Back in the prehistoric age when Man did not know anything about writing, he communicated using sounds and sketches. This is proven by the drawings of animals and the hieroglyphics on the walls of caves.
Later on, curious human beings wanted to get to know the world and organized large expeditions. On these long trips to the unknown, there was always an artist on the team to register what was discovered. Remember that in those days there were no cameras.
They drew fish, plants, mammals, insects, people, and their customs, as words alone were not sufficient to explain exactly what was seen, and so drawing once again arose out of the necessity for expression and has remained like that until today. Even with all of our sophisticated technology, computers and photographic equipment, scientific drawings register everything desired, in a very special and detailed manner.
These graphic records can be done in black and white or in color, with brushes and paints.
I am a botanical artist and have to draw plants in minute detail including: the stems, leaves, flowers, fruit, and even something else that might escape normal observation, which only the researcher, familiar with the species under study, is capable of noticing and indicating to me. Minor details are amplified separately on the drawing and can measure twice, three times or as many times as necessary to make it clear.
It also shows a cross section of the flower, the ovary, the sepals, etc. and everything that has great significance for the study of that species. In passing, one can say that it is fascinating to begin to notice the characteristics of plants which we don’t notice on a daily basis. Nature becomes even more beautiful!
The role of the botanical illustrator is this: to paint all of the information about the plant and clarify situations which are at times difficult, for example, a tangle of long stamen which have to be drawn one by one, specifically showing their beginning, middle and end, their distribution on the whole paper in complete harmony of everything that makes up the plant in question and which is important to identify the species.
Besides its use in research and theses, Botanical Illustration is used in books, in divulging the species, in paintings, exhibitions for the public to admire and learn, etc. However, above all, is the scientific preoccupation and in second place, concern about aesthetics. You can never draw a leaf that does not exist or a brighter color than is shown so that the composition will be more attractive, as it then becomes only an artistic drawing and not a scientific one.
Honesty with reality and responsibility is within each professional when remembering that what is produced at the moment is a document which is going to direct or divert a researcher who, unable to have a live plant because it is extinct, will only have this illustration to refer to.
Today or a hundred years from now...
