Erin Hunter is a science illustrator and fine artist with a graphic design background—and each of those roles influences how she approaches her pollinator-themed paintings. In this presentation, Erin will provide a behind-the-scenes look at her most ambitious piece yet, a large painting of California native bees and wildflowers that anchored a 2022 solo show at the San Francisco Botanical Garden. In addition to discussing what inspired the project, she’ll discuss the process of sketching, designing a layout, painting, and presenting the piece in multiple formats to various audiences. See this piece and more in this year’s The Art of Nature exhibit.
Thursday, April 18, 2024
6-7:30 p.m.
Location: Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History
About the Speaker
When Erin E. Hunter was nine, her great-great aunt Alice gave her a copy of the Reader’s Digest Guide to North American Wildlife. Fascinated by the detailed color illustrations of flowers, insects and animals, Erin read all 559 pages. Her first ventures into science and illustration started with that book, where she checked off the plants and wildlife of her own backyard and drew birds in the margins. Today, Erin is a trained science illustrator with a background in graphic design. She splits her work between fine art paintings depicting the natural world, and technical illustrations for an academic science journal (Annual Reviews). When she’s not painting or working at the computer, she can be found puttering in her garden or hiking in California’s coastal forests. Her dog-eared copy of the Reader’s Digest Guide to North American Wildlife sits prominently on her desk.
