The art of science

The art of science: Remarkable natural history from Museum Victoria

The other day I had a day trip to Mornington, down on Port Phillip Bay. It was a glorious day, about 30 degrees, and lunch on the Mornington Pier was just perfect. However the reason we went down there was to go to this exhibition.

Mornington is lucky to have such a prestigious gallery, that curates some outstanding exhibitions. This one is no exception — but an exhibition of scientific illustration was bound to appeal to me!

It is a touring exhibition, organised by Museum Victoria. As the brochure says

Museum Victoria’s archive of artworks, working drawings and rare books traces the development of scientific art and provides a glimpse into a world of uncommon beauty.

What incredible archives they must have!

Like botanical art, scientific illustrations of animals must be accurate enough to use for identification. At the same time there needs to be the artistic component. Composition plays a vital role to make the art work as dynamic as possible, as well as to put the creature within an environmental context. John James Audubon’s bird engravings are high class examples of this, and there are about half a dozen of his works  to drool over in this exhibition.

It was fascinating to follow the development of understanding of animals. European naturalists often first encountered Australian animals in the form of dried skins, or as specimens preserved in alcohol. From these they had to recreate creatures that were very exotic.

Later, after European settlement in Australia, naturalists had the chance to observe live animals. It also coincided with the golden age of science, when life forms were being collected, classified, dissected. Here were some of my favourites in the exhibition. Ludwig Becker’s Weedy Seadragon (incidentally, Victoria’s marine emblem), Arthur Bartholomew’s sublime illustrations of frogs and John Gould’s bird lithographs.

Developments in paleontology expanded our knowledge of extinct fauna. Peter Trusler works closely with paleontologists to create fossil drawings that are mind blowingly exact and lifelike. Of course digital photos have given scientists so much more understanding of the micro level, and there are some stunning ones by Ken Walker in the exhibition.

Fortunately Museum Victoria recognises the importance of continuing the tradition of scientific art. Contemporary artists, including two of my tutors, Mali Moir and Kate Nolan, have worked with the Museum and have works of art in the exhibition.

The Museum Victoria website has digital images of quite a number of the works I have mentioned. It is worth a browse around. And have a play with the egg/butterfly display. There was a full size version of that and I was delighted with the exquisite shapes, colours and textures of the eggs.

If this has fueled your desire to see the exhibition, I am sorry to say that it will finish at Mornington in a few days. However, it is a touring exhibition and will be going to Adelaide, Ballarat, Mildura, Gippsland and Sydney. Tour dates and places here.

 

Hermann Beckler

For those of you who have been following my blog for a little while (and thank you to all who do follow) will know that I am involved in a project connecting botanical art with the Burke and Wills Expedition of 1860. If you don’t know what I am talking about, and would like to, either click on the Beckler’s Botanical Bounty category on the right sidebar, or click here.

I have been helping to set up a blog to explain that project. So if you are interested in finding out more then click the link, have a look and maybe join the community.

http://becklersbotanical.blogspot.com.au/

This is the beginning of today’s post about Hermann Beckler and why he has inspired us. Future posts will be about the people involved in the project, the plants we are painting, and some of the sights we see up in the Big Sky Country of Menindee.

Dr Hermann Beckler left Bavaria and arrived in Moreton Bay, Queensland in 1856. Aged 27, he bought his Munich medical qualifications and a consuming desire to explore Australia’s interior and to collect specimens. While in Queensland he corresponded with Ferdinand Mueller, Victoria’s first government botanist.

Beckler was excited by news from Mueller about the possibility of a job collecting plant specimens. So he joined a party droving sheep down through inland New South Wales to meet Mueller in Melbourne. He was given a job to help organise the growing Australian collection in Victoria’s herbarium, and he developed his knowledge of Australian plants.

Continued on Beckler’s Botanical Bounty

Starting to paint my painting — or practising for the practice piece!

I am going to create a watercolour painting of my plant from Menindee, Cullen discolor. I have already written about identifying it, and the Beckler’s Botanical Bounty Project that I am involved in.

 

Cullen discolor growing at Menindee. It loves the sandy red soils.

A small section of the stem that I will eventually paint.

Now to show you some of the process.

I am still a developing watercolour artist, and feel much more comfortable with pencil than a paint brush. I have begun with a practice piece, as I have to work my way through the colours and techniques that I will need for the final painting.

Actually, before that, I want to show you some detailed drawings of parts of C. discolor. These were from the live specimens I had when working in Menindee. I wanted to get as much visual information as possible while I still had the living plant.

Drawings of C. discolor, from my sketch book

I needed to match the colours as accurately as possible while I had the specimen before me. I made various mixes and recorded the paints I had used. You can also see some of my notes and reminders.

Then I began the practice piece. Actually, it was the practice practice piece. As I was painting it I had a crisis of confidence, as I had forgotten how to paint with watercolour washes and do dry brush work. All I could remember were the faults with my technique, especially rushing to the detail too quickly and too much water.

After I had calmed myself down, I went back to basics. That’s the bigger leaf in this painting. I went bigger, slower and thought about what I was doing with each stroke. That helped me to understand how I needed to approach the work. And helped me realise that I could do this after all!

The practice practice painting.

Thank heavens it was not the final, large work on the good (read expensive) paper! Finally I felt ready to begin the real practice painting.

The practice painting — still to be finished, but almost there.

I still have to finish this painting. Obviously the stems need to be painted in. The leaves need more work, which involves a lot more dry brush work. And they need highlights added to their edges. However, I am happy I have captured the texture of the leaves. (Remember, part of the identification for C. discolor is that the leaves are tomentose to hispid —  rough, with hairs between stiff and soft/matted.) As well, I think I understand how to paint the furriness of the inflorescences. But the proof is in the pudding, as they say! Stay tuned for progress reports.

Plant identification #2

Correct plant identification is not only important to make sure it is on Beckler’s plant list. 

Botanic art can be defined as ‘making science visible’. Its fundamental purpose is to help both scientists and lay people identify plants. Botanic art is not a still life painting of roses in a vase. It is an accurate painting that clearly shows the parts of a plant which allow the identification of that plant. So, a botanic painting of a rose would include details such as the shape, colour, form, leaves and probably hips — the aspects that allow it to be identified as a particular variety or species.

However, there is the artistic aspect and it is important. The artist makes the decisions on the medium to use, the composition of the painting, the focal point, the size and so on. The painting allows the personality of the artist to come through.

Cullen discolor

I don’t profess to be a top class botanic artist, and my painting skills are still developing. However, I am part of Beckler’s Botanical Bounty Project, which, in turn, is part of the tradition of botany in Australia. My painting needs to be accurate.

To be able to make my painting of Cullen discolor as accurate as possible I need to understand ‘tomentose to hispid’. My painting should show a surface that is between matted soft hairs and rough firm hairs. Whether it does is up to my painting skill. I need to know that the petioles are between 2 and 7 cms long so that my drawing doesn’t make them too long or too short. And so on.

My notes

As well, it is interesting to know that C. discolor grows in sandy soils, flowers September to January and is endangered in Victoria. Not many people know what C. discolor looks like. Nor do they know C. pallidum or C. cinereum. They are unlikely to look at my paintings and say “That’s not right”. However I will know and I want it to be as correct as my skills will let me. And it may just be used as an identification tool sometime in the future.

Hermann Beckler, botanical art and Menindee

Back in 1860 Hermann Beckler collected plant specimens during the Burke and Wills Expedition. (For posts about that check here and here.) Those specimens ended up in the Herbarium in Victoria. Now zoom forward 150 years to 2010, the 150th Anniversary of the Expedition.

There were a number of events and celebrations that year to mark the event. Mali Moir, respected and very talented botanic artist devised a botanic art project. After discussing her idea with some others the Beckler Botanical Bounty was begun. The idea was to go to Menindee, collect and press specimens of the same species that Beckler had collected. These specimens would sit alongside Beckler’s in the Herbarium. However, Mali’s truly fabulous inspiration was that each specimen would be painted. There is a list of 120 taxa collected in 1860 within 20km of Menindee. This list was the basis of our work.

So in 2010 the first group went to Menindee and began the process. I went in 2011 and 2012, and would love to be there again in 2013!

The Menindee post office

The mains street of Menindee

The Maiden Hotel

The broad process is that we identify the plant, collect it (with the correct permits, of course), press it and then start the painting. But things are not always that easy! Correctly identifying a plant can involve time, patience and some very thick reference books! Then there is a very good chance that it is not on Beckler’s list, so it is back outside again!

Some of the reference material we use for identification.

Collected specimens, ready to be pressed and stored

After the specimen is collected and pressed, the drawing and painting begins. If you are interested in finding out how individual artists go about their work you can follow the link to our Beckler’s Botanical Bounty Blog.

Travel journal

Like most people I collect things as I travel. I have inherited my Mum’s passion for brochures but I also add my own treasures from the natural world — feathers and shells and seed pods and flowers (often photos, because I know I can’t pick native plants). Then there are the memories and the information. On past travels I have kept written journals. However, over this year I have become more fascinated with pictorial journals, looking at how other artists create their keepsakes. This time I decided to record this journey to Menindee and the Flinders Ranges differently.

I have used a Daler-Rowney book. Its paper is 150 gsm, and a good quality cartridge which took watercolour washes quite well. It is 27 by 22 cm and is landscape. Although it is bound and not spiral, I really like how it opens flat. I have been able to work comfortably across the double pages.

I had so much fun at night  working on this journal. (No TV in the caravan!) I needed to think about the layout, how to make it visually interesting, what I wanted to record, as well as making each page cohesive.

I would love to know how you record your special memories. Why don’t you leave me a comment?