Jennifer Lobo

This class will begin with a demonstration on traditional drawing techniques used to illustrate scientific material. Students will develop pencil and ink renderings as well as watercolor illustrations of animal, plant and insect species. Work will also include relevant habitat and scale information.

Each Class will include a lecture and /or visit behind the scenes to a lab at the Field Museum. Working scientists will expose the students to common collection methods as well as specimen preparation such as bird and mammal taxidermy.

Course work will be described at the beginning of each class. Midterm critiques, small groups of 5, will determine and promote individual projects to be presented in the Final Critiques.

This class will begin with a demonstration on traditional drawing techniques used to illustrate scientific material. Students will develop pencil and ink renderings as well as watercolor illustrations of animal, plant and insect species. Work will also include relevant habitat and scale information.

Each Class will include a lecture and /or visit behind the scenes to a lab at the Field Museum. Working scientists will expose the students to common collection methods as well as specimen preparation such as bird and mammal taxidermy.

Course work will be described at the beginning of each class. Midterm critiques, small groups of 5, will determine and promote individual projects to be presented in the Final Critiques.

This class will begin with a demonstration on traditional drawing techniques used to illustrate scientific material. Students will develop pencil and ink renderings as well as watercolor illustrations of animal, plant and insect species. Work will also include relevant habitat and scale information.

Each Class will include a lecture and /or visit behind the scenes to a lab at the Field Museum. Working scientists will expose the students to common collection methods as well as specimen preparation such as bird and mammal taxidermy.

Course work will be described at the beginning of each class. Midterm critiques, small groups of 5, will determine and promote individual projects to be presented in the Final Critiques.

This course will allow students to further explore the immense world of scientific illustration, from the historical to the contemporary, and how it can enhance communication within design structures-including publication, mapping, and other forms of visual narrative-in the museum context. Classes will meet at the Field Museum of Natural History, where both the public and private research collections of Botany, Invertebrate, Mammology, Mycology, Ornithology, and Zoology will be utilized.

As part of our inquiry, we will study and discuss the work of historical scientific illustrators such as Ernst Haeckel, Genevieve Jones, and Maria Sybilla Merian, which will be further complemented with a visit to the Field Museum's Marie Louise Rosenthal Library's Rare Book Room, housing an extensive collection of scientific illustration material dating back to the 15th Century. Furthermore, we will explore contemporary artists working at the intersection of science, illustration, and design, like Mark Dion, Nicholas Feltron, William Kentridge, Zachgari Logan,Greg Oakley, Alice Tangerini, along with other members of the American Society of Botanical Artists (ASBA).

Students can expect to create a comprehensive project illustrating a biological system (eg. Anatomical Function, Metamorphosis, Pollination, etc.) with a focus on observational drawing from museum specimens and inclusion of diagrammatical, narrative, and applied typographic strategies for design communication. Working individually and in teams, projects will be taken from the study stages to polished compositions-creating innovative solutions for design challenges and focusing on legibility and navigability for a specific audience.