Blog: Illustrating Science, and what happened along the way
-Krista Anandakuttan
Homegrown
The more curious my home-grown vegetables look, the quicker I run for my sketchbook. Pulling up carrots is a joy, another rite of spring. Below, a bunch of Scarlet Nantes planted last fall. Daucus carota subsp. sativus, Tasty, nutritious... much more flavor in a...
Sandhills, a Beach in the Mountains
The rare sandhills ecosystem of Santa Cruz county is like no other place. High in the coastal range, with no ocean in sight, I have white sand between my toes. The sandy floor and a dry, warm coastal mountain climate support a unique community of plants and animals...
Time flies (don’t blink)
Before I am buried in spring sketches (then summer!), I have to look back at pages from a memorable fall and winter. Here, some of the small stuff underfoot in our garden, a briefly glorious old neighborhood tree, a sampling of spring vegetables... Soon, a portrait...
The Cell: Youth Art
When you ask young people to look closely, THEY DO. This week I was thrilled to work with over 120 sixth grade biology students, guiding...
My Process on Display
I placed my sketchbooks, found objects, drawing materials and trail maps under glass for a few months at the beautiful Doyle Library at Santa Rosa Junior College. I call the display "My Process," since someone who looks closely can find both rough field sketches and...
Summer Highlight: Ocean Artists
I'm working with two groups of young artists this week at Sonoma State University. After several days of discussions on marine ecology, drawing and studies of native tide pool creatures, today's efforts resulted in two 10 ft tall paintings of a kelp forest-- Enjoy!...
Array of Seed Diversity, featuring Amborella trichopoda, by Krista Anandakuttan
Array of seeds, featuring Amborella trichopoda (detail) Krista Anandakuttan 2016, Ink on plaster (fresco secco) The angiosperms– flowering plants– produce true enclosed seeds. This array of seeds is centered around a specimen of Amborella trichopoda, a living...
Microscopic
Remembering the magnificent microscope slides of Jack Fisher: marine algae in glowing colors. Poetry. Detail of works in progress, "Magnified" Fresco secco: earth and mineral pigments on dry plaster I met Jack at work mounting specimens, deep in the collections of the...
Biodiversity Artwork
Exhibit: BIODIVERSITY, a closer look- Artists Bambi Waterman & Krista Anandakuttan explore lifeforms in porcelain clay and fresco It all started last summer, as a hypothetical. "Would we, could we" show our biology-inspired artwork together? We were instantly...
Just Look: Student Artwork
My rewarding week as a teaching artist... Summary: the future of our world is in good hands. Early Monday morning, in a November rain, I joined the biology teacher and school gardener at Willowside Middle School's xeric garden, carefully clipping some of the last...
Sky Wash
I use a favorite technique whenever I can, here for a splashy sky on 30 square feet of panels. Working "wet-in-wet" allows the pigment to spread and pool on the already wet surface. I lift one edge and then another, steering its movement. Photo detail of a large...
Coastal Sketchbook
Perched near the edge of a cliff over the Pacific Ocean... my favorite place to sit with a sketchbook. Colored pencil and graphite Sonoma Coast, CA locations: Cliff near Gleason Beach (left)- note the house and fence at the top, for scale Bodega Head (below)...