- Title
- Building a Bird Twice: Using an articulating bird model to understand and interpret flight manoeuvres in developmental drawings and finished illustrations of bird flight
- Creator
- Atkins, Daniel P.
- Relation
- Observe, Research, Create Case Studies in Natural History Illustration PhD Projects p. 69-86
- Relation
- Common Ground Journals and Books 27
- Publisher Link
- http://dx.doi.org/10.18848/978-1-61229-978-5/CGP
- Publisher
- Common Ground Research Networks
- Resource Type
- book chapter
- Date
- 2018
- Description
- The visual narrative of natural history illustration provides stimulus for questions and discussion surrounding the subjects, their habit, and the illustrator's experience with them. The development of the narrative demands close observation and understanding for effective communication of particular information. When visually translating a flight event the illustrator faces many logistical challenges both in the field and in the studio. These challenges include the limitations of time, proximity to the subject, and concealed underlying anatomical features that influence form and wing orientation in certain positions of the flight cycle, and manoeuvres. To meet these challenges I designed and created a tangible species-specific articulating bird model. The model and its application proved to be an innovative solution for interpreting the complexities involved when depicting a particular flight event over the full range of a bird's flight cycle and manoeuvring. The model became a valuable resource within my practice for elucidating the tacit knowledge gained by field studies, anatomical studies and study of the literature. Consequently, the model was a pivotal visual reference in preliminary stages of illustration, synthesising the components of field, studio, anatomical and literature studies into an integrated methodology. Fusing this information meant that the final illustration accurately embodied the intended flight event. Employed within the framework of a natural history illustration methodology, the model embodies crucial knowledge that enables 'art direction' in the creative practice of illustrating a moment of flight. Furthermore, this also generates the possibility to understand and communicate a broad range of flight events, and potentially the mechanics that drive them.
- Subject
- illustration; natural history; flight cycle; birds
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1446894
- Identifier
- uon:43002
- Identifier
- ISBN:9781612299761
- Language
- eng
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