »

Here is the latest at Classes Near You > Ohio!


Deborah Kopka, DK Designs
www.dkdesigns.org
Botanical illustrator, Deborah Kopka is the principal artist at DK Designs. Deborah licenses her artwork, creates illustrations for publishers, and teaches botanical art classes through her design studio.

    Botanical Illustration: Drawing in Graphite
    Owens Community College
    Mondays, June 3, 10, 17, 24 and July 1,8
    6-9 PM
    In this introduction to botanical illustration, participants will learn about drawing techniques used by contemporary botanical artists. Plant specimens are provided for the first class meeting. A supply list will be sent to registered participants.
    Limit: 12
    Cost: $249
    Download Summer Catalog (PLAY, May-Aug 2013)


    Botanical Illustration: Painting in Watercolor
    Owens Community College
    Mondays, July 15, 22, 29 and August 5, 12, 19
    Learn painting techniques used by natural science illustrators and how to use watercolor with other media. Plant specimens are provided for the first class meeting. A supply list will be sent to registered participants. Limit: 12
    Cost: $249
    Download Summer Catalog (PLAY, May-Aug 2013)


    Botanical Drawing Camp for Grades 6-12
    Owens Community College
    Students will learn how to draw botanical subjects and develop a new appreciation for nature. Art supplies and specimens are provided.
    Cost: $149 per student

    This four-day class will be taught at two locations:

    Owens Findlay Campus
    July 15-18, 2013
    9 am – Noon

    Arrowhead Campus (Maumee)
    July 15-18, 2013
    9 am – Noon

    Download Summer Catalog (PLAY, May-Aug 2013)

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The Marianne North Gallery & Botanical Knowledge

Posted in Education, Learning Opportunities, Special Articles & Interviews, History, Special Events, botanical art, botanical illustration, natural science illustration, travel, tagged , , , , , on May 3, 2013 | Leave a Comment »

Our conversation with featured guest Katie Zimmerman continues…


Part of your research explores how the Marianne North Gallery works as a built environment and how the gallery functions within the broader context of the gardens at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Why study these aspects of North’s contribution to botany?

One of the really fascinating things to me about North’s life and work is how such an individual and solitary woman, pursuing an equally individual project, was actually a fairly ordinary part of a broader, and highly social, botanical enterprise. We can see this very nicely when we look closely at the North Gallery as a space and the ways in which that space transcended its walls to become an integrated part of the gardens and the world beyond. Looking at how the gallery functioned as a built environment allows us to chart…

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Scholar Discusses Artist Marianne North, Answers Your Questions

Posted in botanical art, botanical art books, botanical illustration, Education, general botany, History, Learning Opportunities, natural science illustration, nature, Special Articles & Interviews, travel, tagged , , , , , , , on May 1, 2013 | 11 Comments »

In 1871 Marianne North, a forty-year old woman from a wealthy Victorian family, embarked on an adventure to paint the plants of the world. Even by today’s standards, North’s travels are an amazing accomplishment. You might think Marianne North is a one-of-a-kind wonder, however she shares the title of brave pioneering female naturalist with women such as Maria Sibylla Merian (1647-1717) who was one of the first to describe metamorphosis, and Jeanne Baret (1740-1807) who was the first woman to circumnavigate the globe and the herb woman whose expertise as a field botanist made her an invaluable asset to botanist Philibert Commerson during the Bougainville expedition (1765-1768).

Through her paintings, Marianne North made several contributions to the field of botany. This month we have the unique opportunity to learn more about Marianne North from Katie Zimmerman, a PhD candidate at the University of Cambridge whose research is dedicated to the work of this fearless naturalist and artist.

Please welcome Katie Zimmerman, the Featured Scholar for May!


About Katie Zimmerman
Katie is a PhD candidate at the University of Cambridge and an instructor at the University of Washington where she teaches courses in the history of science. She is broadly interested in the relationship between art and science, the geography of knowledge, and Victorian natural history. Before taking up her dissertation on Marianne North, Katie taught high school and university courses in Warsaw, Poland, worked at the National Museum of American History in Washington, DC, and earned her MA in the history of science at Oregon State. Katie lives in Seattle, WA with her husband, two children, and a dog named Huxley – all of whom greatly admire and appreciate the botanical wonderland produced by that rainy state.

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GPS Technology & Botanical Art

Posted in botanical art, botanical illustration, Education, general botany, Learning Opportunities, natural science illustration, nature, Technology, travel, tagged , , , , , , on April 19, 2013 | Leave a Comment »

The focus on technology, plants and art this month has been both fun and stressful. How does one even begin to blend a discipline as ancient, traditional, moving and beautiful as botanical art with the bells, whistles and modern-day graphics of technology?

My mind has traveled in all sorts of directions.

Apps are easy to think about. Which apps do you use?

“Go outside” my brain said. Think sun, fresh air. Think adventure.
Get that GPS article!

That “GPS article” I am referring to is Backyard Botany: Using GPS Technology in the Science Classroom by Ph.D. candidate Kathryn A. March.

In her article, March shares how she has used Global Positioning System (GPS) units to teach students about plants in informal settings. Her paper is fantastic and I recommend it highly.

March incorporates GPS technology in plant-based learning activities for middle and high school students. In her paper she explains how GPS activities can help teachers address Standards and how they can address issues related to plant blindness. The lesson plan in March (2012) is an activity that calls upon students to create a field guide to trees.

Educators are given all the information they need to conduct this activity themselves. March (2012) provides a list of materials and background information, recommends procedures, suggests an assessment tool, suggests an alternative activity if you can’t afford GPS units and suggests many alternative lesson ideas — one of which involves navigating students to plants so they can draw what they see.

To obtain a copy of March’s article, purchase a copy from JSTOR ($14)
or visit your local college library.


Literature Cited
March, Kathryn A. 2012. Backyard botany: Using GPS technology in the science classroom. The American Biology Teacher. 74(3): 172-177.


Do you use GPS technology in conjunction with botanical or scientific illustration? Tell us about your project in the Comment box below.


Related

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Journals, Landscapes, Butterflies and Hints of an Expedition at North Cascades Basecamp

Posted in botanical art, Education, general botany, Learning Opportunities, natural science illustration, Sketching & Journaling, tagged , , , , , , on April 16, 2013 |

Ready for Summer in the Cascades?
Here is the latest update at Classes Near You > Washington:


North Cascades Basecamp, Mazama
www.NorthCascadesBasecamp.com
A bed-and-breakfast style lodge surrounded by acres of protected cedar forest, the North Cascades Basecamp serves as a homebase for outdoor adventures such as hiking, fishing, cross-country skiing and a host of other activities offered through the camp’s Ecology Center. Biologists Kim and Steve Bondi purchased the recreation center in 2010 and created the Ecology Center to offer learning opportunities for guests. Visit the website to view the entire course schedule.

    Nature in Art and Science: A Field Journaling~Naturalist Workshop with Hannah Hinchman and Bruce Thompson
    May 24-27, 2013
    Explore the richness of our mountain habitats, opening windows to nature’s many secrets and learning to personalize these experiences through journal entries, both drawn and written. Cost: $299 Locals Rate includes partial meals; $515 shared lodging and 9 meals. View Details/Register


    The Art and Science of Nature Presentation by Hannah Hinchman
    May 24
    Cost: $5/person
    Register at 509/996-2334 or info@northcascadesbasecamp.com


    Painting Balsamroot Landscapes with John Adams
    June 15, 2013
    10 AM – 2 PM
    Learn techniques to paint the beautiful landscape at North Cascades Basecamp. John Adams will demonstrate techniques and discuss composition and color. Cost: $40/person. View Details/Register


    Treasured Landscapes of the Methow Valley
    Monday, July 29 – Thursday, August 1, 2013
    US Forest Service, National Forest Foundation, and the North Cascades Basecamp
    Daily outings all week to exploration, educate, and participate in hands-on learning projects where you will learn from experts in the field about the North Cascades Ecosystem. Projects include : beavers, wolverines, wildflowers, and native plant restoration. Be a part of the Treasured Landscape Initiative to restore and revitalize this amazing landscape.
    Register at 509/996-2334 or info@northcascadesbasecamp.com.


    Monarchs in the Pacific Northwest Presentation
    by Robert Michael Pyle
    August 16, 2013
    Cost: $5/person
    Register at 509/996-2334 or info@northcascadesbasecamp.com


    Butterflies of the North Cascades Workshop
    with Robert Michael Pyle
    August 16-18, 2013
    Explore high valleys, slopes, meadows, and peaks of the North Cascades seeking butterflies. Discover how to find, harmlessly detain, identify, and learn about their lifeways, needs, and natural history. Cost: $225 Locals Rate includes partial meals; $385 shared lodging and 6 meals. Clock hours: 8. View Details/Register


    Plein Air Watercolor Retreat with Maria Coryell-Martin
    September 6-8, 2013
    Explore the summer landscape of the Methow Valley with expeditionary artist Maria Coryell-Martin and learn techniques for painting expressive skies, wooded forests, and rocky peaks. Cost: $185 Locals Rate includes partial meals; $345 shared lodging and 6 meals. Clock hours: 8.
    View Details/Register

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Bones, Birds & Botanicals with Kathleen McKeehan

Posted in botanical art, botanical illustration, Education, general botany, Learning Opportunities, natural science illustration, tagged , , , , on April 9, 2013 |

Looking for classes in the Seattle area?

Here is the latest at Classes Near You > Washington:


Kathleen McKeehen, Scientific Illustrator
www.florawithfauna.com
Kathleen is a teacher and freelance illustrator. Her work has appeared in Organic Gardening Magazine and The Herb Companion. View Kathleen’s artwork in the ASBA Members’ Gallery or at the Guild of Natural Science Illustrators’
Science-Art.com. Kathleen welcomes both beginners and advanced students to her classes.

    Bugs, Bones, and Birds
    April 17 – May 22, 2013
    Wednesdays, 10 AM -1:00 PM
    Winslow Art Center, Bainbridge Island

    While dry-brush watercolor is the most frequently used method in botanical painting, it’s also the perfect to use when portraying other natural science subjects. Learn to paint insects, skulls, bones, and birds using the classic dry technique to portray these subjects realistically and in three dimensions. Individuals preferring to work on botanical subjects can do so. All levels welcome. Cost: $230
    View Details/Register


    Blooming Gardens
    April 12 – June 14, 2013
    Fridays 1:30-4:30 PM
    Gage Academy of Art, Seattle

    Learn the classical method for botanical painting — dry-brush watercolor. Measurement, washes, dry-brush techniques, composition. Methods and materials will be covered as students learn to portray botanical subjects. Emphasis will be on the flowers of spring. All levels welcome; returning students can choose to work on projects independently with supervision. Cost: $430
    View Details/Register


    Botanical Drawing
    April 12 – June 14, 2013
    Fridays 9:30 AM – 12:30 PM
    Gage Academy of Art, Seattle

    The basics of drawing will be covered, beginning with the expressive use of line to portray botanical subjects, then progressing to use various methods of shading to show form and three-dimensionality. While the class focuses on plant subjects, the methods and techniques taught work well for rendering any subject realistically. All levels welcome; intermediate students can take on more complicated subjects with instructor supervision. Cost: $430
    View Details/Register


    Botanical Painting
    April 16 – May 7, 2013
    Tuesdays 7:00-9:30 PM
    The Center for Urban Horticulture, Seattle

    Dry-brush watercolor is a classical method of portraying botanical subjects. Learn the basics — measurement, handling light on form, washes, dry-brush application, color mixing, etc. — to portray various botanical subjects in a realistic way. All levels are welcome, and repeating students can take on more advanced subjects with plentiful instructor supervision. Cost: $260
    View Details/Register


    Botanical Watercolor Workshop
    Saturday, May 18, 2013
    9:30 AM – 4:30 PM
    Kruckeberg Botanic Garden, Shoreline, WA

    Learn the basics of botanical watercolor in a one-day workshop at the beautiful Kruckeberg Botanic Garden in Shoreline, WA. Cost: $125 nonmembers, $100 KBGF Members.
    View Details/Register

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Tell a National Audience About Your Classes, Exhibitions

Posted in botanical art, botanical illustration, Education, general botany, Learning Opportunities, natural science illustration, Special Announcements, tagged , , , on April 3, 2013 |

Do you have botanical art workshops, botany classes, book arts classes or sketchbook adventures to announce ?

How about an exhibition of your work? Is your organization hosting an exhibition related to plants, natural science illustration, botany or botanical art?

Put yourself or your organization in front of a national, environmentally minded audience this month. Take a moment to send information about upcoming classes for the Classes Near You section or to send exhibition information for the Exhibits to Visit section located in the right hand column of this page.

When sending information, please write “EE Week” at the beginning of your subject line.

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Keep Plants Simple

Posted in botanical art, botanical illustration, Education, Learning Opportunities, natural science illustration, tagged , , , , , on March 22, 2013 |

Two weeks ago we considered how we can help children experience plants differently. This topic sparked a conversation about teaching ideas that ranged from how to see leaves differently to how to help kids relate to invisible processes.

Today let’s revisit this topic and consider adult learners and learning that occurs outside of a traditional classroom setting.

Informal learning is learning that occurs outside of traditional formal learning environments, such as a classroom or a lab. Examples of informal learning environments include nature centers, visitor’s centers, botanical gardens and museums. In these places of learning, scientific information is presented to the public in meaningful and easy-to-digest ways.

Building a bridge between experts and non-experts can be a perilous activity and can come with criticisms about dumbing down content (Davis et al., 2013).

Do informal science educators water down information too much when presenting it to the public? Do they encourage misconceptions or enable the formation of new misconceptions?

Pryce R. Davis, Michael S. Horn and Bruce L. Sherin address this issue in
The Right Kind of Wrong: A “Knowledge in Pieces” Approach to Science Learning in Museums.

Every single one of us is a teacher. It doesn’t matter that we do not have a physical classroom to call our own. Through our interest in plants, nature and the wonderful world of natural science illustration, we teach and communicate information about plants and nature in many ways.

When you are teaching, do you ever worry about being wrong? About making the wrong impression, about using the wrong analogy or about stretching the truth a bit too much just to make a point?

The article by Davis and his colleagues might put your mind at ease. In their article, Davis et al. (2013) argue that simplifying content does not necessarily lead to problems and they present an approach that can lead general audiences to meaningful understanding of content.

Expertise in a subject is great, but it can also be a problem because it can get in the way of teaching. Experts in their field have mastered the technical jargon of their discipline, are quick to point out the mistakes of non-experts, want to replace wrong knowledge with correct knowledge, and have forgotten what it was like to be a learner in their field (Davis et al., 2013).

To make the gap between experts and non-experts smaller, Davis et al. (2013) recommend that museum educators take non-experts on a gentle and winding path to expert knowledge by putting the misconceptions they bring with them to good use and by using the assorted bits of prior knowledge they each possess. The approach they encourage is called the “Knowledge in Pieces” approach.

Davis and his colleagues explain that the “Knowledge in Pieces” approach to science communication in informal learning environments isn’t about making grand leaps of understanding within the small space of a museum exhibit. Instead, it is about making small learning gains that engage learners by allowing them to relate the new knowledge to what they already know and how they have come to know it in their daily lives. By doing this, the learner remains comfortable and confident along the path to “expert” knowledge. To do otherwise (i.e., to replace what a learner thinks they know with a fresh batch of expert knowledge in one swift movement), would be to create a situation that leaves a learner bewildered and unsure of what they know because their new “expert” knowledge isn’t based on prior personal experiences.

Communicating science has never been easy. Davis et al. (2013) provide an interesting look at the history of science communication and how it has changed in the 21st century. Did you know there was once a belief that respected scientists did not “go public” with their research (Goodfield, 1981 as cited in Davis et al., 2013)?

Learn more about the “Knowledge in Pieces” approach. The article by
Davis et al. (2013) is available online for free. Click on the link below.


Literature Cited

    Davis, Pryce R. and Michael S Horn, Bruce L. Sherin. 2013. The right kind of wrong: A “Knowledge in Pieces” approach to science learning in museums. Curator: The Museum Journal. 56(1): 31-46. Web. <http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/cura.12005/full>
    [accessed 22 March 2013]

    Goodfield, J. 1981. Reflections on Science and the Media. Washington, DC: American Association for the Advancement of Science.


Also See
Science Communication Through Art

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What was North America like in the 1700s?

Posted in botanical art, Education, general botany, Learning Opportunities, natural science illustration, Special Announcements, Special Events, tagged , , , on March 19, 2013 |

The North American Experience: Early America Illustrated
with “Forms of Life” Art Exhibition by the 5300 Group

Lloyd Library & Museum
March 25, 2013 – June 21, 2013

Next week an exhibition featuring the written and artistic works of naturalists eager to describe the unexplored territory of North America will open at the Lloyd Library and Museum in Cincinnati, Ohio.

View early works and learn what the Ohio Valley and other parts of North America were really like before European settlers immigrated to the continent. Rare and fascinating books from the 18th and 19th centuries will be on view.

Also on view will be Forms of Life, an exhibition featuring the work of the 5300 Group. This group is comprised of local artists and kindred spirits who have been together since 2008, working in a variety of media and exploring a wide assortment of subjects. Individual members have shown their work locally, regionally, and nationally in juried exhibitions. This is their first appearance at the Lloyd Library.

The Lloyd Library and Museum invites you to attend the opening reception for these two shows on Saturday, March 23, 2013 from 4-7 PM.

A presentation about John James Audubon and the early Ohio Valley begins at 4:30 PM. This presentation will be given by Devere Burt, formerly of the Cincinnati Natural History Museum. A reception will follow.


About the Lloyd
The Lloyd Library and Museum, a 501 (c)3 not‐for‐profit organization, began in the 19th century as a research library for Lloyd Brothers Pharmacists, Inc., one of the leading pharmaceutical companies of the period. The library’s mission is to collect and maintain a library of botanical, medical, pharmaceutical, and scientific books and periodicals, and works of allied sciences that serve the scientific research community, as well as constituents of the general public, through library services and programming that bring science, art, and history to life. For more information, visit the Lloyd website at www.lloydlibrary.org.

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