The Greater Washington DC chapter of the GNSI was formed after the Annual Meeting of the Guild in 1996. The Washington DC chapter is in fact the oldest GNSI group. The National organization formed around the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History in 1968. Washington DC area members served as the source of many GNSI organizers and directors for many years. As the Guild expanded and electronic resources have made a dispersed organization easier to manage, we have transformed into an official GNSI Chapter.
MEETING and EVENT ANNOUNCEMENTS
The GNSI Greater DC group holds meetings 8-9 times a year September - May. We usually pause from June - August as members scatter to pursue their varied travels and interests.
OFFICERS
| President: | Alice Tangerini tangerinia-at-si.edu | Program Coordinator: | Sally Bensusen & Janine Higgins bensusen-at-visualsciencestudio.com |
| Secretary: | Trudy Nicholson nicholson-at-rcn.com | Treasurer: | Britt Griswold bgriswold-at-science-art.com |
Announcements/Events/Reports
Charles Willson Peale - Birth of the American Museum
This month's meeting promises to be a fascinating historical look at the development of America's first museum.
EVENT DATE: Tuesday, May 21, 2013; 5:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
PRESENTATION: Charles Willson Peale and the Birth of the American Museum
by Dr. Samuel Dunlap
GNSI-DC April: Visualizing Macromolecules
Visualizing the Realm of Macromolecules, with Ben Smith
Despite all the advances in our understanding of genetics and the cell, the realm of the proteins and macromolecules remains shrouded in mystery. These components are the veritable cogs in the machine of life, and the first step towards understanding them is to visualize them in their environment as they would actually look and behave. This talk will review the structures within our cells and the newest methods and programs that enable us to understand them.
GNSI-DC March: Covering the Urban Jungle
Covering the Urban Jungle
Patterson Clark will describe the three-day process that yields his weekly natural history column, "Urban Jungle." Topics will include idea generation, research methods, writing process, image sourcing, digital painting techniques, editing and work flow, Web design, and use of social media. He will also touch on his use of invasive plants, which he transforms into paper, pigments, printing blocks, and frames.
GNSI-DC Holiday Gathering
See Photos from the GNSI-DC Holiday party here!
GNSI - DC: Art in Process – Price Guessing, Time Guessing, and Works in Progress
Greetings Members and Friends!
Presentation:
Art in Process – Price Guessing, Time Guessing, and Works in Progress
GNSI-DC: Sketching with Ink Wash
Greetings Members and Friends!
Please join GNSI-DC for a mini-workshop! our normal presentation time will be turned over to Mary Ellen Carsley to talk about and demonstrate a ink wash technique that would have been familiar to early 20th century illustrators.
GNSI-DC Holiday Party
Greetings Members and Friends!
Please join us for the annual GNSI Holiday Party and Portfolio Share...
EVENT DATE: Tuesday, December 18, 2012
TIME: 5:30pm - 8:00pm
WHERE: Smithsonian Natural History Museum, 10th and Constitution Ave., Washington, D.C., Cathy Kerby Room of the NMNH (3rd Floor, East Court, phone: 202-633-2001)
Draw-In at the Osteology Hall
The GNSI-DC chapter met on October 9th for a special Draw-In evening. We started with some great food contributed by the attendees. Everyone caught up on what everyone was doing as we waited for people to arrive for the main event. Then we all hiked upstairs to the Osteology Hall in the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, a collection of over 300 skeletons of modern vertebrates.
Drawing on the Past: Tales and Techniques in Archaeological Illustration
*** Note date change from our usual! ***
GNSI-DC NOVEMBER MEETING
GNSI members, friends, and guests,
As with October's meeting, our November meeting is again on the second Tuesday of the month. This one is going to be a winner! Don't miss it!
PRESENTATION:
"Drawing on the Past: Tales and Techniques in Archaeological Illustration" by Mesa Schumacher
Drawing Bones - GNSI-DC Draw-In Event Oct. 9th
Dear GNSI members, friends and guests,
Smithsonian Osteology Hall Draw-In
We are asking people to RSVP for this meeting. See instructions at the end of this announcement.
For those of you who render creatures in the flesh, this is your opportunity to see first-hand what drives their structure. Come and sketch after-hours in the National Museum of Natural History's Hall of Bones, by special arrangement with the Smithsonian.
GNSI - DC: Summer Travels & Summer Projects
Come reconnect with other members of the Washington, D.C. chapter!
- Alice Tangerini will offer a short PowerPoint presentation of this year's GNSI summer meeting in Savannah, GA.
- Britt Griswold would like to provide a short slide show of the field trip to Ossabaw Island. He will also bring his sketchbook to show.
You can participate! - Bring your own sketchbook;, bring an art project you've been working on, or perhaps photos of your summer adventure. Share what you did this summer with friends and colleagues.
GNSI-DC: Field Trip to the Blue Ridge
On August 18th 2012, a group of GNSI-DC members gathered for a late summer feast at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains, near Paris Virginia. The Chapter Board discussed presentation possibilities for the coming year and had a great meal. Then we got to sketch!
Many thanks to Janine Higgins and her husband for hosting us in a beautiful location.
"Good meeting, wonderful food, and some nice sketching and painting time. Thank you ALL for coming! " – Janine
Group Photo: Front L-R: Sally Bensusen, Taina Litwak, Ikumi Kayama.
Transition from Traditional Techniques to Digital Imaging
Greetings Guild Members and Guests:
Please join us for an inspiring May 2012 meeting! This will also be our last meeting before the summer break. Don't miss this one! Come one, come all!
PRESENTATION:
From the Dark Ages to Infinity and Beyond: My Transition from Traditional Techniques to Digital Imaging
GNSI-DC: Who Names a Baby "LkCa 15b"?
Greetings Guild Members and Guests!
Please join us for our April 2012 meeting:
PRESENTATION: Who Names a Baby "LkCa 15b"?
Karen Teramura will present an entertaining overview of her work with astronomers, public outreach, and the use of "The Cloud" and new social media trends in the work place. She will share new media set up strategies. Friend Karen on Facebook before the meeting or subscribe to her tweet account: @kthonhi
Tour the National Museum of Natural History Photo Lab
Please join us for our GNSI-DC March 2012 meeting:
EVENT DATE: Wednesday, March 21, 2012
PRESENTATION: Tour the National Museum of Natural History Photo Lab!
Color! Shape! Pattern! - Children's Book Authoring
Greetings, Guild Members!
Please join us for our February meeting:
PRESENTATION: Color! Shape! Pattern! A Children’s Book Author/Illustrator Reveals Her Process
Art in Process – Price Guessing, Time Guessing, and Works in Progress
Art in Process – Price Guessing, Time Guessing, and Works in Progress
Join us for an enjoyable tradition and a highly enlightening experience. We encourage everyone to bring an example of a finished project, or one still in progress. A round table format will offer everyone interested an opportunity to present information about a project: What price did that eye-popping cover fetch? Or that series of black-and-white line drawings? How was the art used? On the Web? In print? Multiple-language publications?
GNSI-Greater DC: Holiday Party and Portfolio Share
Please join us for the annual GNSI Holiday Party and Portfolio Share...
Event Date: Wednesday, December 14, 2011
(Note: this is the 2nd week in December!)
When: 6:00pm - 8:00pm
Where: Smithsonian Natural History Museum, 10th and Constitution Ave., Washington, DC
Cathy Kerby Room of the NMNH (3rd Floor, East Court, phone: 202-633-2000)
GNSI-Greater DC: Eye Grabbing Lenticulars
Event Date: Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Time: 6:00pm - 8:00pm
Presentation: How to Create Really Cool, Eye-Grabbing Outreach Products with Lenticulars – Sally Bensusen
GNSI-DC: A Virtual Tour of Adobe Photoshop
Please join us for the next Guild of Natural Science Illustrators meeting:
Presentation: A Virtual Tour of Adobe Photoshop – Ikumi Kayama
Photoshop is a powerful graphic editing software with endless possibilities. However, because of its complexity and its somewhat unfriendly interface, many new users get discouraged and only use the basic tools in the default settings. Like any other medium, Photoshop can be customized to create your own styles and techniques.
