>> My job is illustrating the
science of botany which means
drawing illustrations for
publishing in scientific
journals, drawing beautiful
flowers and making posters for
our laboratories.
Biological sciences have
been traditionally visual.
We've had pictures of
animals, plants.
You can't really
describe it in words.
You have to have a picture.
Way back in the 1800's we
had beautiful wall charts
we'd use in school.
We wouldn't have a photograph of
a swan, we'd have the whole
background.
And the animal is alive.
It's not a skeleton.
It's not a picture of a
squashed plant pasted on a
piece of paper.
There are very few biological
artists left because everybody
takes photographs.
But, I like to think, a lot of
times, they are not
beautiful.
When I started all this sort of
thing was done with--
What do you call them?
Ink based output devises--
Pens!
And pencils, things like that.
Now it's all electronic.
We just started working with
digital illustrations instead of
hand-rendered illustrations.
It's the same thing.
You're sitting there, you're
drawing with pixels instead of
liquid media.
I start with a photo.
I see what I want out of this
picture
I want the mushroom.
And I don't want this.
This is pretty ugly.
But I could open up a second
picture that had this piece
in focus.
I could paste that on there.
And I could warp that to the
right shape.
Then I could take a couple
of tools, lighten up the light
parts, darken the dark parts.
You have that enhanced contrast
because the camera doesn't get
that contrast-y stuff.
It's going back to these 18th
century wall hangings, these
portraits of things and making
it painterly.
It's introducing a little bit
this sort of indescribable feel
of a painting as opposed to a
photograph.
I think something inside of us
realizes this is not real,
but more real.
It's like it's standing up
saying, "Here I am,"
you know, with the hat,
the cane, big smile.
Saying, "Look at me
because I'm gorgeous."
I especially want to say
that to kids.
Botany is beautiful.
And we're trying to put this
across in pictures.
Biological illustration talks
to people in the same way that
professors have a way of
making you excited about a
science.
They can do it verbally.
I can do it visually.
That's what I've been