Microscopic Drawing

Seeing new design

Why draw using a microscope?

Artists have the unique ability to focus on desired details and exclude unwanted information

this ability to gather only pertinent information through drawing is beneficial for medical science

The simplification of visual information is essential to both patients and medical students

How could you use both magnification and simplification to gather ideas for creative design?

INsects as InspirationWhat new ideas will you find?

Insect art in history?

Scenes of honey hunting dating back 6000 yrs in the Cave of Spiders in Valencia, Spain

Ancient Greece: Stone artists* Phidias (said to use Golden Ratio* Callicrates* Mymecides

created technically challenging small insect sculptures

Middle AgesMonks faithfully copied documents and adorned them with naturalistic figures of plants and insects

Insects appeared as symbols on clothing and armor in medieval Europe

Insects in Oriental Art

Japanese family crest

the beginning of insect art in China has been traced to 887-965, Huang Ch'uan

Christopher Marley

Insect inspired art today

Science has always celebrated the elegance and beauty of form and function in the insect world...

Insect drawings valued in the Smithsonian Institute

Artists record the symmetry, texture, and pattern found in the insect world

insect inspired...

Magnified Wing

Highly Magnified Wing

How will you use magnified details ?

Before you begin....

Take a Look...

* Mindy Lighthipe * Dan Slavinsky* Alex Konahin * Christopher Marley

Look at the work of these artists and write at least one thing you like and one thing you don't like about each artist's work. Be specific.

Ready...Set...Observe...Draw!* Start with a circle that represents your microscopic field of view* Divide into 4 equal sections- draw VERY lightly

Sketching specimens will provide you with a better understanding as you study the intricacies of the image you see through the lens- details that may be overlooked in a photo.

* draw simple contour lines of shapes in each quadrant

*Note the specimen, date and magnification

* Start with largest shapes first* Save details for last* When you look at your sample, remember that the negative space or empty area is just as important as the object itself* Follow you eye...not what your brain may say

Experimentation is an important part in exploring how to sketch a microscopic slide

Oh... the places you could go...

Any Ideas?

How will you present your findings?

Dragonfly magnified

Dragonfly Wing magnified

Find an area to focus on

Microscope Drawings to ... Final Project...

* Produce 5 good drawings of insect specimens using microscope and magnifying glass* Use your drawings as inspiration for your drawing unit project

* Your final project may be realistic or abstracted* Your project must have a drawing focus using pencil, ink, or any mark making tool* Color is absolutely allowed as long as the product is drawing focused and not a painting