The current link that I have with scientific illustration arose basically due to theeed for a job. At the time of my university studies I looked for a part-time job that would cover my expenses. At that time I wanted to find a job that maintained a certain point of cohesion with my career. After listening to an interview with the illustrator María Cristina Estivaríz, who works at the School of Natural Sciences and Museum, in the city of La Plata, Buenos Aires, I considered the possibility of working as a scientific illustrator. Exploring the job offer available at that time, I discovered that the Darwinion Botany Institute is located near my house, so I decided to present my CV there. After being summoned to an interview, I met the illustrator Francisco Rojas. At that time I attended the workshop of the engraver and Illustrator Patricio Bosch. In his workshop I had the opportunity to discover a working method with which I felt identified, a drawing style from industrial design that helped me when I had known how to proceed from scientific illustration. Both the visual language used to represent the model and the importance attached to the details – to the detriment of a “photorealistic” vision – were something natural and simple to incorporate into my way of drawing.
From the moment I started to sketch the drawing of the first species I illustrated (Gutierrezia mandonii, Susana Freire) during the training I received from Francisco, I undertook the work with the greatest possible commitment. To this day, when working with a new species, I feel that I am generating an illustration with the value of a document whose ultimate goal is to allow researchers, fellows and anyone interested in botany to identify a plant.
For that reason, in each illustration I make, I try to interpret the morphological variation of a species in a single drawing, seeking that it be as representative as possible of the species. In clear opposition to hyperrealistic drawing, botanical illustration is not intended to show the model as the human eye sees it but tries to make a schematic and realistic representation of all the traits that are characteristic of a species.
Something that fascinated me by immersing myself in the world of botanical illustration is that, despite the accuracy in the representation, it is possible to identify the personal style of each illustrator. The precision in the representation of each organ of the plant does not prevent me from carrying out a formal search as an artist in each drawing I execute. The composition of the image, with the diagonals generated by the arrangement of the figures in the visual field, the precision in the strokes and the use of the values and contrasts to highlight the figures are part of my daily work and transform my drawings into something more than a mere representation. All the dedication invested in each illustration is reflected in more attractive images that enhance the intrinsic value of the publications.
In the years that I have been doing my work I learned that scientific illustration is defined beyond a certain drawing technique; by the degree of study and observation of the model to be represented (the plant species, in the case of botanical illustration). At the time of starting the sketches for a new species I have not only the herbarium specimen, but also the information collected by the person requesting the drawing, who has the knowledge about the traits that are representative of the species in question. That is why, to achieve a good illustration, I consider the collaboration between the illustrator and the applicant indispensable.
Another aspect that I consider essential to understand the discipline is the field in which the illustrations are disseminated. The results of my work are mostly published in specialized journals that circulate online and that target a very small audience. In this type of publications, the illustration fulfills the function of visually reconstructing the series of data that are listed in the morphology description of the species. The degree of specificity in the use that is given to the image explains why, although there are great illustrators and an enormous flow of illustrations, the discipline still remains in a state of secrecy.
However, today, botanical illustration is gaining popularity and prestige worldwide as an artistic expression. Botanical illustrations begin to occupy spaces that exceed the academic field. The plants have become part of the visual repertoire of a hundred boutique galleries, in textile designs, in the decoration of coffee shops, in designs of all types of crockery and graffiti. This situation increased the interest of many artists who approach the discipline in search of information on the techniques and processes that characterize it.
However, there is no institution in Argentina specifically dedicated to teaching. The personal workshops of the illustrators in activity are those that currently supply this demand. Personally, I believe that, in order for the scientific illustration in Argentina to acquire the corresponding assessment, it is necessary to institutionalize its teaching, either privately – forming an academy of scientific illustrators – or publicly – incorporating it as a subject to the visual art Course of studies — In this way, scientific illustration would obtain the relevance and value it has in countries such as Australia, Brazil, Japan or the United Kingdom.
It makes me fulfilled as a person to think that my contribution as a cartoonist contributes to the knowledge of plant species, expanding the universal cultural heritage. Every new project that is presented to me is a challenge. The species have such particular forms that exceed what the imagination can generate, offering the possibility of exercising in each drawing the different visual resources that I learned during my academic training.
What are plants studied for?
The importance of the taxonomy for the conservation of native flora is that, from it comes the basic knowledge of the species necessary to carry out any other type of research. Identifying the morphological features of a species, as well as having knowledge of its geographical distribution, interspecific relations with its peers and the favorable environmental conditions is essential as a starting point for any conservation project.
In Argentina there is a percentage of species that have not yet been studied. The constant discovery of new plant species from specimens that have been collected today, proves it. This is just an example of the work that researchers and illustrators still have to do. It is for this great task that still remains to be done, that I consider it indispensable to transmit the knowledge of my trade to any person who is interested in the subject.
