SAY HELLO TO...

KIRK GAO

Kirk is one of two males in a class of 15 students. It's either lucky him or really feel sorry for this guy. It all depends on the day. Paleontology is Kirk's main focus as a science illustrator and he is incredibly talented at what he does. He has so many fascinating ideas and I am always amazed by how much art history and general history knowledge he has. Kirk is also a true southern gentleman and I always appreciate a fellow cat lover.

DEINOCHEIRUS

SAY HELLO TO...

DANZA CHISHOLM-SIMS

Danza is one of my roommates and an amazing person and artist. I am always impressed by how much she knows about the natural world and she is my favorite reference book. Below is an illustration she did last semester of a hatching dragonfly.

HATCHING DRAGONFLY in GOUACHE

SAY HELLO TO....

LIZA MCELROY

Everyone in the program is so talented and all around wonderful people. It would not be the same without each and every one of them. For this reason, I will be featuring each of my classmates! Today is Liza. I really admire her creativity and her work always makes me smile. In addition to the work being beautifully rendered, Liza is able to take very serious subjects and create work that has a wonderful sense of humor as well--much like Liza, herself.

POLAR BEAR, SEAL, and OIL RIGS in WATERCOLOR

WHY NOT JUST USE A PHOTOGRAPH?

This may be one of the most commonly asked questions about science illustration. It's a good one and we have a great answer to it. The Santa Cruz Sentinel recently wrote an article about this very topic and they did a wonderful job pointing out what an illustration can do that a photograph can't. Read the article HERE. They also make a nice mention about our upcoming show at the Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History along with a show exhibiting work of Northern California Guild of Science Illustrators members at the Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History. Jenny Keller (faculty of our program) and several former students of this program are in this exhibit.

CORNELIA HESSE-HONEGGER

Cornelia Hesse-Honegger is a world renowned Swiss science illustrator. She depicts morphologically disturbed insects found near areas of nuclear plant fallout. Cornelia will be speaking about "Visualizing Science" at Swissnex San Francisco on April 7th. For more information, click HERE. 10 of her original works will also be exhibited through April 16th.

AND

Cornelia will also be a guest speaker at our program. We are so honored that she is taking time out of her day to speak with all of us. I can't wait!