NATURAL SCIENCE ILLUSTRATOR, ARTIST & PHOTOGRAPHER B.Sc. (Zoology) B.F.A. (Honours in Wildlife Illustration)
Rebecca Robinson has been passionate about nature and art from an early age. Her inspiration stems from three major passions: nature, art & travel.
She was born in Hamburg, Germany in 1971. Due to her peripatetic upbringing she has had the opportunity to live and travel extensively throughout the world.
Rebecca feels that the ability to travel and experience different cultures and natural environments has in itself been an education. Her life experiences abroad have opened her mind, given her perspective, enhanced her personal growth, and nurtured a deeper appreciation and respect for nature and the need for its conservation.
Rebecca graduated from the University of Melbourne in Australia with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Zoology in 1998. Although she always managed to do a sketch now and again, her main focus at that time was science. It was not until her final year of study that she was encouraged to take her artistic talent seriously with the aim one day, perhaps, of marrying the two disciplines. Once Rebecca made the decision to finally give art the attention it deserved, there was no turning back.
She completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree with Honors in Wildlife Illustration, at the University of Newcastle, NSW, Australia in 1999. Early in the year, she won first prize of the Black and White Illustration division Australian Entomological Society Insect Illustration Competition. Then in August 1999 she was awarded winner of the prestigious Margaret Senior National Parks and Wildlife Scholarship for Plant and Wildlife Illustration.
Shortly after leaving the course Rebecca was offered a part-time position in the U.S. at the art and graphics department of the Marine Science Institute, University of California Santa Barbara (UCSB). In 2001 she left UCSB to become a professional freelance natural science illustrator. Since then she has sold most of her work to private collectors, learning institutions, and has her work published in books internationally.
She enjoys working in various mediums including watercolour, pen & ink, pencil, pastel, airbrush, digital, illustration and photography. Natural Science Illustration is a meticulous process that involves research and observation as well as the artistic and creative challenges that are presented in any type of artwork. But for Rebecca these preliminary aspects are just as important for her motivation, inspiration and growth as an artist. Very often, for her, getting to know her subject, quietly, patiently, with sensitivity, respect and always with a questioning, open mind is just as enjoyable as applying that infamously tantalizing last stroke of the brush.
Art is a means by which she can contribute to environmental conservation and education. She hopes that her artwork may spark curiosity and encourage a deeper understanding, and appreciation of nature. It allows Rebecca to work within her interests and to earn a living doing what she loves most.
EDUCATION
1998-1999: Bachelor of Fine Arts (Honours in Wildlife Illustration) University of Newcastle, NSW, Australia
1996-1998: Bachelor of Science (Zoology) University of Melbourne, VIC, Australia
1990-1996: Associates Diploma in Biology Santa Barbara City College, CA, USA
