Artful Science

Teaching teachers to integrate cichlid phylogeny, resin sculptures, and drawing in k12+ classrooms

Posted on July 11, 2017August 27, 2017 by CommNatural

The longer I am involved with art-science integration, the more time I get to spend teaching teachers — teaching them how to use drawing in science education.

It’s an incredible perk of the work I do, as I’ve written about before.

In June, I co-taught a Summer Teaching Institute focused on “Exploring Art & Science.” The institute was organized by the University of Wyoming Art Museum’s Education Curator Katie Christensen, along with Master Teacher Heather Bender, and Artmobile Coordinator Erica Ramsey. Together, they and the rest of the Art Museum team are great advocates and partners for art-science work on campus and beyond.

During the institute, my teaching focus was drawing-based science learning and assessment strategies. We started with basic drawing techniques. I walked participants through a toolkit development session which involved lots of practice drawing.

Continue reading Teaching teachers to integrate cichlid phylogeny, resin sculptures, and drawing in k12+ classrooms

Commissioning SciArt Illustrations? Know what you want and what you can spend. (Using Images-A Best Practices Primer, Part 6)

Posted on May 25, 2017February 19, 2019 by CommNatural

This article is the sixth in a series aimed at helping you enhance your #scicommand #sciart by avoiding #visualplagiarism. It will do so by laying out some best practices for dealing with images (which are, by their nature) visual intellectual property protected by copyrights.

NOTE: I am not a lawyer, and no part of this article or series should be construed as legal advice.

Please chime in, in the comments or by contacting me, if you have suggestions for how to enhance this article or the series.

2013_bison summer sketches (36)_Lepidoptera_clean_sig_cr — Knowing what you want can make commissioning illustrations way more efficient and enjoyable. This entails planning ahead, being decisive, making lots of choices, and balancing budget vs. other constraints. (*Lepidoptera* sketches from Saskatchewan, Canada; ©2017)

PLAN AHEAD, SO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU WANT AND WHAT YOU CAN SPEND.

In the last article, we discussed contract considerations, which are the core of any commissioned illustration project.

In this article, we’ll take a look at some other important elements of planning an illustration project. To increase efficiency (which usually helps with budgeting), do what you can to know what you want and how much you can spend before you approach an illustrator and ask if they are interested in working with you. Continue reading Commissioning SciArt Illustrations? Know what you want and what you can spend. (Using Images-A Best Practices Primer, Part 6)

SciArt illustration contracts for your science communication project (Using Images-A Best Practices Primer, Part 5)

Posted on May 18, 2017February 19, 2019 by CommNatural

This article is the fifth in a series aimed at helping you enhance your #scicommand #sciart by avoiding #visualplagiarism. It will do so by laying out some best practices for dealing with images (which are, by their nature) visual intellectual property protected by copyrights.

NOTE: I am not a lawyer, and no part of this article or series should be construed as legal advice.

Please chime in, in the comments or by contacting me, if you have suggestions for how to enhance this article or the series.

Placing lid on vial_sig — Hiring an illustrator doesn’t have to feel like wizardry. A well-written contract can simplify and enhance the experience. (Student assessing stream water quality, ©2017)

FAIR-TO-GENEROUS ILLUSTRATION CONTRACTS

In addition to the 4Cs of commissioning SciArt, there are four major considerations you will need to take into account when you work with an illustrator.

They are: contracts, what you want, your time frame, and what you can spend. This article breaks down the first of those, contracts. Continue reading SciArt illustration contracts for your science communication project (Using Images-A Best Practices Primer, Part 5)

April 2017 CommNatural Newsletter: Migration, multimedia sketching & more

Posted on April 24, 2017October 7, 2017 by CommNatural

Happy April, dear readers!

The weather is getting warmer and warmer. In addition to obvious shifts in the garden, migratory critters are coming back to the high plains.

My favorite are the turkey vultures that roots on campus. On warm breezy afternoons, they cruise low over the cottonwoods around our neighborhood.

In recognition of the vultures, bluebirds back out at our favorite hiking spot, and all the plants leafing out, this month’s newsletter looks at some familiar things from some fresh angles.

Keep reading. This month’s newsletter focuses on a mixed media sketching/pring-making technique, the launch of an image-use best practices blog series, and lots of news and events.

Happy sketching,

April Table of Contents

Insight: How and why migrations speak to us
Sketching Tip/Artful Classrooms: Solvent transfers (a printmaking technique)
Artful Science: Ethics of using reference/source images for art making and science communication
News & Events:
- Drawn to Science plenary talk at American Fisheries Society’s western division annual conference scheduled for 5/23
- Drawing for Science Communication symposium talk at American Fisheries Society’s western division annual conference also scheduled for 5/23. See the conference program for details.
- Get your portable sketching kit, plus spring greeting cards and gifts from me! 🙂

PLAN AHEAD, SO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU WANT AND WHAT YOU CAN SPEND.

FAIR-TO-GENEROUS ILLUSTRATION CONTRACTS

April Table of Contents

March Table of Contents