Elizabeth Gould
I know I’m not going to be thrilled with everything I make as part of this Drawing Art History project. Luckily this is about PRACTICE not PERFECTION!! 👯♀️ One thing I’ve concluded from some of the online classes I’ve taken is that I may not have the skill or interest in super lifelike drawing. But I’m good with that! There are lots of other ways to represent things. And I like these lil birds - even though I haven’t totally figured out how I want to draw them. ☺️
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Elizabeth Gould (1804-1841) was one of the earliest scientific bird illustrators. She traveled the world with her taxidermist husband contributing to seminal book collections of rare birds in Europe, the Himalayas and Australia. Working with Charles Darwin, she created all of the bird drawings for The Zoology of the Voyage of H.M.S. Beagle. The species she represented were critical to our understanding of the theory of evolution. In the early 19th century, many female artists and lithograph colorists went uncredited for their contributions. In recent years, Elizabeth Gould’s role as sole artist has been more widely recognized.
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Illustration inspired by: Gould, John (British painter, ornithologist, 1804-1881), Gould, Elizabeth (English painter and draftsman, 1804-1841). 1841. Pyrocephalus nanus. prints (visual works). Place: Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library. https://library.artstor.org/asset/SS7731750_7731750_11912865.