Ink-Dwell

PICKING OUT THE PERFECT OUTFIT

2011-09-01T13:00:00.000-07:00

So for the last few days, I've been updating my websites and my online presence. It sort of feels like I'm trying to pick out the perfect outfit and I've changed a million times.

The funny thing is, I sort of always come back to the same feel. That's sort of comforting, you know? It's like showing up in something that you feel confident no one else is wearing yet you still look like you.

So here I am: www.ink-dwell.com

From there, you can stay connected to me via Facebook, website, or blog. The cool thing is that you can see all of these different media outlets from one page!

Utilizing Social Media

2011-08-05T10:49:00.000-07:00

After long, serious consideration, I've decided to join Facebook.

It's time to build Ink-Dwell!

You can also follow me here: http://www.facebook.com/inkdwelljanekim AND my FB Page HERE.

HIGHLIGHTS

2011-08-02T13:33:00.000-07:00

Here are some highlights at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology (not in any particular order):

Learning how to skin and stuff...

Observing many birds raising their young - Great Blue Herons, Canadian Geese, American Crows...

The afternoon I was fortunate enough to meet world renowned cinematographer/photographer, Neil Rettig and his astounding Harpy Eagle...seriously amazing...

Going out in the field to survey Tree Swallow nest boxes....

HAS IT REALLY BEEN TWO MONTHS?

2011-07-15T22:40:00.000-07:00

Wow! I think this may be a record for me.

Lesson learned. There is so much that has happened that now I don't even know where to begin.

I suppose I'll start with a gallery of images showcasing my most recent work and news! Hopefully in the not too distant future, I'll post again and give you guys a recap on my time in Ithaca, NY.

BIRD CONSERVATION: Po'ouli | Palila | Akiapola'au

POPULATION BIOLOGY

BREEDING BIOLOGY

I officially finished 3 full-color paintings for use in the third edition of the Handbook of Bird Biology. If all goes according to plan, these paintings will open each of the 15 chapters in the book. I had set a goal of getting at least 3 of the 15 finished during my internship and I'm proud to have me that goal! The chapters that I covered are BIRD CONSERVATION, POPULATION BIOLOGY and BREEDING BIOLOGY.

For BIRD CONSERVATION, I was asked to paint three Hawaiian species that are critically endangered, one possibly extinct (Po'ouli). Although they are all from Hawaii, they are found on different islands and at different elevations. One of the beauties of art--you can create worlds that don't exist. The bird in middle is called a Palila and relies solely on the Mamane tree to survive. The brilliant yellow flowers belong to the Mamane. The tree in the background is a Koa and the yellow Honeycreeper at the bottom likes to creep along these trees in search of insects. They are sort of the woodpeckers of Hawaii. The Po'ouli at the very top is believed to be extinct. It searches through mosses and lichens for food and is also distant relatives of Honeycreepers.

POPULATION BIOLOGY is represented through several shorebirds. I guess every time I, personally, think of bird population, images of hundreds and hundreds of shorebirds come to mind. I wanted to capture the feeling of seeing birds scattered across a sandy beach bank. This painting consists of Red Knots, Laughing Gulls, a lone Herring Gull, and some Ruddy Turnstones.

So I already posted the painting for the BREEDING BIOLOGY chapter, but I'm posting it again, because at one point, I looked at the finished painting and decided to redo the background and add a few more Tree Swallows flying around the landscape. It was one of those difficult decisions that everyone makes. It's the kind where you know you're not entirely happy with the final result. Changing it is quite a large commitment and time consuming. Do you really want to do it or are you going to settle? I've never said to myself at the end of the day, "Boy am I glad I settled." So, I tackled the daunting task of repainting a piece I had called finished. I can't even tell you how happy I am that I did. Now this is maybe one of my favorites of the work I did for Cornell.

BIRDS FOR BIRDSCOPE

BirdScope is a quarterly publication put out by Cornell's Lab of Ornithology. It covers all sorts of bird news in a very accessible way. The centerfold is the main attraction with a full-color spread. Usually, one of the Bartels interns will create work for the centerfold and I was asked to create illustrations for the upcoming summer issue. These birds are a little sneak peak into a much larger composition. I'm not sure if I can post the layout draft before it's been published. From left to right: Black-backed Woodpecker, Golden-winged Warbler, Gunnison Sage-Grouse, Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, Yellow-billed Magpie, Stilt Sandpiper.

SCREENSHOT FROM THE SURFRIDER STORE

Recently, Surfrider used my knobby starfish drawing to print on bamboo fiber tanks. They are now available for purchase through their online store! I love the way they came out and the tanks are super comfortable.

You can purchase them HERE.

Well, I think this concludes my most recent work. I'm now heading back west to CALIFORNIA!!!! While all of my adventures have been unique and invaluable, I'm certainly ready to wipe my feet on the familiar and very much missed "Home Sweet Home" doormat.

Once I organize my photos, I'd love to share highlights of Ithaca, NY and the Lab with everyone. I will warn you, a lot of it may be written. I was admittedly terrible at taking photos these past 4 months.

Stay tuned!!!

UPDATE

2011-05-18T06:38:00.000-07:00

TREE SWALLOWS and FEATHER FIGHT

One of my projects at Cornell's Lab of Ornithology is to paint frontis pieces for the revision of the Handbook of Bird Biology. There are 15 chapters and they would like a full color painting to open each chapter. I can't tell you how excited I was to get this project and I hope I blow them away.

The above piece is for a chapter called "Breeding Biology. " I worked with an Ornithologists who studies tree swallows. During the nesting season, these birds collect feathers to line their nests. This behavior is known to be an important part of reproductive success and consequently, they compete for feathers.

Wow, tree swallows are beautiful. I love the way they look when they fly and their metallic blue coloring is stunning. Depending on how the lights hits them, their color ranges anywhere from dark grey to electric blue! They are very elegant birds.

One of my most favorite things about working here, is the opportunity to work with experts who really refine the accuracy of my bird art. They just know their subjects sooo well, that they can see even the slightest misrepresentation of form. I love it!

These next two illustrations were for Yosemite National Park. Currently, they are working very hard on the Merced River Plan and these two pieces were used in reports and presentations.

OXBOW FORMATION and INVERTEBRATES THAT LIVE IN THEM

RIPARIAN ECOSYSTEM of YOSEMITE VALLEY

SEED is a Bay Area branding agency. Their passions and purpose is to honor the burgeoning environmental and social shifts through good design. The clientele are typically in the artisanal and pure foods industry.

Below is a screen shot from their website showcasing one of their clients -- County Line Harvest.

County Line Harvest is an organic farm specializing in unique greens. They have farms in both Northern and Southern California. SEED asked me to create pen & ink drawings for their logos. Pen & ink is one of my favorite mediums so this was definitely a fun project. I loved the way it came out!

Thanks, as always, for stopping by! The support is more than appreciated!!!

:)

National Geographic Interview now LIVE

2011-04-28T12:06:00.001-07:00

Recently, my Migrating Mural Project was voted the Viewers' Choice winner in a competition hosted by National Geographic. Read the interview by clicking below.

CLICK HERE

For those of you who voted for my project, thank you a billion times! This is a tremendous honor and I couldn't have won without your support.

GRATEFUL

2011-04-16T12:48:00.000-07:00

I just won a competition on National Geographic for my Migrating Mural project. National Geographic has been a long time hero of mine and I am honored to the core to be involved with them on any level.

BUT.....

After having won, I realized that I was most moved and most grateful to my friends and family who showed utter support. I am humbled by the experience and it makes me realize the importance of relationships and nourishing the people in my life.

Even if I hadn't won, the emails I was getting from everyone was reward enough and it was an amazing reminder that my world is so good because of the people in it!

YOUNGEST ENVIRONMENTAL MOVERS and SHAKERS

2011-04-14T15:36:00.000-07:00

The older I get, the more and more I realize how important it is to give back to the planet that has selflessly provided beauty, inspiration, resources, vitality and evolution. What blows my mind are two girls who not only recognized this at an astoundingly young age, but had the ambition to create change as well.

OLIVIA BOULER

SOPHI BROMENSHENKEL

Olivia Bouler's heart reached out in empathy for the birds effected by the BP oil disaster. Her mission was clear. Olivia decided to celebrate shorebirds through art. All the money she earned in sales, she donated to the Audubon Society -- nearly $200,000.

I had the opportunity to meet Olivia at Cornell when she visited two weekends ago. What a poised, elegant, well-spoken young lady at the age of 11!

She has a new book out showcasing a collection of her paintings. Go check it out!

Sophi Bromenshenkel's love of sharks began at the age of 4 on her uncle's fishing boat. They caught a shark and her world changed. Now she wants to change the world for sharks. She has been devoted to raising money for leading shark researcher, Neil Hammerschlag of the University of Miami. Sophi was able to raise $4000 through lemonade and shark cookies! You can always touch people's hearts with cookies and lemonade.

I found a wonderful drawing on her blog of a hammerhead. I am, of course, unbiased about art. :)

I NEED YOUR HELP!

2011-04-06T17:17:00.000-07:00

So excited! National Geographic has chosen my project - MIGRATING MURAL - along with 14 other ocean conservation projects in a Viewer's Choice competition. The winner will get an interview with Nat Geo!

I would LOVE your support!

VOTE HERE

Thank you all so much! And send the link on to others!

Below are images of some proposed murals.

WHOOPING CRANE

NORTH PACIFIC BLUE WHALE

SIERRA NEVADA BIGHORN SHEEP

SO FAR AT CORNELL'S LAB OF ORNITHOLOGY

2011-04-04T14:47:00.000-07:00

These are illustrations of a bartailed godwit and it's air sacs. Cornell is working on a documentary about a bartailed godwit who had a transmitter surgically implanted in its right lower abdominal air sac. With this transmitter, they were able to track the bird in 9 days of STRAIGHT flight from Alaska to New Zealand. These will be used in the documentary. Yipeee!

AMERICAN CROW

This crow is regal.

AMERICAN ROBIN

This robin is awkward and dorky.

HOUSE SPARROW

This house sparrow is mean.

This is a graphic I created to represent an online course called Short Courses. The bird is one of my favorites - a magpie. It will be used for print and online purposes pertaining to the short course.

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC

2011-03-27T10:09:00.000-07:00

Posted about Summit at Sea AND featured my Migrating Mural!

Find post HERE.

BIRD ART I HEART

2011-03-25T06:51:00.000-07:00

Was looking through the web for photo references and came across some bird art and merchandise that I really like.

PRINTS BY CHRYSA KOUKOURA

VIA LOST AT E MINOR

VIA MICHAEL HALBERT ILLUSTRATION

VIA THE ORCHARD STUDIO

BIRD PRINT BANDEAU SHORT

YES! THIS IS A PAINTING!!! BY ADRIAN SMART

SHARK TAG YOU'RE IT!

2011-03-23T12:55:00.000-07:00

Was just launched!

http://sharktagyoureit.com/

Shark Tag You're It is a competition for attendees of Summit at Sea to qualify to go shark tagging with leading shark scientist, Neil Hammerschlag of the University of Miami.

You can read an article that just came out by Fast Company about Summit Series. You can find the article HERE.

Basically, Summit Series hosts an annual conference for some of the world's youngest thought leaders, innovators, entrepreneurs, and thinkers. The industries included are endless from musicians to tech geeks, and athletes to non-profit organizations. It's inspiring because you get an unlikely mix of individuals together in one place building relationships and growing ideas. This year, the conference will take place on an ocean liner leaving Miami, FL to a private island in the Bahamas. Not surprisingly, ocean issues are a big focus this year and shark tagging is just one component to promote the protection of our oceans. I'm super super excited to be attending the conference and submitted my Migrating Mural for Shark Tag You're It. More than that, I can't wait to see what the other attendees submit.

Here's an image of my pitch. I'm itching to start painting some murals when I'm finished with my fellowships!

It's so so exciting to get people motivated and excited about preserving what we have left of our planet! I love it!

WARNING! EXPLICIT CONTENT

2011-03-21T08:45:00.000-07:00

The Lab of Ornithology has a skinning lab that I, of course, find incredibly fascinating and useful. While specimens aren't the best reference for helping one capture live movement and feel, it is really useful to be able to see the subject in person. Skinning on the other hand is even more informative. It helps you gain an understanding of anatomy such as skeleton, feather tracts, feet, wings in different positions, etc. A couple of Fridays again, I experienced my first ever skinning. They started me off with a robin. It was really old and sitting in the freezer since 2006 so it wasn't the best one to start off on. So we decided to skin this for a spread wing sample and skeleton rather than a stuffed specimen for the collection. This was actually great because it gave me a chance to get a feel for skinning without having to make sure I didn't rip or damage the skin. Took a bit of pressure off. One of my favorite parts was observing how and where feathers attach on the tail. This will be so helpful when drawing the bird with a poor photo reference.

Here are some pictures I took of birds in the collection and the skinning. Some of the pics can be a bit graphic. Sorry about that!

CORNELL LAB of ORNITHOLOGY

2011-03-05T09:38:00.000-08:00

I just finished my first week at Cornell. Wow. I am soooo happy to be here. I've always loved painting birds, but this is so much more than painting them for beauty sake. It is incredibly exciting to be learning about them from a scientific front. It makes me have a deeper appreciation for them. Never a bad thing.

DIANE TESSAGLIA-HYMES

This the director of the Bartels Science Illustration Internship. She's awesome. Diane obviouslycares very much for each person that comes through and does what she can to make them feel very welcome and taken care of. I'm really excited to be working with her. She gave me a tour of the facilities and I was so inspired by it, I ended up taking almost 100 pictures on my first day. I won't post all of them, but as a warning, this post will have a lot.

I was very impressed with the architecture of the lab. Being a facility of birds, you can imagine that seeing them would be really important. A huge portion of the building is windows and there are telescopes and binoculars everywhere. I love seeing people come and go to peer out into a beautiful landscape in search of birds. My work station is located in the staff lounge. I'm surrounded by windows and people coming in and out all day long. I like the activity. Although I'm very good at working in isolation, it's nice to have people around throughout the day.

MAIN LOBBY

The small pond of water is actually heated by Cornell so that there is a spot for the ducks all winter long. I don't get how they sit on the snow like that. I understand that their well insulated, but I always get really cold looking at them.

I share the space with the other intern--Evartisto Hernandez Fernandez. I love his name! He is quite talented and his work is beautiful. I don't have a pic of one of his full color acrylic paintings, but I do have a pic of one of his studies. I love seeing that sort of thing.

I think one of my favorite moments of my first day was walking into the staff lounge where our work stations are and seeing on the white board, a drawing of this....

This is Bender from Futurama, one of my all time favorite shows in the whole world. I gave Evaristo a big hug when I found out that he drew it. Did I just reveal too much of my dorkiness?

The Lab has a wonderful little library, again with a ton of windows, and a little area in the back where you're surrounded by them.

One of the other things I really appreciated about the Lab is all the art that's hanging throughout the building. It was eye candy for me. I spent a good portion of my first day looking at all of it.

One artist that Cornell that is particularly relevant the Lab of Ornithology is Louis Agassiz Fuertes. He was an alumnus of Cornell and a really influential wildlife artist of his time and beyond. I took a few photos of his work and his Wikipedia page has a handful of really stunning works.

I really appreciate the two paintings below because he did something that most people (including myself) don't normally do. He put the birds in their setting as well as show how they camouflage so well in their environment. I love that. At first glance, you don't even really notice that there are birds.

These black & whites were donated after being found in the trash at the publishing house Fuertes created these for. It's crazy to me that they were thrown out. I always forget that there are people out there who couldn't care less about art. I'm so glad they were found and salvaged.

Fuertes completed many many commissions in his day. The Lab is pretty lucky to have a pretty big one passed down to them. Fuertes was commissioned by one of his friends to create panels for his study. When his friend passed, Cornell got a hold of each of these panels and reused them to build an auditorium--The Fuertes Room. On display right outside, Cornell also has the sketches of each of these panels Fuertes painted as an example of the final pieces.

Here are some pictures of other pieces that I particularly like. You can also see the full art collection HERE.

THIS ONE IS ONE OF MY VERY FAVORITES

So the painting above is by Charley Harper. He is well-known for his highly stylized paintings of wildlife. This painting was commissioned by the Bartels (creators of the Bartel's Science Illustration Internship) specifically for Cornell's Lab of Ornithology. These are many of the birds found in Ithaca hovering over the Lab. Cornell also hosts exhibitions of bird art and Harper is the current exhibit. Don't know if you noticed, but they used one of his birds in their logo. I love his work. Stylization is sort of difficult for me and when I see other's doing it so beautifully, I'm always very impressed. I tend to get too caught up in the realism of the animal and even the one's that are more stylized always end up having a bit of realism.

Let's see....I should wrap this up. Here are some more pics of cases containing taxidermed birds.

So, the Lab not only does bird stuff! They are also very well known for their Bioacoustics department. My roommate, Annamaria, works on whale vocalizations there. Cornell has the largest collection of animal vocalizations in the world and you can listen to their collection in the sound lab. They also have a media room where you can watch short documentaries. You can see why my first week here was so inspiring. There is so much here. I haven't even mentioned how cool Ithaca is as a place! I've only just begun to explore and as I become more familiar with it, I'll put up a post dedicated to the city.

K. That's good for now. I have more about the facilities but it can be clumped in a later post. This Friday, I'm learning how to skin and stuff a bird specimen. The other pictures I'm leaving out here are of the specimen collection at the Lab. But these can be combined with the pictures I'm planning on taking Friday.

Later skaters!!!

Wasted Time - Wasted Heart

2011-02-25T13:06:00.000-08:00

An installation I created for the Summit Series Headquarters in Miami.

As some of you know, my boyfriend, Thayer Walker, has for the last year been a part of a unique team called Summit Series. For the last 3 years, Summit Series has brought the worlds young thought leaders, innovators and movers and shakers together in annual events. The next event will be on an ocean liner leaving Miami to a private island in the Bahamas. It's pretty nuts. For the past month, I've been staying with him in between projects, and I have a hard time not creating something aside from work when I have time. I was inspired to create "Wasted Time - Wasted Heart" with discarded cardboard boxes and reclaimed house paints.

ROAD TRIP PICS

2011-02-25T07:48:00.002-08:00

Hi! As promised, here are some pics from my road trip from San Francisco to Miami.

LAS VEGAS

I loved Las Vegas, as surprising as that sounds. I thought it was a ridiculous city, but there were so many fun, extravagant and over the top things to see that it felt like Disneyland for adults. This pink gorilla suit is a perfect example of this. I think my favorite part of Vegas was all the themed hotels/casinos. If those weren't there, I wouldn't have felt the way that I do. As a former decorative painter, I was blown away by the level of faux painting that went into creating these places. Of course these are the pictures that I didn't take because I kept forgetting my camera. Thanks to Hannah, I at least have a picture of me with the pink gorilla man.

ROAD STOP I THINK IN ARIZONA

I LOVE THIS PAINTED SIGN IN TEXAS

New Orleans was most definitely my very favorite city on the trip. Oh my god! I haven't had such a visceral reaction to a place in a very long time. As we drove in, I just gasped at the architecture, narrow cobblestone roads, signs, smells...all of it. Of course the food was one of the best parts. One very memorable lunch was at a place called Bon Ton. We got there right when they opened. We were one of the first customers. Here is a pic of the interior of the restaurant.

And this is how full it got after about 15 minutes. Crazy. We had crab meat au gratin, crawfish jambalaya, crawfish etouffee followed by whiskey bread pudding. This bread pudding was insane. It was made with very densely compressed pieces of french bread drenched in a whiskey sauce. The whiskey was added after the sauce was cooked so it was straight uncooked alcohol. Sooooo goood!

MORE HAND-PAINTED FABULOUSNESS

I feel like this is the kind of thing you would only see in New Orleans.

Why is it that I'm so attracted to old abandoned buildings?

I love these old posts where horses would have been tied back in the day. It's too bad they don't still have the rings in the mouths where the reins would have attached.

While exploring the city, we came across a gallery specializing in all things animals. It was called Animal Art Antiques. Very self explanatory. In there, I saw two incredible 3-D models that had I had the money, would have bought in a second.

This particular cow model was made by a company called SOMSO. They are one of the leading companies in 3-D scientific models. SOMSO is located in Germany and there is a SOMSO Museum in Sonneberg. Sonneberg was never on my list of places to visit, but it certainly is now. Apparently they also have a toy museum and has long been a center for toy making. Who knew?

This beauty is made of paper mache!!! Paper mache, people! Incredible.

Okay. So normally I think these street performers are pretty silly, but I'm not going to lie. I couldn't possibly imagine holding this pose for more than 10 seconds.

MIA

2011-02-07T08:05:00.001-08:00

Whoa! I can't believe how crazy fast time flies.

I have a lot to catch everyone up on....

So, I finished my internship in Panama on January 4th. In an effort to fit 2 months of time lapsed into a nutshell, I'll curate this post down to the bare minimum.

Out of all the work I've done at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, I'm somehow attached to this painting I did of a greenbanded goby (top) and a red-cheeked goby (bottom) for fish expert, Dr. Ross Robertson. It is a comparison of the two very visually similar species. The red-cheeked is a new species discovered in the waters of Honduras. The genetic difference of the two is about 11%. It was just so cool to put the fish side by side. Thus far, a comparison such as this doesn't exist.

Another project that I worked on with Ross is an app for an identification guide. Below is the opening page for this.

Panama was an unforgettable experience. It was mixed with excitement for experiencing something new with the difficulty of being so far from my loved ones. I found all of my projects very fascinating and gratifying. I hope that the very special friendships I made will be lasting. They made all the difference in the world and the Panama I know is largely due to them.

So what now?

I was back in San Francisco for a couple of weeks. My sister just had a baby!!! That makes me a first time aunt. Her name is Lelu Kim Schmidt. I can't tell you how special meeting her for the first time was. I was so happy to paint a piece for her to hang over the crib. Not to worry, it's painted on loose canvas so there is no harm in a heavy painting falling on her. It's 3 1/2 x 4 1/2 feet. We thought a sea scape would be perfect for her. She now has a space rug, animal curtains and an ocean scene over her crib. :)

Now it's the second week of February and where am I now? I have the month of February to myself before I begin my final internship at Cornell's Lab of Ornithology so I decided to drive from SF to Miami to spend some much needed time with my boyfriend who is currently here for work. I took a fun road trip with my friend Hannah Berman. For those of you who don't know her, Hannah is an amazingly talented designer. She specializes in letter pressed cards and her line is sold all over the country in various stores. It was great because the route we took was unfamiliar territory. I had never been to any of our major destination points--Las Vegas, The Grand Canyon, Albuquerque, Austin, New Orleans, Tallahassee along with a very special place in Florida called Cassadaga. We've affectionately named it "Psychic Town." It is a tiny town with a population of about 100. Of those 100, 40 of them are psychics. In the center of town, is a bookstore. In this incensed and crystal filled bookstore is a large white board with many names and phone numbers. As you look at the board, a name should stand out. This is the psychic that you should call in order to get the best reading. I can't actually even remember who my guy was, but what an experience. I didn't come away from it feeling worse or better about things, so I suppose that's the best I could hope for. I did end up with a puffy paint Rorschach butterfly used to analyze my person through chakra colors. That was fun.

Hannah also visited me in Panama. Below are some pics from the visit and the road trip. All of these pictures were taken by Hannah.

CASCO VIEJO

CATS ON A SIGN IN CASCO VIEJO

EVERY BUS IN PANAMA IS UNIQUE PAINTED IN THIS MANNER

One of the common themes of her photos was painted signage. I'm glad that it was documented. That was one of my favorite things in Panama--hand painted signs, murals on buildings and custom painted buses.

Okay....I lied. I'll be attaching pics from the road trip in a separate post. I was looking through them and there are too many that I want to tell you about. I'll try not to let 2 months pass before these go up!

PORCELLANIDAE CRABS

2010-12-16T08:38:00.001-08:00

CLASTOTOECHUS VANDERHORSTI

MEGALOBRACHIUM POEYI

NEOPISOSOMA NEGLECTUM

PORCELLANA SAYANA

Last week, I finished up my project with Alexandra Hiller. Alex studies porcellanidae crabs. They are soooo cute and tiny--about the size of large peas. The above photos are actually direct scans of these teeny tiny creatures. What an awesome way to capture these guys in detail. She studies everything about them from their behavior to genetics. They are actually not true crabs and their morphology is a unique blend of all different crustaceans making them a super crustacean in my opinion. :)

Alex, along with her colleagues, have put together a program called CAT - computer assisted taxonomy. With this program, you can identify your specimen based on defining characteristics. My job was to re-create the ways the different characters are visualized. She had already done it, but wanted something more clear and aesthetically pleasing. Attached are a select few to show the new one and the old one. The new rendering is on the top and the old is on the bottom.

THINGS PANAMANIANS LIKE

2010-12-14T10:33:00.000-08:00

I was just turned on to this site and it is one of the funniest and true interpretations of typical Panamanian culture.

CLICK HERE

BOCAS del TORO

2010-12-09T08:42:00.001-08:00

Bocas del Toro is a small island on the Caribbean side of Panama near the border of Costa Rica. It's known for surfing, snorkeling and diving. The Smithsonian has a station there and I went on a short weekend visit last month. Juan had to be there to teach a group of environmental and biology undergraduates that had been traveling throughout Panama for 3 1/2 months. They each spent time with a homestay family and traveled from location to location, working with a scientist for 10 days at each location. Their last stop was Bocas del Toro and Juan was the scientist. He taught them about the marine life there. It was a lot of fun sitting in on the lectures and joining the group on some adventures.

The easiest and fastest way to get there is by plane. Lucky for me, I live within a 10 minute walk of the domestic airport in Albrook. There are only two airlines. I flew Air Panama. :)

VIEWS FROM THE PLANE

I was greeted by this sneaking caimen as I walked over a bridge to the Smithsonian Labs. Apparently there are 7 total caimans in the pond. Along with this guy were brilliantly colored birds, butterflies and fish. It really was a small tropical paradise. I even saw a three-toed pygmy sloth endemic to Bocas. I didn't have my camera at the time, but I swear I saw one. :)

Below is a nest that I liked.

This is Juan Mate. I love this picture of him in a full suit. The weather was really crummy when we were there. Lots of rain and lots of wind. This made the water much colder than usual (75 degrees F) and I guess when you're accustomed to the warm tropical water, a slight shift in temperature merits protective gear. :) The rest of us were in bathing suits.

The first day that I arrived, I got to go snorkeling with the group. With all the wind and rain, the visibility was poor, but it was just so much fun to get in the water and look around anyway. I wish I had a waterproof camera.

This is a really gross picture, but I find gross things awesome especially when it involves picking and peeling. This is a picture of one of the students helping along the shedding process of skin after a sunburn. :) I love that you can see the holes from the hair follicles in the skin! EEW!

The purpose of snorkeling was to collect samples of coral. 3 buckets were collected and brought back to the lab to dissect. There were so many living things inside!

In addition to the urchins and brittle stars, they also found a pipefish, worms, crabs, large starfish and much more. After they counted and sorted all the specimens, they got tossed back into the water. That made me happy.

The STRI dorms each have about 6 bunk beds. It was pretty empty and I ended up sharing with only one other girl. She ended up also working at Naos and was in Bocas temporarily. Her name is Anabell and I was so thrilled to meet her. Anabell conducts a pretty neat experiment involving tiny itty bitty adult shrimp and shrimp larvae.

First, she looks at the shrimp that's been place on a mesh disc through a microscope. She counts the squares on the mesh to measure the size of the shrimp.

Then using super glue, she attaches a mono filament to the shrimp as well as to the larvae. It is really tedious work and it's amazing to watch how quickly she can do this.

She does this for 12 adults and 12 larvae.

Then we go to the dock with a bunch of other equipment.

The brick weights are set up in equal intervals around the entire dock.

The shrimp and shrimp larvae then get attached to these acrylic rods. Each rod is then placed in the brick weights. They alternate between adult shrimp and shrimp larvae.

Each rod is submerged for 30 minutes. Then they are pulled out to see if the shrimp were eaten or are still on the line. Other factors are then measured...

This is a mesh bag used for collecting plankton. The bag gets pulled through the water along the dock to see how much plankton is in the water.

This white thing is used to measure the depth of the water. Temperature is also recorded. This experiment is conducted every day during low tides. That means that sometimes she is doing this experiment more than once a day and at horrible hours like 3 or 4am. Yikes!

Later that afternoon, we went out to the main city. I loved it! It has a beach town, bustling feel to it. Not to mention, I ate one of my most favorite typical dishes there. It was a hole in the wall restaurant called Don Chi Cho. It's probably the only remaining place in Bocas that serves typical fare for typical prices - cheap. Everything else in Bocas has become pretty expensive because it is now a huge tourist attraction. That whole plate of food below cost me $3.50. Pretty ridiculous.

When you walk in, it doesn't look like they have much. It's kind of like getting food at a cafeteria, but I love that you can just ask for as much or as little as you want on your plate. I ordered a piece of bass, lentils, rice and two different preparations of plantains. One is called patacones and the other tajadas. Patacones are the flat disc things. They flatten, deep fried pieces of unripe plantain. The other are sliced pieces of mature plaintains that have been sauteed. Patacones are savory while the tajadas are sweet. Oi! Both are soooo good. The table had the flag of Panama under the glass. It was a picture perfect opportunity that I'm happy to say, didn't go to waste.

Below are a couple more pictures of the town.

MY BATS

2010-12-06T06:08:00.001-08:00

There are bats in the backyard and they use the palms to make their nests. It's so neat. You can't really see it in this picture, but they perforate the palms so that the leaf bends down forming a little cave-like dwelling. During the day, they just all pile in there.

ANOTHER LINK FOR YOU!

2010-12-01T06:49:00.000-08:00

I found this so inspiring. Oliver Uberti is a designer at National Geographic and talks about the magic in creating something with your hands. I loved it!

CLICK HERE.

THE ANIMATORS OF LIFE

2010-11-22T07:06:00.000-08:00

A really cool link.

The Animators of Life

OCTOPOLYPUS!

2010-11-17T07:04:00.000-08:00

IT'S AN OCTOPOLYPUS!

Recently, I actually had some time to do some work for myself! I definitely took advantage of that and did a couple of graphite drawings. They were both very much inspired by my recent projects.

The water surrounding Coiba National Park is a hotspot for coral reefs. The island, for the most part, has very little human footprint so it is essentially in pristine condition. Juan Mate is a coral expert and I've learned quite a bit from him. I never really understood how coral worked. I knew that it is a living organism, but that was about it. Coral is made up of a huge colony of little polyps. They create a hard skeleton around their vulnerable bodies as protection. Like the sand dollar or urchin, the remaining part that we like to display is the skeleton of the animal. The octopolypus is an invented hybrid of two different coral polyps and an octopus. Although this guy will never exist, there are decorator crabs that will have coral growing on its shell and there is also a type of coral that has eight arms...so why not? I mean, jackolopes are real, right?

The other drawing was inspired by the sustainable fishing guidebook I designed. I sort of have become obsessed with fish eyes. These are all the groupers that can be fished around Coiba National Park. All the eyes are to scale. It's crazy. Some groupers can get as big as 5 feet. Crazy.

ISLA NAOS y PUNTA CULEBRA

2010-11-16T08:45:00.000-08:00

So where exactly do I work? The Naos Marine Lab is located off the Amador Causeway on an island called Isla Naos. The Causeway connects several small islands. From the front of the building, you can see a spectacular view of the city's skyline along with the Bay of Panama and several boats. For some reason, I recently noticed how pretty it is. Maybe it was the color that the rain clouds made over the view. On nice days, the Causeway is filled with people riding their bikes, jogging, fishing or just taking a leisurely stroll. It's pretty cool. It's a nice little drive to have to take to work. You can read more about the Lab here.

PUNTA CULEBRA

Punta Culebra juts out behind the Lab and houses the Punta Culebra Nature Center. It was founded by The Smithsonian. Read more about it here.

I finally ventured out to far places--the Lab's backyard--to a beautiful beach setting. I was actually stunned to see it. I had no idea that such a lovely landscape exists so close to work.

I love exhibits like this. It's so fun to see wildlife to scale. I'm not sure how many people realize how big groupers are. Even when you see these fish in aquariums, it's still really hard to get a sense of their scale unless you're right next to them. Somehow, for me, it makes the animal more real or something.

Silly little sea turtle. I heart them.

I don't think I'll ever grow out of the desire to touch things. I ALWAYS get sooo excited when I get to hold and touch the animals. Again, I think it has something to do with feeling like it's a reality. All of a sudden we are in the same world. I love the expression on this little girl's face.

So funny...when I took these pictures showing the underside of the sea stars, I imagined a human stomach with a mouth and five human arms growin out of it. I think I'll have to draw that.

EEW! Sea cucumbers are so weird. They feel amazing, though. You might think that they're really slimy or something, but they're actually super soft and pillowy.

It was sort of strange to see this next to the lobster exhibit, but it's beautiful none the less. I wonder if they forgot to discard it or if it's actually part of the exhibit. Maybe it's to show the exoskeleton or something. Who knows.

The day that I visited Punta Culebra, my friend Andrew Sellers was giving a talk about lion fish. Lion fish are invasive species that are rapidly growing in population within the Caribbean and western Atlantic. He is studying the effects lion fish have on an ecosystem where they didn't use to exist.

Lion fish eat little crabs and I went out with him to collect some. They're tiny, move really quickly and are difficult to catch. Basically, you upturn a rock and grab as fast as you can. It was really fun. It brings me back to a time when I used to play with my tonka trucks in the mud without a shirt because I wanted to be like my dad working outside in the hot summer days.

HELLO LITTLE CRABS!

FEED ME!!! I like this crazy giant seed. Oh the tropics have such strange things living in it.

FINCA

2010-11-08T06:14:00.000-08:00

FINCA means farm in spanish, and a couple of weekends ago, Ross invited me to his finca near the town of Penonome. It is the main city in the Cocle province west of Panama City. In the 17th century, it was the nation's capital for a few years after Panama City had been taken by the pirate Henry Morgan. It was about a 2 hour drive from Albrook along one of Panama's only highway. I love road trips and it was a great coastal drive. Lourdes, Ross's girlfriend kept me company and I'm proud to say I spoke only Spanish that whole weekend. It wasn't particularly good or fluent Spanish, but something that a Latin American could devise as Spanish. We stopped at a very traditional roadside eatery on the way and for $4 dollars, we were both able to stuff our faces with delicious Panamanian fare.

When you arrive at the finca, you are greeted with a brilliantly color sign:

Pixbae, or peach-palm in English, is the fruit of a species of palm native to South and Central America. It has the texture of a starchy root and a cheesy sort of flavor. It's really good and was one of the first food Panamanian food items that Ross introduced me to. I find it endearing that he has named his finca after it.

YUM!

AS YOU DRIVE UP THE DRIVEWAY

VIEW FROM FRONT PORCH

ROSS AT THE GRILL

By the way, Ross is a wonderful cook. He made oxtail soup and ribs that weekend. So delicious!

ROSS'S FRIEND, ANDREW, SITTING ON THE FRONT PORCH

VIEW OF BACKYARD

BROMELIADS!!! I WISH THEY WERE FLOWERING

VIEW FROM FRONT PORCH

That hill on the left that looks like a nipple is called Cerro Viejo. Down the road, there is a hotel called Hotel Cerro Vieja. As you know, in Latin languages, things are identified as masculine and feminine. People joke that these two hills were assigned the wrong genders because the masculine Viejo resembles a breast, while Vieja doesn't. :)

Hotel Cerro Vieja is actually a stunning place with gorgeous views. Below are a couple of pictures from the hotel and a good one of Cerro Vieja.

It was such a fun weekend. We ate well, drank well and even smoked some cigars from the neighboring town, La Pintada. The factory is called Cigarros Joyas de Panama. They have tours, but it was closed when I ventured into town. La Pintada is also famous for their sombreros pintados - painted hats. I didn't really see any of those either, but the beauty is, I can always go back!

AMERICAN GEOPHYSICAL UNION

2010-10-31T08:10:00.000-07:00

American Geophysical Union (AGU) is the world's largest orginization of Earth and space scientists. They recently launched a section in their site dedicated to a network of science blogs. Their ABOUT section explains it all.

I was honored to be asked by AGU to create the banners for the blogs. Click the image to get to the AGU Blogosphere site. Scroll down and click each mini banner to see the full banner. It's worth spending some time reading through the blogs, too. They all have really fascinating information in them.

SNAP JUDGMENT TEARS UP THE STAGE!

2010-10-29T09:23:00.000-07:00

Snap Judgment is a place for the pass old tradition of storytelling through the exciting, upbeat and fresh media of today.

I am so proud to give a shout out to my boyfriend, Thayer Walker who will be regaling us with his story of Bolivia and his relationship with a nearly 300 pound jaguar tonight. It will air on npr // pbs, but you can see it live tonight. You can buy tickets here.

Who: Thayer Walker on Snap Judgment
What: 4 individuals with incredible stories about animals with a live band
Where: Brava Theater
2781 24th Street
San Francisco , CA 94110
When: 7:30-10:30pm

QUE PASA A PANAMA?

2010-10-21T13:06:00.000-07:00

So, I've been in Panama for 17 days now. As usual, there is so much to do, learn, absorb that days move way to fast.

I just wanted to share some of the progress that is being made in my three projects with Juan Mate. He oversees the management plan of Coiba National Park and I'm creating three booklets for him and the park. I'll start with some of the paintings that I've done so far for a popular version of the management plan.

WHITE-TIPPED SHARK - gouache, graphite

SCARLET MACAW - gouache, graphite

Coiba is one of the last places that you can see these birds in the wild. Pretty amazing.

GREEN SEA TURTLE - gouache, graphite

AMBERJACKS - gouache, graphite

These paintings are going to be used on the cover page and throughout the Management Book Popular Version. The purpose of this booklet is to explain the history of the island, attractions and activities geared towards the general public. Juan wanted a booklet that would appeal to this demographic and be easy to read and understand. Below is the cover and table of contents in progress. The second macaw and the Coiba howler monkey (endemic to the island) still need to painted. I also attached the concept layout below to show how the painted animals really make a more dynamic piece when compared to the concept that is comprised of a collage of photos. It makes me smile. I love how in paintings, you can make things better than real life. The seascape in the background is a manipulated collection of photos that will stay a photograph. I like the way that looks. :) I added the school of fish and the divers into one of Juan's photos.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

The red box will have a detailed map of the island. Juan has a map guy who will be making that. I would really love to learn how to use a map making program. I love maps. One day...

Another book is for fishing at the island. This book will describe how to obtain a permit and which fishes can be caught, how many, etc.

This is the general feel and look I am going for. The book is actually going to be printed on thick plastic pages and spiral bound. It's very cool. It's much better than laminated pages which was the original plan. Now the book will definitely be able to withstand all the water from fishing not to mention the wetness in general of Panama/the tropics.

The final book is a diving and snorkeling manual. I haven't worked out the design of this, but meanwhile I've recreated the line work for maps associated with different dive/snorkeling sites. It's missing a boat on the surface of the water. :) Also Juan will come up with a different key. I just placed these stamps as place holders. I don't know why, but I really love these type of illustrations. They're so simple, but actually incredibly informative. I think the simplification creates clarity of information.

So this is the work I've done thus far! But what about life in Panama outside of the Smithsonian you ask? Well...it's been admittedly slow. I'm just starting to make friends. Yay! I even have plans this Friday! First one since I've been here. Then on Saturday, I'm going to Ross's farm with him and his girlfriend. It's about 3 hours away from the city, but I don't remember the name of the area. It's surrounded by a lot of forest with walking trails. I'm really looking forward to being outside and I especially can't wait to see what sort of animals I come across. I'll put up photos in another post!

I'm also taking Spanish classes that meet twice a week. They are private lessons so it's really intensive. We speak only in Spanish for an hour and a half. I really love my teacher. She's super funny and makes me feel really comfortable. Plus we have simlar names--Juanita es se llama.

I love latin food. There is a restaurant next to the lab called Ranchito and they have really delicious Panamanian dishes. I go there from time to time. You can get lunch specials that come with soup, the main dish, a drink and dessert for about $7. Pretty ridiculous. Yum!

I can't believe that October is almost over! I'm very much looking forward to working with Alexandra Hiller next and I'm sure the month is going to fly just as quickly as this one.

More to come!!!

REMINISCING OF YOSEMITE

2010-10-15T15:39:00.000-07:00

I was just reminiscing of Yosemite and I realized that I never gave a proper shout out to my most wonderful director Eric Berlow.

I couldn't have asked for a better person to work with this summer. He was super encouraging and supportive of artistic freedom and ideas. Eric isn't a micro-manager and really values the power of inspiration. I was pushed by my own inspiration to create. That's a pretty rare environment to be in, so THANK YOU, ERIC!

This year Eric was a TED Fellow, and I stole this head shot from there. You can see his profile here. He also has some pretty amazing stuff going on. Check out his website here.

Yay Eric!

BIENVENIDO A PANAMA!

2010-10-08T10:44:00.000-07:00

I arrived on the evening of October 4th to start my internship at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) in Panama. It's now Friday and 4 days into it, the muscles in my shoulders and the knot in my stomach are beginning to relax.

So far, the everything has gone very smoothly. The plane was on time, my bags made it through, the customs people didn't think I looked suspicious, and my renewed passport now has its first stamp. I was met by Juan Mate, the first scientist I am working with during my 3 month stay. This is the first time I exited an airport and was greeted by someone holding a sign with my name on it. I see that all the time at airports and it definitely made me smile to see JANE KIM written on one of them.

I am staying in Albrook near Panama City in an in-law type apartment belonging to another scientist I will be working with, Ross Robertson. It's a pretty nice set up in a quiet residential neighborhood. Within walking distance I have a pharmacy, bank, ice cream, a few places to eat, groceries, a pool and a BLOCKBUSTER! My blockbuster card actually works in Panama. Given that there is no internet access and I rely very heavily on movies as background noise while I work, the Blockbuster was a much welcome amenity. I will limit myself to only 2 movies a week. I can't blow all of my money on movies. :)

The apartment is very cozy and surrounded by thick growth of palms and other tropical foliage that Ross planted when he bought the place. Below are some pics of the place. Cute, no?

LOOKING INTO THE KITCHEN FROM MAIN ROOM

VIEW FROM FRONT DOOR

AS YOU WALK OUT THE FRONT DOOR

There is a pond in the backyard and is home to a bunch of mosquito eating fish including guppies. Yay guppies! I used to have a small fish bowl of guppies when I was young. It was one of those round old school bowls that had philodendrons spilling out the top. I started with only 2 guppies and over time, I ended up with a little colony of them. Ross mentioned that at dawn, fishing bats come and eat the guppies. I may not see these. I can't imagine that I'll be awake very much at dawn. 7 am is usually as early as I like to get up. Anyway, I love anything that eats mosquitoes.

A little further in, there is a metal stand. Ross explained that if you put veggie and fruit scraps, you'll get all kinds of critters in the yard. So far I've seen agoutis (ñieques in spanish) back there. I wasn't able to get a photo, but I downloaded one off the internet. I didn't know what they were until the other day when I saw them. They are sooooo coool! I love them and they're big. They are about the size of a beagle, but dogs and cats don't like these rodents. They have a gland under their butt that secretes a scent that keeps them away. Ross was also telling me that there are 3-5 jesus lizards that hang around the pond. Males can reach a foot long! Again, the picture is from the internet.

VIEW OF MY MAIN ROOM WINDOW

So I'm all settled in. I have my Smithsonian ID card, access card and keys from the main office, Tupper. I found out that it is called Tupper because Tupperware funded the building of this office. I've had several successful cab rides and am now looking into enrolling in Spanish courses. I have a small office in the Naos Marine Lab and am already busy with several projects. This internship is very different from Yosemite. It is a lot more structured and I have specific assignments so to speak. I think it will feel a little more like school in the sense that the syllabus is already written. No more backpacking adventures gallavanting in the Sierras and self-directed projects. I do plan on exploring areas outside of Panama City to get my fix of being outdoors and immersed in nature. On my list of must sees is Coiba National Park.

As I mentioned, the first scientist that I am working with is Juan Mate. He directs the new management plan for Coiba National Park (Parque Nacional Coiba). Coiba is an amazing island and the park is Panama's largest national park. It is a pristine gem and for the most part, untouched by development. It used to be a penal colony much like Alcatraz. It officially closed for this purpose in 2004/5 and is now on it's way to becoming a major attraction. It provides world class diving and snorkeling among rich coral reefs just beyond white sandy beaches. I can't wait to see it!!! So as you can imagine, I'm thrilled to be designing brochures and booklets for the park. One booklet is for the general public and it is an overview of the new management plan. I'm also laying out a pamphlet about diving in Coiba. Finally, I'll be designing a poster for fishermen around the island. I'll post images as these projects develop.

Whew!!! This is a long post. A lot to cover. I think all change brings with it a feeling of nervousness and most importantly, EXCITEMENT. I'm excited to share this adventure with all of you as it unfolds.

FAREWELL TO YOSEMITE

2010-09-29T10:12:00.000-07:00

My summer is winding down and it's time to say farewell to Yosemite National Park.

From 8-day backpacking trips to hikes in search of Sierra Nevada bighorn sheep at elevations of over 10,000 feet, and from sorting bugs to tracking spotted owls with telemetry, the experience that the Sierra Nevada Research Institute provided me was unforgettable and invaluable. Not only was it basically a three-month crash course of the nitty gritty world of field biology, it was also an opportunity to enrich my world with new relationships and so many phenomenal people! I loved all of it!

I think one of the most inspiring things about being a science artist is the research that comes with it. I love learning about my subject. One of my favorite weeks in Yosemite was the week I went looking for the very endangered Sierra Nevada bighorn sheep with expert John Wehausen. There is a wonderful documentary called Counting Sheep, and a large portion of it is dedicated to the astounding efforts John has made to restore Sierra Nevada bighorn populations. It was an honor to spend a couple of days out in the field with him.

Sierra Nevada bighorn sheep is the subject of an exciting project of mine called the Migrating Mural. The Migrating Mural highlights an endangered migratory animal through a series of large-scale murals painted along the migration routes of that animal. I've become enamored with bighorns and although they do not travel far distances during migration, their lives depend on a different kind of migration.

Along Highway 395 herds of Sierra Nevada bighorn sheep make their homes in high elevation terrain. These federally listed endangered creatures depend on elevational migration to survive harsh winter climates. The purpose of the Migrating Mural is to provide an experience for the general public to enjoy animals that otherwise go unseen and unnoticed. All of the buildings are easily seen while driving along the highway. I'm very excited to see this project through. The projected start date is early 2012. Below are a couple of concept sketches.

Below are two t-shirt designs for the Yosemite Toad Crew and the Invertebrate Crew.

Speaking of t-shirts, Patagonia has a special line of artist t-shirts. Proceeds from sales go back to a specific organization to help fund their project. SNRI is working to get a Yosemite toad shirt in the line. I came up with a few designs for the shirt.

Below is a poster I did for a student in the Yosemite Leadership Program. I then took components of the poster and created several prints for the Yosemite Conservancy auction.

I've finally painted in the conifers and would like to share the finished piece with you.

More caddisfly abstractions...

Well...that about sums it up. I couldn't have asked for a better way to start and end my summer.

MORE PICTURES!

2010-08-26T00:24:00.000-07:00

But this time of some work I've done this summer.

T-SHIRT DESIGN FOR THE INVERTEBRATE CREW

The pattern was created with a drawing of a caddisfly larvae. The entire year I was at CSUMB, I never once drew anything using a microscope so I really loved the experience of looking through one to draw this specimen.

POSTER OF FOODS YOSEMITE PIONEERS WOULD HAVE EATEN

CONIFER MEADOW ENCROACHMENT

This painting is still in progress, but I wanted to share it anyway. Conifers are closing in on the meadows not only in Yosemite, but in meadows across the country. This is negatively affecting meadows and research is being conducted to figure out why and how this is happening. I wanted to show that the balance was being thrown off as well as depicting some of the wildlife that depend on healthy meadows. The trees still need to be rendered and they will be painted in gray scale.

SCIENCE NOTES 2010

2010-08-26T00:15:00.000-07:00

I don't know if you recall...

In an earlier post, I blogged about one of our final assignments for Science Notes. Science Notes is a sister program at UC Santa Cruz for science journalists. For the past twenty years, the Science Illustration program and Science Notes have collaborated at the end of the year to publish their online journal.

CLICK HERE!

PICTURES!

2010-08-25T21:26:00.001-07:00

Okay...pictures from my 8 day backpacking trip as promised...almost a month later. This was by far one of my most memorable experiences. I admire field scientists so much for all the hard work and dedication that goes into each and every one of their trips. I am super grateful to have been a part of it.

I was lucky enough to tag along with the USGS Toad Crew. Our trip started in Sequoia National Park at Florence Lake. From there, we took a ferry to Kings Canyon National Park. The woman who drives the ferry was a complete hoot. As my friend Kelly put it, the odd combination of isolation and subjection to tourists made her a bit crazy. She honestly believes in aliens, yetis and 12 foot rattlesnakes. She is a complete control freak about her boat and tells stories (which she believes to be true) that would give JK Rowling a run for her money.

She did point out a mountain that is called "the chief." It looks like a profile of a chief head and his head dress.

ANOTHER RANGE THAT LOOKS LIKE A PROFILE

MOUNTAIN CHICKADEE

Throughout the day, I would hear an incessant pip, pip, pip and finally discovered the source of the call. It was really fun watching them fly, too, because they look like they're drunk.

There were yellow bellied marmots running around and this little fellow let me get close enough to take pictures.

TIGER LILY IN THE MORNING

SAME TIGER LILY LATER THAT DAY

I love that the other bud opened up by the end of the day. :)

I saw these growing all over the alpine terrain. I don't really know why, but I just really like them. They seemed like sea creatures that belong in a tide pool or something.

Of course, one of the perks of being in this landscape are the stunning lakes and swimming holes. For the most part, the water was fresh snow melt. That didn't stop us from jumping in and running right out.

SAY HI TO ALEXA KILLIAN

YELLOW LEGGED FROG TADPOLES

These tads are actually really big, the body is about the size of a quarter.

ADULT YELLOW LEGGED FROG

These frogs are endangered so it was a real treat to see them.

AND...we found what we came to find! The yosemite toad!

YOSEMITE ADULT TOAD

SAY HI TO KELLY SIVY

Below are some pictures of my favorite meadow of the trip and things growing in it.

One of our campsites was at Martha Lake at the base of Mt. Goddard. We were caught in some heavy thunder and lightning storms while camping there. It made me a little nervous (especially when I had to hold my tent up because the wind was squashing it), but it also made the experience that much more memorable.

To be honest, I don't think any of my pictures does justice to the beauty of the landscape, but here are some pictures at different times of the day. The colors were spectacular. I feel like they should make a box of crayons specifically based on colors found in the Sierra Nevada.

AHHHH!!!

2010-08-07T11:56:00.000-07:00

So little to do, so much time. Wait. Flip that....

I am very behind on updating my blog, but here is a nutshell version of what's been happening:

-Last week I was on an 8 day backpacking trip with the toad crew. We went to King's Canyon National park to survey meadows for Yosemite toads. More about that in a later post. Pictures and all!

-I have an exciting project that I don't want to jinx and will post about that when I feel like it's a for sure thing.

-Yay! I finally have some illustrations that I can share with you. Be on the look out for that.

-Yesterday was the opening night for a new show that I am in called Everything Never Goes Away. Info can be found here.

So, lots happening...to be continued....

WEEK TWO

2010-07-13T21:19:00.000-07:00

I've realized that the most challenging thing about my fellowship will be choosing a focus. There is so much amazing research going on and I want to be involved in ALL of it. That's not really a possibility so the best I can do at the moment is become involved in as much of as I can, get a taste for what's happening and move forward from there.

Last week, I helped sort insects from water samples. Out of the insects that I helped sort, there were mostly black fly larvae, may flies, stone flies and midges. There were some miscellaneous ones in there as well.

JAR FILLED WITH BLACK FLY LARVAE

THIS IS ASHLEY (REU TA) GETTING THE SCOPES READY

I also joined park botanist, Liz Ballenger on a day trip to Tuolumne Meadows to look at early stages of meadow vegetation. Grass is just grass on a normal day so it was such a great experience to look at the grass and see that there were so many kinds. It was actually really funny because I was so busy looking down at the vegetation that I forgot to look up and around at the gorgeous landscape. Tuolumne really is phenomenal.

I still have trouble remembering scientific names and I can't imagine really ever referring to things naturally by their scientific names.

Carex scopulorum

Carex filifolia

Note the distinctive ring this grass makes.

Carex utriculata

Danthonia intermedia

There is also a grass that looks similar to this except the older grass starts to pile up even more and create mounds that sort of resemble birds nests. This grass is called Ptilagrostis.

Mimulus

Polygonum bistordoides

This is easily identifiable because of the strong mid-vein on the back side of the leaf.

Calyptridium umbellata

This isn't really a meadow plant. It grows more along the edge of the meadow, but I like it so I took a picture of it. :)

Carex raynoldsii

THE GROUP I WENT OUT WITH

I love how we are all crouched over the grass trying to get the closest look as we possibly can.

When we went out last week, the vegetation was still in its early stages so really identifying characteristics such as the flowers were not in bloom. I am really looking foward to going out again this Saturday to see how the meadow has changed in just about a week. It should be brilliantly colored and full of flowers.

Yesterday was my first day out with the Toad Crew. It was another day trip and we went to the meadows of White Wolf to collect water samples of pools with toad tadpoles and pools without. Kaitlin and her REU student were also an this trip counting Lodgepole Pine seedlings. They are working on a project researching the effects of conifer encroachment in meadows. Very cool stuff.

GETTING GPS DEVICES READY

TADPOLES

A METAMORPH FROM LAST YEAR

They stay in this phase for 3-4 years during which they transform into male or female toads. I am hoping to see some adult toads when I join the crew on an eight day backpacking trip. The adults leave the meadows and venture into higher, more wooded areas.

WATER SAMPLE BEING TAKEN

THIS MEADOW WAS A PARTICULARLY WET MEADOW

THIS IS MORE TYPICAL

LODGEPOLE PINE SEEDLING

The seedling is that tiny green growth in the center with fork-like prongs growing out of the stem. A tree is most sensitive during the first 3 years or so of growth. Once it has survived that long, the guarantee of survival is much greater. It's pretty amazing seeing a seedling and realizing how long it takes for it to become a tree that we are accustomed to seeing. I'm in love with seedlings!

SEEDLINGS BEING COUNTED THROUGH A GRID THAT IS ONE METER SQUARE

They counted 69 in that area. It goes to show just how many of these trees don't survive the first year. Even so, the Lodgepole Pines are taking over the meadows, harming their health.

Of course, one of the best things about these trips is getting to see all sorts of other things that you aren't necessarily looking for. Not pictured below is the Mountain Gartersnake. Steve, the supervisor, got some pictures as I held it up for him. One of snakes' defense mechanisms is to poop on you and let me tell you, it really stinks. Ugh! It washes away pretty easily but man is it potent.

A TREE FROG SAC WITH AN EMBRYO INSIDE

A PATCH OF SNOW TO REITERATE JUST HOW LATE THE SNOW MELT THIS SEASON IS

Apparently, the last time the snow melted this late in the season was in 2005. Even then, it a few weeks earlier than this year. It is so weird to see snow in the middle of July on a hot summer day.

BABY BIRDS

STEVE OSTOJA DRINKING FROM HIS CAMELBACK

EVIDENCE OF BEARS TEARING UP THE GROUND LOOKING FOR FOOD

WITCHE'S BUTTER

SLIME MOLD!

A DIFFERENT KIND OF MIMULUS THAT HAS BLOOMED

As you can see, the ground is quite different once the grasses bloom. I can't wait to post the pictures up of Tuolumne Meadow in full bloom!

WANT TO SEE MY HOUSE IN YOSEMITE?

2010-07-07T19:46:00.001-07:00

AND THIS IS MY ROOM

WEEK ONE

2010-07-06T10:19:00.000-07:00

So far Yosemite has even more than I could have ever imagined; more life, more color, more information, and provides more inspiration than I will ever be able to absorb in one lifetime.

If you've never been to Wawona, it is near the South Gate of Yosemite National Park.

WAWONA IS THE DENSE GREEN BOX RIGHT ABOVE!

If you click on the map, you can see a blown up view of the map where to the right and up of Wawona Information Station is the Chilnualna Falls River. The Chilnualna Trail is literally my backyard trail, and so far, I've hiked this 9 mi roundtrip hike twice since I've been here. It is a relatively steep, switch back, uphill trail 4 1/2 miles up and 4 1/2 miles back down. The surroundings vary as you travel upward from forest, to river bank, back to forest and finally to rocky terrain. I felt like I was on some quest like in The Neverending Story especially when I reached the rock staircase up to the Upper Falls. I accidentally deleted the picture capturing the part of the falls that just dumps over maybe a 100 ft. drop. Just a short hike up, you'll come to this stair step waterfall.

Like all the waterfalls in Yosemite, the Chilnualna Falls pours down and over the rocks with purpose. The current is very strong right now as the snow is only just beginning to melt.

The Lower Falls are just beautiful and feeling the cool mist on your face is the perfect way to finish a hike.

So that was this past Wednesday and Thursday. On Friday, SNRI (Sierra Nevada Research Institute) held an open house to talk about what happens here in the sumemer. Eric Berlow, the director, gave a small presentation and some of the students gave short presentations. My art was displayed and it was just so awesome to meet other participants and staff. I enjoyed it so much. Thayer was there and I was so happy that he also got to see all that is going on here and meet those people who make it happen.

After that we explored the river and hiked in to the Hanging Bridge off of Forest Road near Wawona Hotel.

The next day, we hiked from Mono Meadows near the Valley up to Sentinel Dome. That hike was spectacular. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

MONO MEADOW

AS YOU HIKE IN THE MEADOW MEETS A RIVER AND SOME BROOKS

SOON YOU START TO SEE THE DOMES AND MOUNTAINS

I LOVE THE NEW GROWTH AFTER A FIRE

YOU CAN SEE HALF DOME IN THIS PIC

HALF DOME

LITTLE LIZARD

So many lizards, butterflies, birds, squirrels, chipmunks scurry around you and force you to stay alert.

THAYER AT THE TOP OF SENTINEL DOME

I love this picture. I love how it captures a feeling of comfort as you rest against a rock and marvel at where you are. I feel like we've all been there before in some way.

On the 4th of July, we went to the Mariposa Grove of Big Trees. It was so fun to walk around and identify the main trees that grow here:

The Giant Sequoia
White Fir
Incense Pine
Sugar Pine
Ponderosa Pine

Below are some pictures of me standing in between what looks like two trees but is actually just a burnt out cavity of a single tree that is in the shape of a clothespin. In fact, the park has named it the Clothespin Tree. It's crazy when you realize how small people are next to these trees that are hundreds and hundreds of years old. The oldest known sequoia is about 3,500 years old!

Today, I've started a drawing from my porch of an Incense Cedar and a Ponderosa Pine. A couple little factoids about these trees. Most #2 pencils are made from this wood because it is soft and sharpens easily without splintering. The Ponderosa Pine is also called the Bull Pine, Blackjack Pine or Western Yellow Pine.

Tomorrow I'll be joining park botanist, Liz Bellanger on a day trip to the Tuolumne Meadows to look at the vegetation. This will be my first day out in the field and I absolutely can't wait! Like I said, there is so much more than I could have ever hoped in this place. What an honor...

SAY HELLO TO BOTH...

2010-06-30T08:39:00.000-07:00

BRANDEN MELENDEZ

Branden is the other male in the program. Yay! Branden's background is in anthropology and much of the work he created during the year reflected this passion. He does wonderful, stylized historic figures with great attention to their wardrobe. Below is a beautifully rendered metate in stipple. He shows us both the top and side view of it. I am very impressed by the elegance of the drawing. It is really challenging to render stone and smooth surfaces in stipple.

EVA LANGHORST

Eva's energy is contagious. She is lively and funny and makes the whole class laugh. I really appreciate her spirit and of course, her talent. Her illustrations are always unique and fun. She can always provide a different angle of perspective. Below is a wonderful illustration of parasites found in and on a common house cat. I think it is a charming illustration and captures both the tenderness of sleeping with your cat and the eeriness of unfriendly parasites that lurk around. You can see more of her work at www.scienceillustration.de.

YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK

2010-06-29T23:20:00.000-07:00

Hi! It's been a really long time and it's time to catch everyone up. Let's see...since my last post, I've finished the Science Illustration Program at CSUMB, was taken on an amazing two week vacation to Costa Rica and finally, I just arrived to Yosemite National Park where I begin my first journey as a science illustrator.

Our last final was June 3, 2010. If you can recall from previous posts, the four classes we had in our final term were Zoological Illustration, Botanical Illustration, Applied Techniques in Science Illustration and Interactivity of Information Graphics. Below are images of my final projects. I haven't quite figured out how to post animations but will do so once I have. We had to create a simple flash animation for our graphics class. The topic I chose was tree ring growth. I can't wait to share it with all of you. Meanwhile you can enjoy my other finals. :)

PLANT USAGES

This piece was for Botanical Illustration. The assignment was called "Plant Usages," and I chose marijuana as my topic. I created a timeline of relevant dates within the history of marijuana usage.

TRANSIENT

This painting depicts threatened or endangered migratory animals that we often don't initially think of when thinking about migrating animals.

Mexican free-tailed bat
Burrowing owl
African wild dog
Wild yak
Finless porpoise
Pacific spiny lobster

I painted this piece on reclaimed drywall not only to contrast the general lifestyle of mankind to the transient nature of migrators, but also to remind the viewer of the amount of waste that is generated in order to have the lifestyle we lead.

SCIENCE NOTES

Science Notes is on-line zine that is written by the students of the Science Communication Program at UC Santa Cruz. Both this program and our program (when it was at UC Santa Cruz) started at the same time. For the last 20 some years, the illustrators of our program have teamed up with writers of the Science Communication Program to create illustrations for their articles. Every year, the finished work is published on Science Notes. The author of the story is Jane (yes, Jane) Palmer. Her story is called Cultivating Autism. This illustration shows the scientist in the article working over a petri dish of cultivated stem cells. It's a wonderful article. I don't think the latest articles/illustrations are published yet, but when they are, I will post another little shout out about it! Yay!

That about sums up what May/early June looked like for me. After school, I was swooped away on a much needed vacation to Costa Rica. Sadly, I forgot to take my camera with me and I don't have a single picture. So our vacation will have to remain a very precious secret between me and Thayer. I will mention, however, that I got to hold lots of snakes. Awesome.

So here I am in Yosemite National Park in the town of Wawona. I just got here and am settling in and already, I watched a botanist (one of my housemates) make his own beer, am in the process of making plans to go on 8 day backpacking trips to Sequoia to observe toads and join researchers as they capture and tag spotted owls. Tomorrow, with the batteries to my camera fully charged, I look forward to taking and sharing many pictures of how my life looks here at the Livingston House at Wawona Station.

SAY HELLO TO...

2010-05-19T13:58:00.000-07:00

ANGELA MELE

Angela is our mushroom guru. Her amazingly graceful hand lends itself perfectly to the intricate world of lichen, moss and fungi. You can see more of her work at www.sporangela.com. One of my most favorite things about Angela is her no bullshit humor. It cracks me up. But aside from that, she is an incredibly talented artist with a keen attention to detail. Below is one of my favorite paintings of north Florida lichen.

NORTH FLORIDA LICHEN in GOUACHE

SAY HELLO TO...

2010-04-30T13:27:00.000-07:00

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...

2010-04-21T09:58:00.001-07:00

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....

2010-04-05T10:36:00.000-07:00

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?

2010-04-04T11:27:00.000-07:00

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

2010-04-01T19:27:00.000-07:00

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!

FELLOWSHIPS and INTERNSHIPS

2010-03-31T13:08:00.000-07:00

Part of our program is to complete 10-12 weeks of internship experience. It is an incredible opportunity to make contacts and build a network in the professional world of science illustration. The minimum requirement is 10-12 weeks, but you can obviously extend that depending on the internship. I am sooooo excited to learn that I got all three internships that I was after.

For this summer, I was awarded the Visualization Fellowship at Yosemite National Park. It will be a 3 month internship during which I will work on signage for the park, illustrations for scientific research, an open project of my own interpretation of science visualization, along with many other projects.

This fall, I am heading to Panama where the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute is stationed. I have 3 major projects. One will be working with Juan Mate, director of Coiba National Park. This project focuses on "popular" versions of the Coiba Management Plan including brochures and pamphlets as well as illustrating information on the public-use areas and park attractions. Another is with Dr. Ross Robertson, a marine biologist focusing on fishes of the Tropical Eastern Pacific and fishes of the Caribbean Sea. He is constructing an online data base and I will provide him with relevant illustrations. The last project is with Dr. Alexandra Hiller. She is currently researching Porcellanidae crabs. I will be optimizing already existing illustrations of Porcellanidae crabs for a new computer program called CAT (Computer Assisted Taxonamy).

In the winter, I go to Cornell University where I will work at the Lab of Ornithology. I'm not sure what my project will be, but I love that I will be illustrating birds.

So needless to say, I am absolutely thrilled about the rest of the year!!! Of course, my blog will be updated with pictures and stories about each of these experiences.

Yippee!

INFORMATION IS BEAUTIFUL

2010-03-25T16:46:00.000-07:00

Kathryn Killackey, a classmate of mine, forwarded a fantastic site about information visualization.

http://www.informationisbeautiful.net/

I absolutely love it and want to share it with you. The below book is definitely on my book wish list.

*These pics were taken off the site.

SMALL VERSIONS ALWAYS CUTER

2010-03-24T11:56:00.000-07:00

Otter pups are no exception. The Monterey Bay Aquarium has a new sea otter pup named Kit. She is being taken care of by her surrogate mother, Maggie. At least I think it's Maggie. They have 2 otters--one named Maggie and the other named Mae. So it's one of them that's taken on the roll of mom.

Kit was so fun to watch. She is incredible energetic as she darts back and forth in the water. It's really cute because she is super awkward on land and has a hard time moving about. At one point, the mom grabbed Kit and started rolling around with her under the water and when they surfaced, she threw her on her belly. Soooo fun to watch. If you can make it to the Aquarium, I really recommend it. You won't be disappointed.

Speaking of the Aquarium, they have some fun things coming up. There's the Hot Pink Flamingos exhibit that opens March 29th. Also, look for BLUE Ocean Film Festival in August. I hope to be able to attend, but I may not be in town.

Here's some other fun pics from my last visit to the Aquarium.

SPRING BREAK

2010-03-20T14:37:00.001-07:00

Yes! We got through another semester. Another incredibly challenging semester, might I add. I thought last semester was rigorous, but in comparison to this semester, it felt like cereal for dinner. This 8 week period flew by more like it was 4 weeks and I admittedly developed some bad habits of eating packaged noodles for dinner and snacking on several cookies a day. Anyone who knows me knows what a cookie monster I am and with time becoming my most precious commodity, the cookie monster in me was unleashed with full force. We have until March 29th to recover and then we jump right into Zoological Illustration, Botanical Illustration, Applied Techniques in Color (continuation from last semester), and Interactivity Information Graphics. I can't wait for these next classes. Plants and animals??? Definitely!

Below are pics of my final projects:

CARIBBEAN SEA in GOUACHE

"Caribbean" is always one of those words that looks like it's spelled incorrectly to me. I think it's the double "b." It throws me off every time. This piece was our Color Final.

TROMPE L'OEIL in GOUACHE

Trompe l'oeil means to fool the eye in French. I chose cartography as my subject. I wanted to keep it very simple and really showcase each object.

ARTICLE

Our last final was to design and illustrate an already published article. How fortunate for me that my boyfriend is a journalist. I chose an article he did about his experience with surfer's ear.

So there you have it. Another peek into a semester of my life. I do have somewhat of a life outside of school and will catch everyone up with many long overdue entries. I will be posting them over the course of the week now that I have some time to relax. Have a great weekend!

ILLUSTRATING NATURE EXHIBIT May 8-June 5

2010-03-05T09:53:00.000-08:00

I can't believe that we are so near the end of the school year! At the end of the year, the program always hosts an exhibit showcasing current student work. I am super honored and proud to be on the poster for this year's show. In addition, we will have a half page spread in ARTWORKS Magazine advertising the exhibition!

The show runs from May 8th - June 5th at the Pacific Grove Museum in Pacific Grove, CA. The opening reception is on May 7th from 5-7pm. I would love to see everyone there. For more details you can visit the program website HERE.

MAYBE ONE DAY

2010-03-04T17:53:00.000-08:00

"Artist Karen Jacobsen travels by deep-sea submersible to the most inhospitable places on Earth to paint her subjects."

That about sums it up. She has one of my dream jobs and she is a graduate of this program - Class of '87. Ann, the director of this program sent us an article featuring her work and a traveling exhibition called "Beyond the Edge of the Sea." Right now it is up at the Pennsylvania State Earth and Mineral Sciences Museum through August. Below is a link to the article and her work.

ARTICLE
ARTWORK

Maybe one day that will be me!

VINTAGE

2010-02-27T06:59:00.001-08:00

COMPOST in GOUACHE

Hmmm...does compost qualify as vintage? I'm reaching here, I know. This painting was for our "Micro Habitat" assignment. This was an easy one to collect specimens for. I actually still have the still life sitting in my garage. I am curious to see what it looks like. I created a little container for it with a glass lid. I haven't checked it since I finished the piece (2 weeks ago) and am intimated to look at it. Yuck! Being a somewhat yucky topic, I made the decision to stylize this image and not go for a super realistic technique. Since this scan was taken, I've added little fruit flies so I'll have to share it again when I have a new pic.

MEMORY OF SMELL - GOUACHE and COLOR PENCIL

This piece was for the "Conceptual/Editorial" assignment. I chose "memory of smell" as my topic. Click on the image to read the perfume bottle labels. It will make more sense that way. Believe it or not, I've never painted glass before and it was a real treat. It was almost like an abstract painting because you just really look at the shapes the light makes on the glass and brass tops. You just start putting those down and all of a sudden the form starts to take shape. It goes through a really ugly stage and for a moment, you question whether or not you know how to paint. The other fun thing about this assignment was that I got to hunt around for vintage perfume bottles, and two of my classmates and I discovered some great antique malls and stores in the Monterey Penisula - Cannery Row Antique Mall, Olio and The Holman Antique Plaza.

*all pics were taken from their websites.

INSIDE CANNERY ROW ANTIQUE MALL

THE BACK OF THE BUILDING

THE FRONT OF THE BUILDING

The Cannery Row Antique Mall is located inside a historic building that used to be a sardine cannery. It is one of few remaining original structures from the Steinbeck era. After being used for sardines, it was taken over by Nichols plumbing for a long time. It was bought in 1994 and a year later, the Cannery Row Antique Mall opened its doors. It's huge and hours of eye candy.

OLIO is a small little vintage shop on Lighthouse Ave in Monterey. The woman who owns the store is incredibly nice and she has a wonderful kitsch collection. I really enjoyed browsing through her store. It is nicely decorated and the displays are easy to look at.

THE HOLMAN BUILDING in 1924

The Holman Antique Plaza was built in 1924 and was originally the Holman Department Store. They are located in Pacific Grove also on Lighthouse Ave. Like the Cannery Row Antique Mall, it is HUGE! They are very different. I would say that the Holman has a lot more furniture while the Cannery has a huge variety of vintage finds.

We have only 3 weeks left in the term! I am always blown away by how fast school is flying. We have 3 assignments left:

Color Final
Trompe l'oeil
Article

In between that, we have a workshop that will show us how to construct a 3-D head in clay from a skull. I am so excited about this and can't wait to show you the finished project. I feel really dorky and cool like I'm in forensics or something. I like how science illustration makes me feel both dorky and cool at the same time. Never saw that coming.

EXTREME PAINTING!

2010-02-20T11:27:00.000-08:00

Extreme painting, you ask? Check out my teacher, Amadeo Bachar's, video of him painting the above yellowtail tuna. It's a really fun, interesting and informative video about his watercolor technique and yes, he does in fact paint that fast. I swear it's not time lapse photography. Notice, too, that he paints this painting from his head. Wish I could do that.

PLAY VIDEO

CASHEW, TORTOISE, BEAVER, JAGUAR

2010-02-10T21:21:00.000-08:00

I finally got some much needed down time today. These past two weeks have been very intense with projects and the last of this string of assignments was due today. Whew! As promised, here is an update of new work.

SPECIAL VIEW OF THE CASHEW

This piece was for an assignment called "Special View." Being able to depict special views is the great thing about science illustration because you can show things that would be impossible in real life. Cashews are one of my favorite nuts and the plant is absolutely beautiful. Cashews are native to Brazil and produce fruit of rich reds, pinks, yellows and greens. One of the most curious things about the cashew is that each fruit only produces one nut explaining why cashews are more expensive than other types of nuts. I wanted to show the cashew plant, fruit and nut in one illustration. Apparently, you can eat the fruit (which is delicious), but because they are delicate and do not export well, Brazilians are the only lucky people able to enjoy the sweet fruit. I hear you can get dried cashew fruit here so I'll be on the look out for that. We were allowed to choose any medium for this assignment and I chose watercolor and color pencil on illustration board.

AFRICAN LEOPARD TORTOISE SHELL

This specimen is another Bone Room treasure I purchased last term. After some good old google searches, I discovered that this shell belonged to an African leopard tortoise. I was immediately attracted to painting this for our "Watercolor Spot" assignment because of its gorgeous and elaborate pattern and color. I've also discovered that I love the way watercolor goes down on Strathmore illustration board. All future watercolors will be done on that surface.

NORTH AMERICAN BEAVER

In the similar vein as our "Special View" assignment, our Design of Information Graphics assignment was to create a glow through or cut-away view. I unintentionally did both a glow through and a cut-away of the North American beaver. The skull was a glow through while the beaver lodge is a cut-away. I really like being able to use specimens that I own and I have a beaver skull that I got from Paxton Gate. I was really attracted to the hard orange protective enamel on the teeth as well as the unsual and identifiable shape of the skull. I really like my pen and ink drawing of the beaver lodge. :)

RUPI, THE JAGUAR and AN UNFORTUNATE CAPYBARA

Our "Acrylic Scene" was inspired by an experience that my boyfriend and journalist, Thayer Walker, had exactly one year ago. He travelled to Bolivia for two weeks to cover a story for Outside Magazine about a Puma refuge called Comunidad Inti Wara Yassi. You can read the article here. This is a portrait of the Jaguar that Thayer cared for. His name is Rupi. I also love that Capybara are a part of their diet because I love them. They are so funny looking.

So that is what I've been up to for the past two weeks in school. A list of assignments in queue:

Micro Habitat
Trompe l'oeil
Gouache Spot Illustration
Magazine Article
3-D Facial Reconstruction

Fun fun!

ADDITIONAL PHOTOS

2010-02-09T07:09:00.001-08:00

As per my last post, I was disappointed not to have pics of people sketching and Jenny was sympathetic to that. So here they are!

Also, a little correction...the boat DID have showers, but the water is sucked up right from the river!

I promise to have some new work up this week!!!

ADVENTURES IN THE AMAZON

2010-02-03T18:34:00.000-08:00

So postings are sparse this term due to the insanely high demands. The projects are so great, though and I'm loving that we are now beginning to have a bit more freedom. I very much enjoy creating full compositions over one specimen spots. Although, we still have assignments that are primarily focused on that. Pics of newly completed work will be up shortly.

This post is to showcase a trip that my professor, Jenny Keller, took over the winter break. She went on a sketching expedition on the Amazon for two weeks! So exciting and inspiring. The trip was with Captain Moacir Fortes on his boat, Dorinha, out of the city of Manaus. They traveled on the Solimoes and Rio Negro branches of the Amazon and made only one stop to resupply. Their meals consisted of a lot of fish that they caught as well as traditional fare - rice, black beans, farofa, vegetables and fruit. No showers on the boat so bathing took place in the river itself. Jenny said from the Salimoes, the tap ran milky like coffee with cream while the water from the Rio Negro came out looking more like Coca Cola. The crew pointed out all kinds of wild life that would have otherwise gone unnoticed. At times they had to literally drag the canoes through narrow tributaries in search of otters, dolphins, birds, lizards, bromeliads, giant trees and much much more. Jenny gave a wonderful presentation and slide show of her adventures and I've stolen some of her pics to share with all of you. All the work created by the artists will be exhibited in a show in Lisbon. There will also be a book published cataloguing the work. I'll let you know when it comes out.

THAT'S JENNY WITH THE BINOCULARS

CANDIRU

You definitely don't want these guys swimming up your urinary tract so don't EVER pee in the Amazon.

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU GET A BUNCH OF ARTISTS TOGETHER

Huh, I realized that I didn't get any pics of people sketching. Oh well. Sorry.

Hope you enjoyed Jenny's photos!!!

Meleagris gallopavos and COLOR PENCILS

2010-01-28T00:01:00.000-08:00

GRAPHITE and COLOR PENCIL

COLOR PENCIL on WHITE PAPER

COLOR PENCIL on TONED PAPER

I had a little turkey obsession with my last assignments after a little run in with the on the side of the road on my way home from school. They were just hanging out on the sidewalk and street like they didn't have a care in the world. I mean, they probably didn't but they sure seemed to revel in making that unavoidably noticeable to someone rushing home to get homework done before sunrise. However, I DO think that they are gorgeous birds and it was fun to use them as subjects in our last two color pencil assignments. I bought a turkey egg from the Bone Room in Albany a little while ago and was happy to finally draw it. I wish I could say that I plucked the turkey feather from the birds I encountered, but alas, it was borrowed from my roommate, Danza, who has a small collection of turkey feathers.

Below are some pictures I took of the turkeys. Was so glad I had my camera that day. Seeing them pretty much made my day. To some, seeing turkeys cross the road may not seem like a big deal. Maybe it happens all the time to them, but to someone whose most intimate encounter with turkeys prior to that was eating a turkey club sandwich at a TGIF of suburban Chicago where I grew up, that encounter was pretty exciting.

ANOTHER URCHIN

2010-01-25T19:18:00.001-08:00

PENCIL URCHIN PAINTED IN PHOTOSHOP

This pencil urchin might be one of the coolest specimens that I own. I got him at Paxton Gate in San Francisco. Do you like how I've assigned my specimen a gender? It's a boy. After determining that, I thought to myself, how DOES one tell whether an urchin is male or female? So I looked it up. It turns out that you have to pass an alternating electrical current of 10 volts through the animal and it will shed either its sperm or egg. Interesting.

Anyway, this is obviously just the skeleton, but the living urchin doesn't look that different.

This was done for our Design in Information Graphics class. The assignment was called 3-Point Lighting and the purpose of it was to capture a specimen in 3 different light sources - fill light, key light, and rim light. With these light sources you can capture a lot of volume with a lot of drama and effectiveness.

WITH ACRYLICS

2010-01-20T17:23:00.000-08:00

Our first acrylic assignment complete! Woo hoo!

Much like an assignment from first term, we picked an artist using an opaque medium such as oils or acrylics from which to copy a small passage. I chose to copy wild life painter, John Banovich. The painting is called After the Rain and it is 15 x 22 inches. Sorry I don't have an image of the whole painting.

COPY

ORIGINAL

Part II of the assignment was to create a spot illustration of our choice. I love sea urchins and I own 4 different types of urchin skeletons (also called a "test"). Not to mention, it fits perfectly with my newly realized theme of edible specimens. :)

SEA URCHIN

I used to think that acrylics were a pain in the butt because the paint dried so quickly on the palette. Thanks to the program, I was introduced to a special palette called Sta-Wet and it keeps the acrylics wet for a really long time. I'm a huge fan and recommend them to everyone out there using acrylics. Before that, I was using a damp paper towel to put my paints on and covering them when I was done painting. It works just fine, but the paints in the Sta-Wet stay wet much much longer. Awesome.

CMYK

2010-01-14T18:21:00.000-08:00

BLUEBERRIES IN COLOR PENCIL

Is anyone noticing a trend here? I seem to be attracted to drawing edible specimens. Hmm...let's see...oysters, oyster mushrooms in the redwood forest scene, frosted mini wheat in my texture exercise, sardines and anchovies in my sketchbook, garlic...

and I just picked out the subject for an upcoming project and, of course, it's edible. I'll be creating a botanical study of cashews. It's funny how those things happen without you realizing it. OH MY GOD! I just realized that for our next spot illustration, I'm going to be painting a turkey egg! Okay. Now I don't have anything else to say.

BACK TO SCHOOL

2010-01-11T09:44:00.000-08:00

It's that time! After having been on break for about 5 weeks, it's exciting to get back into the swing of things at school. Don't get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoyed having a break and all the play time I had birding, hiking, kayaking, surfing, skiing, going to the movies, nice dinners, etc. I'm just excited because our projects this term will be more involved and complicated both technically and conceptually as well. Not to mention, we will be working in COLOR!!! Yipee! Here is the list of classes:

Design of Information Graphics

Science Illustration in Color

Applied Techniques

Applied Techniques in Color

Did you notice we are now at four classes/week instead of three? They refer to this program as a "boot camp" and it really is just that. Love it!

We have some really cool assignments including designing a magazine spread, illustrating a editorial/conceptual piece, re-constructing a sculpted human head from a skull, learning gouache and acrylic, and In-Design. Jenny emailed some examples of editoral/conceptual pieces. Somewhat intimidating but very exciting.

Pretty cool, huh?

Ooh! The other exciting thing about this term is surfing! CSUMB offers a surfing course through the Kinesiology department and I'm going to enroll. I've become absolutely determined to learn. I think it's mainly because it is SUCH a challenge for me and defeating a difficult task is oh so satisfying. So we'll see how that goes as well!

Okay! Check back soon!

WHERE HAVE ALL THE ORCAS GONE?

2010-01-04T19:16:00.000-08:00

ORCAS OF SAN JUAN ISLANDS

Sadly, the orcas of San Juan Islands are disappearing. My boyfriend, Thayer Walker covered a story about leading orca expert, Ken Balcomb, and the vanishing whale population.

http://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/200911/whales.aspx

Here's another neat article about killer whales. They are good company to have when you're in shark infested waters. I know most of us find ourselves swimming with great whites. I know I do. All the time. Point being, we don't want these incredible mammals to ever go away.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1231454/Killer-whales-Death-karate-chop-deadly-tactic-used-orcas-sharks.html

And finally, one of my favorite songs - Song For the Orca by Travis Morrison.