Wrasses and parrotfish (family Labridae) are among the most diverse lineages of reef fishes on earth. A new study in Science Advances, led by Chase Brownstein, sheds light on the explosion of evolutionary innovation and diversification that happened 20 million years ago and led to the reef fish diversity we see today. 

The authors asked me to create paintings to represent different groups of wrasses and parrotfish for their figures. Painting reef fish is always so rewarding because I get to use some of the more vibrant colors on my palette! Hello, turquoise and magenta.

Read the full article here: ​https://www.science.org/doi/epdf/10.1126/sciadv.adu6149

A new paper by Sonal Singhal and her colleagues uses the example of night lizard (Xantusia) ecomorphs to look at different approaches to understanding speciation. My role as a science illustrator was to paint the two species, paying close attention to their morphological differences, and their distinct habitats: rock crevices and decaying plant matter.

The paintings were all created using watercolor and a little white gouache. Creating the backgrounds was a ton of fun and very different from my usual process. Most of my paintings are detailed and involve tiny brushes. For these backgrounds, I let the paint and water do their magic without much plan in mind. Using a ton of water, some choice colors, and a little bit of salt, the first layer of paint showed the contours of the rocks and leaves. I was then able to go in and add the leaf veins and shadows to complete the background paintings. 

New research by Ranjan Muthukrishnan and his colleagues explores how species adapt to climate change by changing their phenology, behavior, and/or range. The authors worked with Life Science Studios to create an illustration that would demonstrate a species using different ecological responses to mitigate the impacts of a warming climate. Check out the publication in Global Change Biology.

First, we needed to pick a species! We chose a lizard in a rocky, mountainous landscape where climate change has made its usual perch on a rock too hot. The lizard may adapt by altering its behavior (seeking shade), changing its phenology (reproducing during cooler times of the year), shifting its range (to higher, cooler elevations), or a combination of all three responses.

With all of our clients, the first step is brainstorming. There are many ways to illustrate a concept, so I like to sketch out a number of ideas to present to a client. Here is the sketch sheet I sent to the authors for this project. As you can see, there were a bunch of different ways I was thinking about depicting the concept of ecological changes to climate change. We ultimately settled on a more artistic vision of a lizard in a full landscape.

A couple of months ago, I was shocked and disappointed to see an AI-generated image as the cover of a scientific journal. I posted on X (formerly Twitter) about how I felt and the journal quickly removed the image and asked me to write an article about why journals and scientists should not use AI images in their publications. I argue that using AI science illustrations is troublesome for the scientific community as inaccurate images degrade the quality and rigor of the scientific literature. It is also unethical and harmful to artists as AI is trained on our work without our consent or compensation. 

You can read the article here: Why Scientific Journals Should Ban AI-Generated Images

Chase Brownstein and colleages at Yale have just published research in Current Biology about deep sea anglerfish. This group of fish has the unique trait of sexual parasitism, whereby males are much smaller than females and attach themselves to her. The researchers demonstrate a connection between the evolution of sexual parasitism and radiation into the deep sea environment. 

I painted a number of deep sea anglerfishes, frogfishes, batfishes, and others for this paper. It was a big challenge because the frogfishes are very camouflaged and have tons of color and pattern complexity and variation. For the deep sea species, reference photos are often very limited or are of specimens in poor health. Despite the challenges, this was such a fun project to do. The fish are so weird and interesting! I quickly discovered that watercolor doesn't get quite black enough, so many of the fish are painted in gouache, which was fun to play with. 

My favorite podcast, Journaling with Nature, asked me if I would be interested in being interviewed about science illustration. It was such a fun experience talking with Bethan Burton about nature in my childhood, my experience leaving academia and finding a career in science illustration, and how I go about collaborating with scientists to create figures and illustrations that help communicate their research.

Some of the fun stuff we talk about: how growing up in a tropical rainforest sparked my love of biology, how much fun it has been to teach my daughter about the wildlife in her temperate rainforest surroundings (mostly slugs), and, of course, how I got hooked on mushroom hunting.

We also explore the importance of communication when creating scientific figures and how creating an illustration is much like solving a puzzle. I thoroughly enjoyed talking with Bethan and I hope you enjoy listening to our conversation.

Check out the link to listen to the podcast and the Journaling with Nature website.

​ ​www.journalingwithnature.com/podcasts/episode-67-julie-johnson