Appreciation for Biodiversity through Scientific Illustration
Painting Herps
I use gouache (opaque watercolor) and acrylic to paint herpetofauna. Sometimes this involves colored pencil as well. The medium may vary based on the level of detail or the textures I’m trying to produce for any given taxon.
Pen & Ink
The pen & ink medium allows for diving deep into the details of scalation, texture, and light vs. dark in rendering herpetological illustrations. I find that it places me in a different head space than painting… as well as a different level of stress while executing this technique!
Painting Birds
I have been drawing and painting birds since childhood, first inspired and captivated by the birds of paradise (Paradisaeidae) around 4th grade. The beauty and diversity birds and their behaviors continues to enthrall me as not only an observing artist, but biologist and photographer as well. I typically paint birds using gouache, often as only a base layer and then apply color pencil for detail.