The Michigan Daily - Thursday, July 28, 1983 - Page 5
Illustrators mix art and science
By MARC COHEN
You may not consider a biology
book's diagram of a paramecium to be
art, but for a group gathered on campus
this week, the drawing would be as im-
portant as any museum piece.
The science illustrators who produce
these kinds of drawings are just one of
the types of artists attending this
week's conference of the Guild of
Natural Science Illustrators, a national
organization with more than 700 mem-
bers.
THE 80 conference participants will
not only have the chance to exhibit their
work at the Slusser Gallery on North
Campus, but will also be participating
in workshops designed to "transfer new
techniques and information," said con-
ference chairperson Connie Gill, a
science illustrator.
Natural science illustrators do much
more than liven up science textbooks,
however. The group also includes ar-
tists who create anatomical drawings,
scientific graphs and charts, and
wildlife paintings.
While they may draw works that are
visually pleasing, natural science
illustrators must also remain faithful to
nature's details in their work, unlike
other artists. The illustrator might
have to detail a bee's wing, making
sure all the minute variations in color
are consistant with its natural counter-
part.
"WE ARE NOT just making pretty
pictures," said Bill Brudon, the senior
medical illustrator in the University's
anatomy department. "We are con-
ditioned to observe a specimen and to
render it as accurately as possible."
Other illustrators make complicated
data easier to understand by construc-
ting charts and graphs, which are often
used to illustrate scientific papers. "I
have had to compose things people have
never seen," said science illustrator
Paula Labella.
These complicated drawings
Doily Photo by ELIZABETH SCOTT
Members of the Natural Science Illustrators Guild discuss keylining and layout techniques at a conference workshop
yesterday. The conference, which includes an exhibit at the Slusser Gallery, will continue through Saturday.
require not only a degree in art -
natural science illustrators must also
be trained in the sciences, Gill said. "As
an artist you bring to your work not
only how (the subject) looks, but how it
works," she said.
WHILE MOST science illustrators
find the work to be very satisfying,
they may have to cope with the rest of
the art world, which often considers
them to be second-rate artists.
"There has not been one art museum
that has shown a wildlife artist," said
keynote speaker Robert Bateman
yesterday. Much of the successful
Canadian wildlife artists' work has
been shown in natural history
museums.
But science artists are quick to
defend their functional work. "You are
helping to produce images that will in-
form and educate," said Bob Golder, a
science illustrator for a marine biology
laboratory in Massacusetts.
The conference will continue through
Saturday, and will cover new artistic
and technical processes as well as some
of the business aspects of the
profession. The Slusser Gallery exhibit
will be open through tomorrow.
m Hand-made leather supplies
city with rare crafts
(Contnued from Page 3)
CONN started his local leather
business from a small booth at the
Farmer's Market in 1968 and opened
The Mule Skinner five years later.
Business has changed since then. In-
stead of selling items that are "crude
and funky," today the emphasis is on
the "more finished line."
Customers today are looking for
practical items, such as briefcases, in-
stead of the fringed vests of the '60s.
But utility has always been a concern
for Conn. "I live to make creative stuff,
but I like it to have a function, too,"
says Conn.
INITIALLY, Conn became interested
in leather work riding horses as a child
when he lived on the West Coast. At age
10, Conn made his first leather
creation: a braided leather tassel for
keeping his horse in line.
He learned the craft from "old
cowboys" and "nameless old western
gentlemen," he says. "Out west,
everybody's brother is a saddle
maker."
Conn earned a bachelors degree at
the University and his father, Dr.
Jerome Conn, is an emeritus professor
p of internal medicine.
In addition to his degree, Conn
studied two years of art and has had a
number of jobs including working as a
volunteer at the University hospital.
But Conn always returned to his pet
craft.
"I'm happier now than I have ever
been," says Conn who works up to 75
hours a week.
"Nobody tells me what to do and
when, except for my customers," he
says. "And them, I don't mind."
COMPUTER TERMINA LS
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