Scientific illustration and wildlife art are deeply connected with ornithology and, more broadly, with science and conservation. Through depictions of wildlife and flora in their natural environments, these artists often facilitate the acquisition of new knowledge. More importantly, they forge an emotional bond between us, the audience, and the other living beings. This bond is perhaps one of the paths that could lead us to reevaluate our relationships with nature and help combat the biodiversity crisis. Illustration, along with all visual mediums like photography, plays a central role in shaping our future. Here, we present five artists among many who have moved us and are actively involved in conservation.
Paula Romero
A member of the Arte y Conservación collective, Paula is an illustrator, environmental advocate, author, and naturalist. She began her career collaborating as an illustrator on environmental conservation projects and monographs. She has worked with major organizations such as the American Bird Conservancy, BirdLife International, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, and several Colombian institutions. This work allows her to merge her artistic passion with conservation, reflecting on the myriad threats to wildlife and ecosystems. Paula emphasizes scientific illustration as a crucial tool for understanding and protecting species, and promoting environmental awareness.
Today, she has established her own independent publishing house, where she self-publishes and edits several naturalist titles in collaboration with Emmanuel Laverde.
Explore her work here: https://arteyconservacion.com/paulaandrearomero/
Alex Warnick
Trained as an artist, and a passionate birder since childhood, Alex Warnick specializes in watercolor bird paintings. She aims to create a dialogue between humans and birds so that, as she says, “birds can enhance people’s lives, and people can enrich the lives of birds.”
Warnick’s paintings are characterized by a vintage style combined with scientifically precise details, achieved through hours of outdoor sketching. In 2016, she embarked on a six-month journey to Hispaniola (Haiti and the Dominican Republic) to illustrate 31 endemic bird species. A collection of paintings from this trip was published in the book Alas & Colores by INICIA.
Discover her work here:
Camillo Maldonado
This graphic designer turned wildlife artist channels his love for nature and art through highly realistic colored pencil illustrations. His work is notable for its striking realism, delicately capturing plumage details and expressive gazes. Camilo participated in a 2016 exhibition on endangered species in San Diego, California, and won first prize in the “Illustraciencia” competition in Spain in 2017.
As a Faber-Castell ambassador in Chile, he regularly hosts workshops to teach his scientific and naturalist drawing techniques.
Learn more about his work here: www.instagram.com/camiloemm/
Guy Tudor
A self-taught illustrator and environmental advocate, Guy Tudor is widely regarded as “the most renowned ornithologist-artist of the Neotropics” for his stunning paintings featured in numerous field guides on South and Central American birds. His work has made a significant impact on the conservation of avian biodiversity.
Tudor has illustrated field guides that showcase much of the neotropical avifauna of the Americas. His studies are based on a blend of field notes, direct observations, photographs, and bird specimens from museum collections. He contributed to and illustrated The Birds of South America, a four-volume series co-written with Robert Ridgely. Tudor is also the president of the New York City Butterfly Club, which he co-founded in 1984, and serves as director of the North American Butterfly Association.
Find his work in these publications:
- Guide to the Birds of Colombia
- The Birds of South America
- Birds of Venezuela
- Butterflies of the East Coast: An Observer’s Guide
Daniel F. Lane
An avid bird enthusiast and bird illustrator, Daniel Lane considers himself more of a naturalist than an artist. He earned a master’s degree in zoology in 1999, focusing on New World barbets (family Ramphastidae, subfamily Capitoninae). During this period, he conducted multiple expeditions to Peru and made additional visits to Bolivia and Ecuador to study birds in lesser-known sites.
Lane is particularly interested in the distribution, taxonomy, identification, vocalizations, natural history, and ecology of neotropical birds. He achieved his dream around 2002 when he joined a team of top artists tasked with illustrating birds for the field guide Birds of Peru (written by Schulenberg, Stotz, O’Neill, Parker, and Lane), published in 2007.
If you’re inspired to embark on a unique journey to follow in the footsteps of these great artists and reconnect with the world around you in a new way, discover our watercolor travel experiences here.
https://nature-experience-group.com/en/tour-focus/watercolor-workshops/
By Dorian Noël, scientific illustrator at your service for watercolour courses
You can also find the author’s work by following these links:
