Where is that "Rich" guy?
First off, let me apologize for the extended absence from my website. I am still alive and yes, I am still drawing. I have been fortunate to have picked up a couple of projects that are keeping me busy with very little free time for the last several months. I'll talk a bit more about them in upcoming posts but wanted to provide a brief update on what I'm working on and why.
Botanical Illustration
I was approached at the end of 2008 (see posts below for the approximate point where I disappeared) by a botanist from the University of Montana who was looking for an illustrator for a book project he was working on. He had worked with a couple of other illustrators in town and was interested in people with drawing skills and an interest in plants. I freely admitted that my knowledge of plants was fairly limited but I was a sucker for punishment. He recommended we arrange a meeting to talk about the project and what he was looking for.
We discussed the project in detail and it sounded like a great opportunity to 1) expand my knowledge of the flora of Montana, 2) get back to some scientific illustration similar to what I loved doing in the early 90's, and 3) pick up a technical pen again for the first time in over 15 years.
The project is being funded by the US Forest Service and will document numerous vascular plants in Montana. There are a gazillion illustrations for the book and I signed on for the final 18-months of work. I have been working feverishly to be ahead of the deadline so there will be plenty of time for revisions, changes, or additions prior to going to press. So far I have really enjoyed the work and have learned a lot about numerous genera of plants. I am hopeful that this experience can go towards other types of botanical illustration and possibly future projects.
Technical Aspects
As for the actual project work, I ended up adopting a two-stage approach where I draw fairly refined pencil drawings of each of the species. This is done in a nice drawing book from Canson. The paper allows me to draw fairly quickly but easily allows for fine details. Once these drawings are completed, I transfer the outlines to a bristol paper. After trying out about 10 different papers I settled on Strathmore 500 Series Vellum. It works great with pen & ink and I'm using it for more pencil illustrations now. I had some of this paper on hand but I have to admit that cartoonist Tom Richmond really demonstrates why it is so useful for pen & ink.
The shading is done with stippling which is totally different than pencil work. Not only is it far more time-consuming, it also requires you to use the appropriate pen nib size. I frequently rely on a 0.25mm technical pen (Rapidograph for those geeks out there) as it is very durable and can withstand the constant tap-tap-tapping caused by the thousands of tiny little dots.
Project Status
I am approaching the two-thirds point with this project and am starting to feel like I am recapturing my love of pen & ink as well as learning a ton about plants. Oh, for those who've never taken a botany course in college or read a scientific journal, the technical jargon for various plant parts are simply mystifying. I'm not versed in Latin nor in botany so I keep my dictionary handy to look up "hard words".
I've created a separate Botanical Illustration page on my Drawings page and will figure out how to incorporate it into the navigation bar just below the main tab bar of the site. The four 'Carex' drawings are the most recent illustrations and begin to show true stippling techniques and will resemble the majority of remaining illustrations. The drawings may at some point be offered as prints and the finished book including my illustrations along with the two other artists will be available sometime next year.
Thanks for your patience in continuing to check on my website and I promise to post another update soon discussing the other project I'm working on.
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