Drawn to Wildlife: Sketching for Scientists
11/17/2016 ● 12:30-4:00 pm ● Lab, Draper Natural History Museum● limited to 25 participants
This hands-on workshop for wildlife biologists will take place during The Wildlife Society’s Wyoming chapter annual meeting.
Participants will be be introduced to a suite of foundational sketching techniques, and will include discussion of materials and strategies useful for field sketching and incorporating drawing into research practices.
Hosted by: Wyoming Chapter of The Wildlife Society
Context: Drawing is not exclusively for artists. After all, the curiosity, close observation, recording, and critical thinking required for drawing should seem quite familiar to any scientist. The primary reason people avoid incorporating sketching into their professional work is because they have never learned how to draw. Bottom line: modern drawing basics are learned, not inherited. Fundamental skills, techniques, and knowledge of different media can be taught, practiced, and improved upon.
And that’s what this workshop provides – a foundation in essential sketching skills, so that you have the basic knowledge upon which you can build a self-satisfying drawing habit.
In addition to foundational techniques and field sketching experience, you’ll have time in this workshop to discuss how to incorporate sketching into data collection methodology, publications, and popular communication efforts.
Field Sketching Kit:
The art-quality kits available for pre-order include the materials workshop instructor Bethann Garramon Merkle finds most useful for field sketching and for packing around on a daily basis. Using quality materials makes sketching easier, because these materials are designed to produce visually appealing drawings; they aren’t working against you like craft-grade materials sometimes do.
The kits include:
- Stillman & Birn brand sketchbook (hard-cover, light-weight watercolor paper)
- Permanent ink pen
- Fine-line Sharpie pen
- Watercolor pencils in red, yellow, and blue (water soluble; easier to use than watercolor pigments if you are new to the medium, and very convenient for field sketching)
- Water brush (a watercolor brush with a water reservoir in the handle; easier to manage water flow when learning, and more convenient for field sketching)
- 2H drawing pencil
- Art gum eraser
- Transparency film
- Wet-erase marker
- Water cup
- Brush-dabbing cloth
- Large resealable plastic bag (to keep everything organized and dry!)
Kits are available for pre-order, for $30/kit, via the conference registration form.
If you have questions, get in touch! Bethann is happy to chat about what materials best suit your needs. She can discuss personal or professional use, bulk orders for trainings or public outreach, as well as nature drawing/field sketching reference books you might also appreciate.