Scientific Illustration

The Role of the Illustrator

For a new plant species to be introduced to science, botanists need accurate images of the species they study. Scientists use the plant’s shape and form, not color, to distinguish between species. These illustrations must show the shape and structures of the plant in great detail.

The Illustrator’s Process

My name is Alice Tangerini and I have worked at the National Museum of Natural History for over twenty years. As a botanical illustrator, I am the eyes of the botanist. My illustrations describe the plant and its parts in a very visual form without needing any language interpretation. Let me show you how I do it.

I have a four-stage process that I use whenever I create a botanical illustration.

First, I make a full-size photocopy of the herbarium specimen. I use this to trace the overall outline of the larger parts of the specimen, such as the leaves and how they are attached to the stems.

Next, I draw several pencil sketches on translucent drafting film of the various parts of the plant. Throughout this process, I consult with the botanists who are publishing the scientific description.

Once the final pencil sketches are approved by the scientists, I arrange them in a 12" x 15" composition. Sometimes I scan the sketches into a digital file so I can resize them to fit and make very detailed touch-ups."

Lastly, I place another transparent film over my sketches and trace the final image in ink.  This saves my pencil drawings for the archives. At this stage, I add many fine details that show the visual texture of the original specimen. I scan this final drawing at a high resolution for printing, which you can see in the framed illustration to the right of this case.

Artist's Tools

These mechanical pencils, ink pens, small brushes, and microscope are some of the tools I use in my work. The small pens are increasingly difficult to find as more people switch over to illustrating directly on the computer. I now search for 'vintage' pens on the Internet when I need more.