Book Review - Drawing Nature: The Creative Process of an Artist, Illustrator and Naturalist - Princeton University Press

      I remember the days before everyone had a camera and field work involved making sketches of what one saw, highlighting the distinguishing features of the organism under review, and just how inadequate I was. If there had been an award for drawing stick birds I might have been in the running!

     It was certainly a long way from the exquisite work displayed in this book. Yet I have little doubt that I would have benefitted from a book like this, and my amateurish efforts would have improved measurably.

     Today, of course, one takes a picture, and I think the art of making field sketches has been lost, and in many respects more's the pity. There was an unavoidable necessity to pay close attention to the subject at the time of the sighting without being able to rely on photographs to be studied later. I wonder, in fact if ubiquitous digital photography and online platforms will completely replace good field work? Perhaps it already has.

     None of this, however, detracts from the excellence depicted in these pages, and the processes required to perfect the very essence of wildlife art.

     Linda Miller Feltner makes the point more than once that one does not have to be perfect.

     And wildlife art bears a satisfaction all of its own. A photograph, even a very good photograph, presents an exact image of what the camera saw, without nuance or interpretation, and that surely is in large measure where creative art sets the bar much higher.

     I find it exceptionally pleasing that in so many instances Feltner includes organisms other then the principal subject of the picture, rounding out the ecological integrity of the piece to reflect the manner in which nature is experienced. A case in point is the exquisite rendering of a White-breasted Nuthatch with a Tolype moth almost hidden against the bark of the tree. This is how nature works and we are treated to an examination of cryptic coloration in addition to the characteristic pose of the bird. One has to search for the moth, be alive to the possibility, and that's as it should be.

     Practical advice is furnished throughout the book, so that it may be enjoyed as both a teaching tool and a visual delight. The creative process is explained in considerable detail in ways that are both entertaining and educational.

     It has been my good fortune to have acquired a decent collection of art from an eminent Canadian wildlife artist, and it has been a singular pleasure every time I have visited his studio to have him explain the entire creative process of the work I am about to buy. This book is imbued with that sense. We don't wish to simply admire the picture, we want to know know what went into it, the emotional energy, the technique, the choice of materials and their application.

     This book succeeds at every level. 

     You will be enriched by reading it and thrilled with the wonders of nature that leap out from its pages. Read, observe, learn and enjoy. I know I did.

Niggly bits:

At the end of the book under "Recommended Reading for Creative Inspiration" (a great way to title a bibliography), we see the following entry:

Lansdowne, James F., and John Livingston, Birds of the Eastern Forest, Vols. 1 and 2. McClellen & Stewart, 1968-1970.

All well and good, except that the publisher is not McClellen & Stewart, but McLelland and Stewart Limited.

Nitpicking? Maybe, but I don't think so. The reader should have every expectation that information presented will be correct and this is not.

Drawing Nature: The Creative Process of an Artist, Illustrator, and Naturalist - Princeton University Press

Linda Miller Feltner

Hardcover - US$35.00 - ISBN: 9780691255385

272 pages - 8.5 x 11 inches (21.25 x 27.5 cm)

530+ colour and black-and-white illustrations

Publication date: 02 July, 2024