Toggle Background Video Playback Campus & Beyond For Big Red Nature Illustrators, Art and Science Overlap Stories You May Like What’s that Bird? Like Magic, ‘Merlin’ Can Tell You Couple Flocks Together—Running the Lab of Ornithology’s Gift Shop Fine, Feathered, Fascinating Facts about the Lab of Ornithology Based at the Lab of Ornithology, the program helps support research, educate the public, and train the next generation Editor’s note: This story was adapted from a feature in the Cornell Chronicle. By Holly Hartigan Jillian Ditner lightly pencils in a circle for a head and sketches the eye. She places the beak, wing, and tail. Just shapes at first, gradually a Cape May warbler emerges. “I’m always paying attention to the posture and the angle of the body when I’m drawing,” says Ditner, a nature illustrator with the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. “You can see that from the tip of the tail to the bill, the whole bird is on a bit of a forward lean. Capturing that is going to get the dynamic part of that pose to come through.” Once she has the proportions perfect, she adds detail with a sharp pencil before layering in color in watercolor. Getting the eye just right comes toward the end. “I like to have everything in place,” she says, “and then there’s that little gratifying moment of it coming together—that little pop of the eye coming to life.” Ditner at the drawing board. As staff biological illustrator at the Cornell Lab and graphics editor for its Living Bird magazine, Ditner is part science communicator, part artist. As an educator and coordinator of the Bartels Science Illustration Program, she mentors artists who hope to follow in her footsteps. Birds are deceptively complex. Understanding the bones, muscles, and feather groups is what makes an illustration come alive. “They’re like a little feather puff, right?” Ditner says. “We look at them and they’re kind of rounded, a little bit pointy, but what’s going on underneath all those feathers is really intricate. Unless you understand what’s going on underneath, you don’t understand why the feathers are doing what they’re doing.” Video by Ryan Young / Cornell University Ditner studied fine arts in college, but a love of birds and nature brought her to scientific illustration when she got involved with organizations that advocate for turning off nighttime lights that disrupt bird migrations. “That was a big bird-and-design-coming-together moment for me,” she says. A Bartels illustrator-in-residence in 2017, Ditner returned to run the program in 2019. Every year, the Bartels Science Illustration Program hosts an artist-in-residence who creates art and infographics to accompany scientific publications and for the Lab’s outreach activities, building their portfolios and connections with people in the scientific community. Stories You May Like What’s that Bird? Like Magic, ‘Merlin’ Can Tell You Couple Flocks Together—Running the Lab of Ornithology’s Gift Shop Birds are deceptively complex. Understanding the bones, muscles, and feather groups is what makes an illustration come alive. “It’s been a really nice combination of all the different things I’ve been interested in for so long: graphic design, science, illustration, birds,” Ditner says. “It all has come together really beautifully in this current role for me, especially mentoring artists, being involved with those learning about science illustration and developing their own career.” From a sunny workspace overlooking Sapsucker Woods Pond, this year’s Bartels illustrator, Lauren Richelieu, painted the cardinals in watercolor and gouache that graced the Lab’s 2024 holiday card. She had recently completed illustrations for a paper on sea bird guano and another about frogs. “I’ve always been very into birds and science,” she says. “Jillian knows so much and is able to point out things that I didn’t necessarily notice. I feel my eyes being trained a little bit more.” Richelieu at work. For the spring semester, Richelieu has joined Ditner and ornithology professor Irby Lovette to teach the Art and Science of Birds, an undergraduate course in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. Open to any student interested in birds and art—even if they don’t consider themselves artists—it typically has a long wait list. CALS student Brant Georgia ’26 took the course in 2024 and is now a student assistant cataloguing the Lab of Ornithology’s historic art collection. The Art and Science of Birds course is open to any student interested in birds and art—even if they don’t consider themselves artists. “What I really got out of this class,” he says, “was the ability to depict birds more accurately and more anatomically correct.” He has received commissions for bird painting and sold his work at art fairs. During winter break, he worked on an oil painting for an ornithological organization in Michigan, his home state. Before meeting Ditner, Georgia expected to pursue science as a career and art as a hobby; now, he sees a future in science illustration. Says Georgia: “She’s really been sort of a guiding light for me in this career path.” (All photos by Jason Koski / Cornell University.) Published February 11, 2025 Leave a Comment Cancel replyOnce your comment is approved, your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *Comment * Name * Class Year Email * Save my name, email, and class year in this browser for the next time I comment. Δ Other stories You may like Alumni The Wind Beneath His Wings: Alum Manages Pet Bird’s Career Quizzes & Puzzles How Much Do You Know about Africana Studies on the Hill? Campus & Beyond On North Campus, New Buildings Shape Future of Undergrad Community