This is a set of scientific illustrations created for the online course on Black and Azov sea biology. Part of these illustrations were previously featured in Ecological Atlas covering the same area.
My main focus for this project was fish. There was 42 species of fish, who, apparently come in all shapes and sizes in the area. Apart from those, I illustrated 4 species of sea mammals (3 dolphins and a rather hypothetical seal), 4 species of birds (they mainly stick nearby the shore/ dive/ indulge in pelagic lifestyle), and 1 particular variation of an algae species. We were working a tight schedule on this project and all of these illustrations were created during 2 months of intense work.
This course is free and available to anyone interested in the subject. Our main audience are biology students. Lectures can be found on the Lectorium platform, where my illustrations are also used. Here's a glimpse on what it looks like:
Working on scientific illustration is different then general animal drawing. In order to be able to consider feedback from each species' specialist, I break down illustration process into steps. First, we discuss the most likely pose for the species, then I do linework and send it over for evaluation from the scientist. After that I can finally work on color, scan the artwork and put finishing touches and edits in Abode Photoshop. This process is illustrated below:
On the left is plain line work, on the right is finalised coloured version of the birds plate. The two sides look similar because there were almost no changes. The species pictured are (left to right, top to bottom):
Dalmatian pelican Pelecanus crispus;
Common spoonbill Platalea leucorodia;
Pied avocet Recurvirostra avosetta;
Glossy ibis Plegadis falcinellus.
And here's a finished illustration:
Black Sea common dolphin, Delphinus delphis ponticus
Full course materials are available at Lektorium.tv
