This summer I was fortunate to be able to attend the annual conference of the Guild of Natural Science Illustrators at the lovely Evergreen State College in Olympia, WA. I am very grateful to the Access Copyright Foundation for the Professional Development Grant I received to help fund my trip.

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Lush forest alongside The Evergreen State College

The College is located in a forest of moss and lichen-draped trees surrounded by numerous large ferns. At every opportunity, I explored the forest on the nearby trail that led to a rocky beach.

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Interpretive sign, vandalized by mud swallows

Always on the lookout for science illustrations, I noticed this interpretive sign at the Visitor Center in Nisqually Wildlife Refuge during a field trip. Evidently the mud swallows nesting above it have no regard for the ducks and otters.

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Young Redtail Hawk

One of the workshops in which I participated involved sketching live raptors. This photo shows one of our models, Helly, with feathers a bit ruffled (literally and figuratively) because of the proximity of one of the other models, a Great-Horned owl.

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Young Great-Horned owl

The owl, Sweetums, was three-and-a-half months old. Secured to the glove she was of course no threat to Helly.

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Interpretive sign at Cape Disappointment State Park

Another interpretive sign that caught my eye was this clever interactive relief illustration. It’s a neat idea to suggest that people take a rubbing of the image so they can identify the plant while in the park. It’s too bad I didn’t have paper and pencil with me to try it out.

I spent most of the week watching presentations and attending workshops, but I only brought my camera to the bird-drawing workshop and the field trips. It was a very worthwhile trip and I hope another ten years doesn’t pass before I’m able to attend another GNSI conference. wp591eead3Thank you, Access Copyright Foundation!

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Science-art Scumble #20 | The Tangles

[…] 2011 GNSI Conference in Olympia, Washington – News from the Studio: Science illustration by Emily S. Damstra. Terrific photos and commentary by SONSI president Damstra about the Guild of Natural Science Illustrators annual conference. Includes vandalism by mud swallows. […]

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