“Gabriel Baloriani is a “broad spectrum” perfectionist illustrator, whom I asked to give a special touch to my large format books on nature in Argentina. His inexhaustible passion for art competes with his talent for replicating in detail the anatomy of the subject to be portrayed, showing avidity to explore new frontiers. While finishing the edition of “Neuquén, volcanes y pehuenes”, I came across with three scenes that I wanted to show to my readers: an endemic Lizard of the Sands of Vaca Muerta (Liolaemus cuyumhue), several species of hawks, aguiluchos variados, [the sacred Ñanco of the Araucanos], feeding nestlings in their nest or a multiple hatching scene, in a dinosaur nest in Auca Mahuida.
It was when I thought about Gabriel, “Would be encouraged to illustrate any of them with the little time we had?” I carefully tossed around my ideas, to which he simply replied: “chose the one you want.” Of course, I chose the most difficult, and I asked him to stay in contact (for those scientific details that a good scientific illustrator always takes care of) with the expert paleontologist and discoverer of those incredible nest (Dr. Rodolfo Coria) of the Cretaceous in the north of the Patagonia…”
Aníbal Fernando Parera, Argentinian Biologist, writer, photographer.
From an early age I was attracted to nature, observing its shapes, contemplating its colors, smelling fragrances, feeling its birth and death. I still remember when I was a little boy that I could distinguish between the cows that my father had in the field by just a spot, the shape of the ears or kinship and the same thing happened with other animals, like pigs, sheep, horses, various poultry, the list would be very long. With my brother we were able to influence my father in increasing list of animals greatly. Observing the domestic animals as well as the wild fauna of the area, looking for the difference to be able to identify them, finding those details that most people do not see, was a virtue that has always accompanied me. Because of the interest in the natural world around me, my mother started giving me animal books from all over the world, there I discovered the first naturalistic and scientific illustrations, which stimulated me to learn to paint that world.
I liked painting and drawing as a child, obviously the main interest was animals and plants or landscapes, but it was not an activity that I carried out beyond the one that required schoolwork or some afternoon of drawing and playing at home. I did not go to art school. I was a child who liked to draw and paint animals and plants, always a perfectionist and demanding, but being unaware of technical drawing and painting, I was often dissatisfied with the results. Another conflictive issue, I was not able to distinguish some colors, which frustrated or repressed me when painting. As time passed, I learned that I was suffering from Daltonism and through a test I found that I had Dichromancy, more precisely Deuteranopía (when the color green is not perceived, which generates a severe deficiency in order to distinguish between the color green and red).
Unsurprisingly in adolescence, my interest in biology and conservation increased, which led me to move to La Plata city to study biology with orientation in zoology at UNLP. Already advanced in my studies, I enrolled in the Course of Introduction to Scientific Illustration taught by the prestigious scientific illustrator María Cristina Estivariz at CEPAVE (Center for Parasitological and Vector Studies- Conicet La Plata- UNLP). The course was in black and white, ideal for my Daltonismm, and I did not hesitate to
take this course. I took this course in 2006 and there I combined two passions – biology and drawing. I learned the techniques used in scientific illustration, tools and concepts of drawing that I did not know as a youngster. The course sharpened my observational skills. I learned to be rigorous and methodical with the work, to see beings as they are, away from any subjectivity in order to capture them into a Correct scientific illustration. Today, I remain in close contact through work and friendship with María Cristina, making my training constant for fourteen years.
“Gabriel is an enthusiast of his work, both in his teaching and as an illustrator aspect, putting in each project everything of himself. It would be extensive to adjective his professional qualities; his illustrations speak for themselves.”
María Cristina Estivariz.
Scientific Illustrator, Ceramist, Miniaturist.
My first illustrations were on spiders, a group with which I worked in agroecology, which were awarded in national and international contest. I obtained the First Prize and a Special Mention at the II Latin American Congress of Arachnology – VI Meeting of Arachnologists from the Southern Cone held in Salta, Argentina in 2008 and a special Mention in the second edition of ILLUSTRACIENCIA, awarded by the Catalan Association of Scientific Communication in Barcelona, Spain in 2014, after being selected among the 40 best scientific illustrations, a situation that was repeated in 2015 and 2018.
Each animal and botanical grouping have their own appropriate features to be highlighted. I gained more experience and knowledge in illustration by expanding the range of my work. I started illustrating mammals, parasites, insects, animal parts and structures, etc. I dabbled in botanical illustration with graphite and with ink. Requests for papers for scientific publications and doctoral theses began to arrive. In 2015 I won the First Prize in the scientific illustration contest held within the framework of the XVI Argentine Symposium on Paleobotany and Palinology, La Plata, Argentina.
Scientific illustration has a certain rigidity, since its purpose is to complete and complement the information in a text to facilitate its understanding and at the same time to a limited audience – an issue that I observed from the first moment that I began to dedicate myself to this profession. I mean with this comment that the viewer sees a work as an artwork that they want to own it and look like a painting, so I decided to cross that limit and in this way. I approached the naturalistic illustration to allow me to transmit feelings, tell something more about the subject and environment – to show real positions, expressions in addition to the subject’s anatomical.
As an artist I like to work on the detail, show what nobody sees and capture it on the canvas. Although at some point I was unhappy about my Daltonism, today I am grateful for it because it gives me a special and unique sensitivity when I paint. Another thing that I always prioritized is that the original work on canvas is the most important thing, since scientific illustrators are usually asked for digital images and not the originals, so many colleagues finish their works digitally. In my case the digital part is only limited to background cleaning and minimal contrast retouching.
Illustrating birds gave me great recognition at an artistic level, one of the first illustrations was of the Potoo, “urutaú” (Nyctibius griseus), in addition to publishing it on my social networks, I put a profile picture on it, which opened many paths for me. Since then, the demand of works was not only for scientific publications, but they started asking me for illustrations to promote events, give talks about my work, exhibitions in other artistic fields, illustrations for books and logos, requests from other countries like as the black-winged owl that flew to Mexico. I have also made illustrations for poetry books, archaeological and paleontological reconstructions. This was also a time when I began to be more in contact with nature photographers, creating wonderful friendships – their photos are a great source of inspiration for me and allow me to work with them. I thank all the nature photographers that I have worked with.
“Seeing Gabriel’s works awakes me much admiration and fascination as the moments that I live when I am photographing a species in the middle of nature, its realism, details and expressions are worthy of a great artist.”
Sebastián Preisz. Wildlife Photographer
One of the most recent events where I was called was to illustrate the birds that would be used for their promotion and advertising was the “IX SOUTH AMERICAN BIRD FAIR” held in Punta del Este, Uruguay, last year. I recently received a second place in a drawing contest organized by the Banco de Bosques Foundation, with an illustration of a giant anteater.
Teaching is another edge that allows me to exercise this profession. María Cristina Estivariz invited me to be part of her teaching team before she began to practice in 2016 (the year in which the Ernst Haeckel “Scientific Illustration and Naturalist Art Laboratory (LICyAN) (https://www.facebook.com/licyanilustracioncientifica/) was created), and I accepted. From that moment to the present day, together with her and Manuel Copello, we teach the “Introduction to Scientific Illustration Course” every year in La Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina. The course has a very important trajectory throughout South America and the world, due to its characteristics and duration. Students from many countries such as Chile, Ecuador, Spain and Peru come to take our course. Furthermore, the growing interest in the discipline has led me to teach intensive courses and workshops in other cities, provinces and countries such as Peru and Uruguay.
Some time ago most of the students had a relationship with biology or fine arts, today the courses and workshops are open to the general public, students come with different interests, which makes teaching a little more complex, but enriches it. Teaching what one is passionate generates a very gratifying feeling. When it comes to painting, there are many options of techniques that I have to choose from since I dabble in many of them, but the one that I feel most comfortable with and can express myself with is colored or graphite pencils. With them we achieve a unique communion, being able to achieve a volume, a texture, a light or a shadow through a small shading, a streak or a stain is something that never ceases to amaze me to this day. When they tell me that my illustrations have life or that they feel like touching those feathers and hairs, they indicate that I am on the right track and encourage me to go for new challenges.
