[Taxacom] Scientific illustration

[Bob Mesibov]

Mary Barkworth wrote:

"I have found, as I am sure others have, that the illustrator needs to understand the structures being drawn."

Agreed. If you asked me which of the steps in my last post I would hand over to an illustrator, the answer is 'All but the first - the preliminary drawings'. I know what I want to show and I know how to show it, and I'd have to train up an illustrator in millipede taxonomy to get the same result.

Line drawings of millipede genitalia are not only the most useful parts of a species description, they're often the *only* parts that other specialists look at. They need to show the diagnostic features in just the right way.
-- 
Dr Robert Mesibov
Honorary Research Associate
Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery, and
School of Zoology, University of Tasmania
Home contact: PO Box 101, Penguin, Tasmania, Australia 7316
(03) 64371195; 61 3 64371195
Website: http://www.qvmag.tas.gov.au/mesibov.html