Comparative Illustrations
As biologists, many of us study how variation, both between and within species, arises or contributes to aspects of an organism’s life history. In many cases, existing illustrations or photos may fail to fully capture the trait of interest, or may not be available at all. Custom illustrations can help illustrate key phenotypic differences in your study system.
These illustrations are typically done with all individuals in the same pose and lighting, for maximum ease of comparison. As such, they are also very affordable- while a single bird illustration may cost $75, adding three color variations will often only increase the price to $100-$125, rather than being the same price for each.
As with all of my illustrations, I will work directly with you to make sure the traits of most interest are captured as clearly and accurately as possible.
Plumage variation within the Melanerpes carolinus/aurifrons/santacruzi species complex, along with several congeners.
Six taxa of Aglaeactis hummingbirds.
Island scrub-jay, Aphelocoma insularis, with close-ups of beak size variation.
Three ‘elepaio species (Chasiempis sclateri, C. ibidis, and C. sandwichensis) and the related Tinian monarch (Monarcha takatsukasae).
Plumage variation among male common yellowthroats, Geothlypis trichas, along with a female and related taxa.
Female tree swallows, Tachycineta bicolor, showing off bright, normal, and dull plumage types.
Four species of juvenile Notothenioid fish. From top: Trematomus pennellii, T. bernacchii, T. nicolai, and Pagothenia borchgrevinki.