This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of Scientific American
Scientific illustrator Danielle Dufault is quickly collecting a reputation for her prehistoric animal reconstructions - from dinosaurs to sharks - many while working at the Royal Ontario Museum. But after looking through her portfolio, I couldn't resist calling attention to0 this wild and spectacular Nudibranchs illustration.
Of course it's possible that pretty soon Dufault will be able to combine invertebrate ocean critters with illustrations of the deep past if this tweet by @ROMPalaeo is any indication:
@ROMtoronto Curator Dr Jean-Bernard Caron is back from the field with bucketfuls of Burgess Shale fossils! pic.twitter.com/1aw5gCsmlf
— ROM Palaeontology (@ROMPalaeo) September 10, 2014On supporting science journalism
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One of the things I admire about the Royal Ontario Museum is their engagement with the public through a massive network of social media accounts - not only are there official ROM departments, there are various personalities from different scientific disciplines, all tweeting about their work, answering questions and sharing in learning.
There are few jobs more important for scientific illustrators to undertake than presenting to us something it is otherwise impossible for us to look at - from exoplanets to experimental surgeries to dinosaurs in the flesh. After the ROM's major renovation some years ago, a few local illustrators I know were worried about the lack of dioramas in the new displays. However, since then it has been apparent that newly commissioned illustrations are being born at a (I suspect) faster-than-ever pace for the Museum's web presence, interactive displays and publications. And I hope that means we'll be enjoying the work of Danielle Dufault for a long time to come.
Links
@MesozoicMuse on Twitter
Royal Ontario Museum: A Silurian Shark Tale illustration
David Evans' Lab: Mercuriceratops illustration
For the third year running, we are turning September into a month-long celebration of science artists by delivering new sciart to invade your eyeballs. The SciArt Blitz! Can’t get enough? Check out what was previously featured on this day:
2013: Artologica, Microbial Watercolors - art by Michele Banks
2012: The Painting That Inspired Sagan's COSMOS - art by Jon Lomberg