Art lessons

The primary objective of Found Color is to educate Palauan students and help them learn to notice and appreciate nature. But when the science team isn't busy wrangling children in the water, we get to listen, draw, and learn from Kim too! I want to show you some of what I've learned from her. 

Here's a drawing I did at a coral reef site last week: 

It's...ok. I have some color blending in there, I got some texture on the green coral. It's strongly mediocre.

Kim saw my drawing once we got back to the lab and asked if I was interested in adding some shadows. We had a slow afternoon the next day (a rare occurrence on a research trip, so I seized the chance while I had it!), so I sat down with Kim for some spontaneous tutoring. Her first piece of advice was to reverse my light and dark tones in the background. I was thinking too much - sure, light comes from the top in the ocean, but that's not what I was actually seeing when we went out snorkeling. Kim showed me how to add depth to the image. Here's the improved version: 

This one has some depth to it. You can tell the foreground from the background, and the yellow coral at the top of the image looks more three-dimensional. I used what Kim had taught me and made this drawing of a seagrass bed during our next class: 

Looking at this drawing, you get the feeling that you're peering into space - which is what the seagrass bed looked like. The giant clams were difficult to draw (they ended up as purple and blue blobs), but I think the orange sea star in the foreground turned out well. Ironically, the way I drew that sea star was by shutting off my brain. I didn't try to draw what a sea star should look like; I just drew what I saw. There were patches of orange, streaks of black, and I reproduced exactly what my eyes saw on the page. 

There's actually a lesson to be learned about science, based on my drawing experience. To understand the world and reflect how it truly is, we have to "shut off our brain" sometimes. Human cognition is so plagued by biases that being truly objective is very hard. Taking a step back, seeing the patterns for what they are, and refraining from imposing any interpretation are the best ways to reflect reality. 

I've really enjoyed learning Kim's drawing technique. Creating art underwater is definitely a unique experience, and it forces you to notice the world around you in greater detail than ever before. 

As a point of reference, I want to share on of Kim's works that she's created so far in Palau. Her technique is absolutely incredible, and I can honestly say that she captures color more accurately than any photo I've ever been able to take. Matthew actually commented that one of her works was like "seeing the reef with my glasses off." Kim's work reflects how we see underwater. I really admire her work. 

A pastel artwork by Kimberly Collins Jermain.

It's been a lot of fun to learn from Kim and expand how I observe coral reefs. Art makes everything better - including scientific field work!