I believe this is due to three aspects:ġ. Today there are only a few researchers who make their own illustrations or rather are no longer using graphical representations at all. on any subject in the world, it is no longer necessary to produce illustrations from the animal and plant kingdom, except for art. Caused by the enormous amount of data, texts, photos, etc. Michael Gruber: The scientific illustrator was a prestigious and well-paid job because there was much that has not yet been described or illustrated. How have the working methods and the job profile of scientific illustrators changed? The work is then done at home with the technique I choose – ink, pencil, colored pencil, gouache or with Photoshop. When I’m in zoos or museums, I always have my pencil and my sketchbook with me to capture impressions or to make motion studies. My main focus, however, lies on analogue working methods, as they are easier and faster to use. Michael Gruber: Basically, I work with both. Other structures can also be omitted, for example certain parts of flowers or mouth tools of insects, in order to obtain an even more exact idea of the structure under consideration. Michael Gruber: The advantage of an illustration is that you can emphasize certain structures, which are almost invisible in a photo – this is possible with color or a special representation. Red Pandazine: Why is it necessary to have illustrations in the age of digital photography and its possibilities? He works as an illustrator and offers some insights into his work on his website Hieronymus Illustrations.Ī conversation about art, realism and Red Pandas with far too big ears. To learn more about the story behind the illustrations you can see here, the working methods of illustrators then and now and the benefits of illustration compared to photography we talked with Austrian biologist Michael Gruber. Between poetry and documentation, this genre has not only evolved steadily over the centuries but also produced impressive masterpieces. Hardly any of the famous books of legendary biologists comes without them. Scientific illustrations have long been the only way to capture the appearance of animals. Times are changing – and so do illustrations Is that… a Red Panda? When you search in archives for scientific illustrations of Red Pandas be prepared for some surprises. There are tremendous accurate depictions of these animals – and there are the ones which look pretty strange in today’s eyes.

Figure 1: An illustration from Paul Gervais’ Histoire naturelle des mammifères, avec l’indication de leurs moeurs, et de leurs rapports avec les arts, le commerce et l’agriculture published in 1854.

Red panda drawing