Insect Ecologist University of Arizona Tucson, Arizona
Since the 19thcentury, illustrators and journalists have used the medium of scratchboard to artistically and reproducibly convey information. Scratchboard is a versatile medium effective in portraying textures and structures, and is a helpful tool for scholars learning insect anatomy. Insect taxonomists may benefit from using scratchboard to visualize morphology under the microscope. The resulting images are depictive accompaniments to research talks, educational materials, and article figures, and additionally have intrinsic artistic value. Unlike most methods of drawing and illustration, scratchboard is a subtractive technique: light areas are removed from a dark background. Scratchboard techniques are highly controlled and precise, and portray virtually any texture to a fine level of detail. Scratchboard methods can be successfully combined with other tools and techniques, including camera lucida, pencil and paper, digital illustration, and painting. Additionally, many scratchboard tools, such as scalpels, pins, and probes, are already in the arsenal of most entomologists. In this talk, I present scratchboard as a technique for depicting insects in art, illustration, and education. I cover the basics of creating insect images in scratchboard: tools needed, techniques, and suggested steps to getting started. Along the way, I show examples of scratchboard art, demonstrating its potential as an insect illustration method.