#natural history illustration

Sea life specimens I - II - III

https://www.behance.net/gallery/86172351/Sea-Life-Specimens

https://www.instagram.com/vladimirsart/

“These objects are, it is true, among the humblest of creatures that are endowed with organic life… Here we catch the first kindling of that spark, which glows into so noble a flame in the Aristotles, the Newtons, and the Miltons of our heaven-gazing race.”

Philip Henry Gosse’s stunning 19th-century illustrations of and meditations on coastal creatures and the interleaving of life. 

uwmspeccoll:

Science Saturday: Evolution Manuscript

This week we revisit the massive, 11-pound, 650-page, loose-leaf-bound manuscript titled Evolutionthat was completely handwritten by Hans Q. Ewald starting in 1936. It includes numerous original drawings by his wife Helen Ewald. It is a bit of mystery as to who the Ewalds were, we know so very little about them. UWM Special Collections came into possession of this manuscript in 1985 after it was sent from a donor in Portugal. The donor letter indicates that Hans Q. Ewald may have been a professor in Milwaukee. If anyone has any other information, please let us know!

We have previously highlighted various birds from this manuscript, but for this Science Saturday I thought I would show a sampling of other life forms such as dinosaurs, jellyfish, a locust (with a horse-like head), parasites, a pangolin, and a lion! The diversity of life on Earth is truly astounding.

View more posts from the Ewald Maunscript.

View moreScience Saturday posts.

–Sarah, Special Collections Graduate Intern

I think I’ve arrived at a tentative finish for the golden eagle illustration, 5+ adjustment layers later… I need to look at it with fresh eyes post-sleep, and then send it off. I suspect there are still stray pixels lurking with malicious intent, even if I got a lot of them earlier.

Now with More Depth! And a few detail shots for those curious.

Photoshop CC, 36 x 72″, 91.44 x 182.88 cm.

*rubs forehead* Is it too late for me to re-learn everything I used to and never learned about adjustment layers? No time like the present!

Getting to the end of the Rendering Saga and no further edits have been requested, so now I’m just satisfying the Eternally Disappointed Entity which is Myself. I will say I like this illustration much better than the last three I did 4+ years ago.

I’ve adjusted the background and midground to have lower contrast than the foreground, but hopefully I’ll arrive at a foolproof method to get the depth of field/atmospheric perspective juuuuuust right.

And I still need to do some color work after all THAT is done. *sob*

Thought the shrubs and trees would go quicker than the rocks. I was right, but not right enough. Still crawling along. Not looking forward to all the dead tree nonsense, and all the little loose boulders I have to tuck into the landscape still.

Gonna practice self-care and actually get to sleep before 5 am.

Better… I think. 

I have done nothing but draw rocks for the last… 4? 5? Days. Well, I also worked at my day job, but who cares about that.

I have not touched the clouds or the trees/brush, that’s coming up next, so long as I don’t get enraged by rocks again.

Playing with the depth of field on this one will be… interesting.

I won’t apologize for the eagle spam, but here they are in their in-progress background. See why I was crying about rocks earlier? Yeah, I’m still crying. I need rock-rendering wisdom. In the meantime, I’m doing my best.

Shadows, highlights, and further integration of each object/layer will come after I finish said cursed rocks, trees, shrubs, and clouds, but not bad for the time being.

Well, it’s been a journey, but it’s high time it’s come to an end. These baby baldies gotta leave the nest! *uploads massive file*

This piece reads well as a thumbnail/at a distance, which I quite like. I had to wind up the rendering so there are likely some little fiddly details that are missing, but I don’t know that they’re all that important. 

This was an incredible project and I’m so happy I’ve tackled it, but I think I could sleep for a year. 

Photoshop CC, 36 x 72″ (91.44 x 183 cm).

Posting the state of the eagles as they are, before I go on a very well-earned vacation. Now with some adjustment levels, some shadows, and a branch for baby girl to perch on. They still need to be scaled (probably), and once that’s settled they’ll have their tails painted in/suggested. Also the branches at the back of the nest need a little more work done, and I think the cottonwood leaves need to be softened somewhat.

That said, I’m actually happy with where it’s at. And a little relieved that I’m finally near the end AND I’m feeling good about it.

pallanophblargh:

I feel like I’m going blue in the face, but I must be in the final stretches by now… Not counting all the final detailing/adjustment layers/edge refinements/proportional adjustments that STILL need to be made.

The eaglet(s) are still a little bigger than they should be, they’re meant to be life sized.

And now, with a comfier place to sit. Except, ya know, baby girl still floating. It’s past 5 am and I should sleep I guess.

I feel like I’m going blue in the face, but I must be in the final stretches by now… Not counting all the final detailing/adjustment layers/edge refinements/proportional adjustments that STILL need to be made.

The eaglet(s) are still a little bigger than they should be, they’re meant to be life sized.

The flying potato has sprouted… head and feet! My eyes have grown tired of this dude for now, so I’m gonna submit for feedback and move on (with considerable distress) to the nest. 

The final piece is going to have so many adjustment layers, how do people do this every day my gawd.

Working on a winged ‘tater now. Ignore the head/tail/feet, of course, they haven’t grown in yet.

I don’t know what brown is anymore. At this point, I might genuinely have tonal blindness.

State of the Babs: there’s a ways to go still.

That mass of sticks will utterly kill my brain. I think I’ll move on to the flying adult next because that’s a productive way to procrastinate.

The background water is nowhere near finished, it’s lacking reflections/some ripples/other fun stuff. Also the cottonwood branch needs leaves!

I think I’ve officially hit my maximum limit on shades of brown. This piece is going so much more chaotically than the golden piece, what happened? (Burnout, that’s what!)

Gonna send the babies off for approval and get started on the flying adult and the massive evil dreadful stick pile. I need to find better working methods.

I suspect I’m going to be doing a LOT of adjustment layer/overlay/multiply layers for the lighting on these guys, this is largely local color at this stage.

Last few days of progress on the beebee boiii. I don’t know if he’ll end up quite as detailed as his sister, as he’s further back in the nest, but I don’t want to shortchange him just yet. At least his beak isn’t tiny anymore.

Just needs more refining, then I’ll submit for feedback and get to work on making a massive pile of sticks for them to sit in (I’m not ready oh noooo).

*hungry squeaky baby bald eagle noises*