Artist/Owner Ann Sanderson Scientific Art, Ontario, Canada
lllustrations can play a critical role in a scientific manuscript; artwork can be used to depict anatomy, explain behaviour, biological functions, or distinguish between species, . An illustrator works closely with scientists in order to understand the concept or organism being conveyed and to create an image that serves to augment the research topic and engage a wide variety of audiences. This discussion explores the creation of a scientific illustration from concept to conclusion with an emphasis on the importance of communication between scientist and artist, background research, accuracy, as well as artistry. Science illustration is a particularly useful tool in entomology when conveying detail that may be too small for photography to provide, highlighting obscured detail, and piecing together missing or damaged parts, or depicting information that is not easily seen by direct observation, such as the architecture of ground nests. When appropriately utilized, a scientific illustrator can add an attention grabbing visual quality to scientific research, increasing its impact.
