The Nature Connection: Why is science illustration important?

Have you ever wondered who creates the artwork that fills the pages of science textbooks and field guides, and adorns the walls of museums with interpretive scenery and detailed illustrations?

Science illustrators make up this small, somewhat anonymous field of professional artists.

They take on the task of researching and understanding complex scientific information, then conveying that information in a single picture. Science illustrators help their audiences, whether they are textbooks readers or museum visitors, to better understand the science they are reading about.

Completing their works requires research, discipline, observation, questioning, and artistic talent: science illustrators need to be both skilled artisans and dedicated scientists.

It comes as a surprise to many that there still exists a need for this discipline in today's world of ever-advancing photographic technology. Science photography is an unmatched tool to document behavior, capture movement, or depict individual organisms.

However, science illustrations remain far superior to photographs when communicating certain types of information. For example, taking a photograph of a compost pile might reveal what a real compost pile looks like at a given point in time, or show viewers how they might set up their own compost piles. On the other hand, an illustration of a compost pile could reveal the finer details, such as decaying organic matter, or the macro invertebrates that inhabit the pile. A cut-away illustration could show the stages of decay within the pile, from freshly deposited material to finished compost.

The illustrator can choose which details to include based on what information he is trying to convey.

In addition to interpreting scientific information, science illustrations are also simply beautiful pieces of art. To learn more about this discipline, and to see works from talented local artists, check out the following upcoming museum exhibits:

Art of Nature at the Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History, on display March 20-April 17.

The Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History presents Art of Nature, a collection of works created by members of the Northern California Guild of Natural Science Illustrators. The exhibit will include exquisite botanical and zoological illustrations from Northern California artists.

Illustrating Nature at the Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History, on display May 8 to June 5.

The Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History will partner with California State University, Monterey Bay's Science Illustration Program [formerly based at UC Santa Cruz] to present Illustrating Nature, featuring student works from the class of 2010.

Kristen Van Kley is the education manager at the Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History. The museum offers education programs to school groups and the public. To find out more, visit www.santacruzmuseums.org.