I used to mount plant specimens at an herbarium, and I miss it. And I want some mounted specimens of my own. I collected, pressed, and mounted some simple garden finds: camellia cuttings, and several smaller plants like dandelions, miner’s lettuce, and clover....
It started with the intriguing sentence “teach what you know”…. I love working in pen and ink. No gray areas, just black and white, simple tools and lots of decisive marks. No erasing. But, how would I teach pen and ink? After copious notes and...
Aren’t the best-loved books dog-eared and smudged? I once painted a notebook and page of pressed waterlilies and indigo– Years later (now) I entered it in an exhibit celebrating books. Here is “The Botanist’s Notebook” gouache on paper....
Why 8 tentacles? Exactly. Sometimes a question is just really good. Recently while giving a demonstration of science illustration techniques in a natural history museum, a visitor asked me this question. I quickly reassured the asker that no, this was not a case of...
Local science and nature events, education, and exhibits which I am thrilled to be a part of: BioBlitz 2014 Friday-Saturday, March 28-29, 2014 Friday-Saturday, March 28-29, 2014. This year’s Bioblitz is happening in our own Golden Gate Park! To celebrate and...
Olive seashells, mixed media: watercolor, colored pencil, and graphite Today I demonstrated my favorite mixed-media sketching technique for a group of visitors at my open studio (Art at the Source, Sebastopol, CA). Olive seashells, the perfect example of “the...
