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Gallery Folders

Featured
lion anatomy by DirkTraufelder
Unfortunate Mate Choice by Eurwentala
Croscomia by Noomelo
The Grand Cayman Blue Iguana by ART-fromthe-HEART
Entomology
Garnet by Levikovaart
Desert locust by CarlosVenator
Common Paper Wasp by oxpecker
Liparus coronatus head by ODemuth
Botany and Mycology
Armillaria ostoyae fungus fruits (color test) by Dragunalb
Canary Island Bellflower by CarlosVenator
Cypripedium acaule - watercolour by MasdevalliaJR
Laelia caulescens - watercolour by MasdevalliaJR
Marine Biology and Limnology
Octopus week: Coconut octopus by MicromirOfTheNorth
Octopus week: Blanket octopus (female) by MicromirOfTheNorth
Weedy Seadragon by leowyl
Charybdis japonica by ReneCampbellArt
Ornithology
Andean Condor Study by Jacy13
Andean Condor Study/Drawing by Jacy13
Hoopoe by AmBr0
Fosforito by juannumo
Mammalogy
Hedgehog by AmBr0
Anatomic Study - Rabbit's abdominal cavity by amanana
Cynopterus sphinx by amanana
Herpetology
Poison Dart Frog Watercolor Painting by Jacy13
Snake Scale Layout (colubrids) by elizabethnixon
Box turtle tutorial by elizabethnixon
Homo sapiens sapiens
Skull Study by soulwithin465
Vessel Plaque Surgery Techniques by LeccathuFurvicael
Blood Vessel Stent by LeccathuFurvicael
SkullMuscles by JessicaHsiung
Cell, Developmental, and Microbiology
Cerebellar neurogenesis by GraphiqueScience
Dendritic tree and spines of an hippocampal neuron by lodeacca
Epstein-Barr Glycoprotein B by vmulligan
Digoxigenin Binder II by vmulligan
Assorted Invertebrates
Carpenter Bee Drawing by AmBr0
Carpenter Bee Thailand by AmBr0
Waterbears by Banvivirie
Opisthostoma by aaronjohngregory
Ecology and Species Interactions
River ecosystem by metalomaniac
Fictitious and Humorous Illustration
Tundra Tapir by Hyrotrioskjan
Contest

Favourites

Wood Fern by dreamie Wood Fern :icondreamie:dreamie 15 1 'Three' by wildartguy 'Three' :iconwildartguy:wildartguy 155 32 Beetle by Natalie2000 Beetle :iconnatalie2000:Natalie2000 38 8 Tide Pool by NocturnalSea Tide Pool :iconnocturnalsea:NocturnalSea 19 0 Planarian on a leaf by Weaslet Planarian on a leaf :iconweaslet:Weaslet 12 4 Magical Madagascar by lemurkat Magical Madagascar :iconlemurkat:lemurkat 15 2 Scorpion by mishappen Scorpion :iconmishappen:mishappen 2 0 Big Kitties by wyldwoman Big Kitties :iconwyldwoman:wyldwoman 164 85 ZOOOIDS - Underworld II by RSConnett ZOOOIDS - Underworld II :iconrsconnett:RSConnett 476 64 dragonfly by sharonnism dragonfly :iconsharonnism:sharonnism 18 10 Buprestis confluenta by rosaliia Buprestis confluenta :iconrosaliia:rosaliia 2 2 bird eye comparison by Industrial-Ace bird eye comparison :iconindustrial-ace:Industrial-Ace 3 1 Oar footed crab by TerriMac Oar footed crab :iconterrimac:TerriMac 4 1

Admins

:iconhedwigthestrange: : Founder and Curator of Entomology

:iconbanvivirie: : Co-Founder and Curator of Marine Biology and Limnology

:iconsagekorppi: : General Curator

:iconskivwidget: : Curator of Ornithology

:icondrianis: : Curator of Homo sapiens and Cell, Developmental, and Microbiology.

Co-Founders

Banvivirie 

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Group Info

We collect the imagery of natural history for those of you who dream away your nights aboard the HMS Beagle, catching beetles in the deep jungle, discovering new creatures in the depths of the oceans, or surfing the veins and arteries through the human body.

This group features informative, NON-PHOTOGRAPHIC, NON-PALEO works of biological illustration / scientific illustration relating to biology in general, entomology, botany, zoology, mammalogy, ecology, evolution, microbiology, mycology, herpetology, anatomy, ornithology, and other biology-related ologies.

:bulletpurple: FOR INFO ON JOINING & SUBMITTING: bioillustration.deviantart.com… :bulletpurple:



:bulletpurple: Why illustrate scientifically when realism can be captured in photos?

"Photographs can misrepresent shape and color, depending upon the lighting. Few specimens are in the pristine shape of a scientific illustration. Often in the process of collecting... specimens tend to dry, curl, twist or otherwise get distorted. When a specimen is preserved or placed in alcohol, it loses its original shape, color, and posture. The illustrator must know a great deal about the organism & what it looks like in nature, before it has been collected. He or she can fill in a damaged section... leave out the specks of dirt, and use the actual color of the living specimen. The illustrator can also create special views, like cross sections, pieces of anatomy, or features at different levels of depth using a microscope." Quote from the Smithsonian @ www.mnh.si.edu/onehundredyears…
Congratulations to the winners of the contest!!

:iconnachiii:: FIRST PLACE:star:
Lapwing Family by Nachiii

:iconhybris2:: SECOND PLACE:star:
Wolf Spider, carrying young by Hybris2

:iconmarmot-of-doom:: THIRD PLACE:star:
:thumb433371622:

Thank you to all who participated!



Let us know if there's anything we can do to improve the contest process! For six-month contests, we seem to get very few eligible entries.
Do you think we should have shorter contests? Longer contests? One winner? Better prizes? Voting on contest topics? Leave a comment if you have ideas! :D
More Journal Entries

Affiliates

:iconthegourdpatch::iconnepenthes-plants::iconhorticulturist::iconda-scienceacademy::iconprimitivetech::iconmedicalillustrators::iconcetaceanarts::icontheistic-evolution::iconthe-waterbear::iconsecular-human::iconshark-love::icontrilobiting::iconanimals-and-anatomy::iconzooartrpg::iconpaleoartists:

Deviants

Comments


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:iconhedwigthestrange:
HedwigtheStrange Featured By Owner Jan 29, 2011  Hobbyist Traditional Artist
You don't have to be an actual illustrator to join; you just have to enjoy the art form!

If you want to start scientific illustration, I'd love to advise you. Do you have a particular group of organisms you're interested in?
Reply
(2 Replies)
:iconwolfofsahara:
WolfOfSahara Featured By Owner Jan 28, 2011
I have a question if you don't mind me asking here: How to paint shiny surface, for example that of a beetle, using perhaps water color or oil paint?
Reply
:iconleenzuydgeest:
LeenZuydgeest Featured By Owner Jan 29, 2011  Professional Traditional Artist
The medium you use isn't that important, just watch carefully how a shiny surface looks. Pretty obvious maybe, but drawing and painting is 90% watching they say...
Reply
:iconwolfofsahara:
WolfOfSahara Featured By Owner Jan 30, 2011
It seems the repeating advice is reference and observation! Thanks all who replied!
Reply
:iconbanvivirie:
Banvivirie Featured By Owner Jan 28, 2011  Professional Traditional Artist
I think the best paint would either either acrylic or gouache, since they offer a lot more control compared to oil, and you can can still get an 'inner glow' effect by painting in layers. For a convincing 'shininess' just make sure you have lots of reference photos at hand so you can see what the shell does under different lights, and plan your colors on your drawing ahead of time.
Reply
:iconbigredsharks:
bigredsharks Featured By Owner Jan 28, 2011  Professional
I agree- also, i've recently found Duralene and it's very good at getting a translucency because you can paint and draw on both sides while allowing colors to pass through. If you paint acrylic white on the back, and the use watercolor or colored pencil on the front, you can make an insect pop right off the page. Kinda cool.
Reply
:iconhedwigthestrange:
HedwigtheStrange Featured By Owner Jan 29, 2011  Hobbyist Traditional Artist
Oh, very cool! I will have to try that! Vellum might also be used that way...
Reply
:iconhedwigthestrange:
HedwigtheStrange Featured By Owner Jan 28, 2011  Hobbyist Traditional Artist
I've never worked with oils, so I can't offer much advice there. I often work in watercolors, but not for objects with high shine - I find it annoying to use resist or work around the highlights. Instead, I use acrylics. That way, I can go about painting Mr. Beetle's base colors, then add the highlights on top. Acrylics are also more forgiving for this that watercolors - if a highlight doesn't look right, you can just paint over it and start again.

As to how, physically, to paint shininess - I'm afraid I'm not a great explainer. I usually just look at a lot of reference photos and replicate what I see. If I come up with better advice than that, I'll make a tutorial.

Anyone else have any good tricks?
Reply
:iconvutvut:
vutvut Featured By Owner Jan 28, 2011
Thanks to collect my draw ;)
Reply
:iconhedwigthestrange:
HedwigtheStrange Featured By Owner Jan 28, 2011  Hobbyist Traditional Artist
Thanks for letting us!
Reply
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