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I drew this from a dead specimen, the colours were vivid hues of blue & turquoise when the dragonfly was alive, but soon faded to the browns seen here. |
Both sketching (from life) and science involve intense observation, imagination and interpretation. Scientists, however, have developed much more advanced tools; enhancing sight via microscopes and telescopes and enhancing interpretation via mathematical models and numeric formulas. You only have to go back as far as Da Vinci's era to see, by his famous anatomical and scientific sketches, or those of Dürer, to see how science and drawing are linked.
Drawings of live mantids published in the 'Mantis Study Group Newsletter' from 1997; when I was 16, convinced that I would become an entomologist, and dreamt of one day identifying a new species of insect. I regularly contributed drawings to the 'Phasmid Study Group' newsletters.
A depiction of the 'worms of death' under a microscope slide. Illustration from 'Five Wounds'.