Audrey Miles Cherney:
Drawn to her passion
Drawn to her passion
First published in Living on the Peninsula Magazine,
Summer 2007
By Shelly Randall
The ladybug (Coccinellidae sp.) arrived serendi-
pitously at our photo shoot.
It obligingly climbed onto Audrey’s finger, then her hand lens, and I clicked away as the antics
of that cheerful spotted insect produced a look of unfeigned delight on the face of my subject:
a natural science illustrator whose ebullience for the natural world I now was certain my
camera had captured.
I’d gotten my shots, but the friendly ladybug showed no signs of departing. So with a
mischievous gleam in her artist’s eye, Audrey eased it onto a blank page of her spiral-bound
sketchbook and grabbed her pen. I watched, fascinated, as she filled in a simple, tiny oval
with entomological details my unpracticed eye hadn’t picked up on but immediately
recognized as unique to our subject.
After a hilarious minute of alternately sketching and corralling the pea-sized creature, Audrey
was flushed and laughing, but triumphant in producing a
life-sized replica of our friend on the page. Admittedly, the
drawing was in black and white, but there was no doubt it
was our ladybug.
So real it looked ready to “fly away home” alongside its
cherry-red twin.
Certified illustrator
Port Townsend resident Audrey Miles Cherney has always been an artist.
“As a young person, plants and animals were a favorite subject,” she says. “I leaned toward
drawing things with a touch of realism rather than abstraction. I was drawn to the details.”
But it wasn’t until college that Audrey realized her aptitude for science could be combined with
her love of art—in the field of natural science illustration.
She declined a scholarship to art school, but her four years at Colorado State University
resulted in a double major in forest biology and studio art. “There was no formal blending of
the two subjects. It was up to me to find the connection,” Audrey recalls. “So often, I was
asked, ‘How are those related?’ I came to realize I could do illustrations that would educate
people about science and about nature.”
A college internship with the U.S. Forest Service led to her illustrations being published in
national forestry handbooks, and an independent study resulted in a series of nature trail
signs that were posted at CSU’s Environmental Learning Center.
Audrey met fellow scientist Luke Cherney at CSU and after graduation they both found
seasonal natural resource jobs in Washington state. Luke asked her to marry him on a
backpacking trip along the Olympic coast in 2000; they wed in 2002 and soon after returned
to settle on the Olympic Peninsula.
Luke found employment with the Jefferson County Conservation District and Audrey went to
work for the North Olympic Salmon Coalition as a restoration steward and outreach/education
coordinator. Many of the trees now growing along Chimacum Creek were planted on her
watch.
In the fall of 2004, Audrey committed to a twice-a-week Seattle commute and became certified
as a natural science illustrator through the University of Washington’s 9-month certificate
program. “It was geared toward scientists wanting to learn to observe and draw better, or
artists who wanted to improve their biological understanding,” explains Audrey.
“For me, being both an artist and a scientist, it helped me blend my educational background
and take my illustration to the next level of professionalism.”
Rosehip Studio is born
Life’s priorities shifted in the fall of 2006, when Audrey gave birth to her first child at age 30
and made the leap to self-employment. She launched Rosehip Studio from her Port
Townsend residence in the spring of this year, offering clients her diverse background in art,
natural resource management and environmental education.
One of her early projects on the Peninsula was illustrating a native plant brochure for Wild
Olympic Salmon’s garden at H.J. Carroll Park in Jefferson County.
Now with 8-month-old Evelyn in her life, Audrey finds herself—and her pen—gravitating
toward children. This has resulted in a side business to her natural science illustration:
portraits drawn from photographs as well as from life. Her portraits are especially popular
among families with children, but Audrey also immortalizes pets, prized garden flowers, or
other special objects, places and people.
In addition to portraits and other fine art, Rosehip Studio provides hand-illustrated artwork for
scientific and educational projects and publications. Owner/artist Audrey Miles Cherney can
be reached at 360-379-4743 or at audreyanne@rosehipstudio.com. For more information,
visit www.rosehipstudio.com.
Illustrating Her Points:
An interview with Audrey Miles Cherney
Writer Shelly Randall (SR) speaks with Audrey Miles Cherney (AMC), owner/artist of Rosehip Studio in Port
Townsend, about her approach to natural science illustrations.
SR: How do you begin a natural science illustration?
AMC: It starts with researching your subject so that you understand what you’re drawing. It’s not just the
visual elements of your subject you’re studying; you’re researching the biology of it. If it’s a living thing, what it
does, where it lives, why it does what it does. If it’s an inanimate object, how it was formed, where it’s found,
and other relevant details.
SR: How do you go about your research?
AMC: If it’s a subject that I have access to, I’ll definitely go to it. If it’s a native Washington plant, I’ll seek it out.
If it’s a subject that’s not regional or if I need more information, I’ll do research online, at a library, or at a
museum. The University of Washington’s herbarium (of plant specimens) is especially useful for studying
rare plants, and is generally useful for showing size relationships, vein patterns and growth patterns,
although because the plants are dried, you lose the color. The Burke Museum collects bird and animal
specimens, so you can look at the bones, the pelts, the wings, the feathers.
SR: So you prefer to have your subject in front of you?
AMC: Yes, it’s much better to work from the actual object, or at least to have spent time with it. You can turn
the object and get a feel for the dimensions of it and see how things relate. If it’s an animal, you can see
how it moves. I also use photographs, but with those, you’re limited by the lens’ depth of field. If you don’t
know the object intimately and up-close, you may miss details that you would see otherwise if you had the
specimen in hand.
SR: What if you can’t take your subject back to your drawing board?
AMC: If can’t take the specimen with me, or if the specimen will change over time—like a plant that will wilt
after it’s picked—I will sketch it in the field to get a feel for how it’s situated in its habitat. I will also make
written notes about the subject and its surroundings, and then I will take a series of reference pictures.
Usually I’ll print the pictures, but if my color needs are very specific, I’ll use slide film. I don’t own a slide
projector, so I use a slide viewer or a light table with a magnifying loupe.
SR: When it’s time to start the actual drawing, what’s your process?
AMC: First I sketch out different plans for the visual composition. Once I find an appropriate design for the
project, I start a preliminary illustration with pencil, or in some cases, charcoal—so the lines can be
changed easily as I make corrections. I’ll start with wanting to capture the general form and shape of an
object. If it’s something I can pick up and hold, and I want to get a really precise drawing of it, I’ll take
measurements of it, using rulers and calipers. But often I’ll start out with the suggestive form of the object
and get a feel for its shape. Once I get that, I start adding in detail, starting with the larger details and working
in towards the small, delicate details. When I'm ready to do the final illustration I have to transfer the image
to a clean drawing surface because the preliminary drawing gets marred by extraneous lines and erasing. I
do this by tracing the preliminary drawing onto the final illustration surface. I then finish the illustration by
adding in the shading and/or color.
SR: Say more about color.
AMC: My approach with color is that I build it up in layers. I start off with undertones and work up to the final
colors. I typically work slowly so that I capture the subtle colors. My favorite media are watercolors, color
pencils and oil pastels.
SR: How do you see natural science illustration as different from “fine art”?
AMC: For natural science illustration, it’s about communicating specific information. The idea is to educate
the viewer about the subject. It’s also definitely about studying your subject well and being accurate with
measurements and scale. It’s not about my impression of the subject, it’s about what’s actually there. It’s
also knowing how to render certain details that might otherwise be lost, and knowing what details to leave
out. Or doing an inset to zoom in on a minute detail, like the scales on a butterfly’s wing. Fine art can
certainly include scientific details, but it is more about the emotional response of the viewer, not the
educational value. There’s one more difference between fine art and illustration. I typically sell only certain
reproductive rights to the illustrative work, so as the artist, I get to keep the original art.
To obtain reprint rights for this article, contact author Shelly Randall.
Summer 2007
By Shelly Randall
The ladybug (Coccinellidae sp.) arrived serendi-
pitously at our photo shoot.
It obligingly climbed onto Audrey’s finger, then her hand lens, and I clicked away as the antics
of that cheerful spotted insect produced a look of unfeigned delight on the face of my subject:
a natural science illustrator whose ebullience for the natural world I now was certain my
camera had captured.
I’d gotten my shots, but the friendly ladybug showed no signs of departing. So with a
mischievous gleam in her artist’s eye, Audrey eased it onto a blank page of her spiral-bound
sketchbook and grabbed her pen. I watched, fascinated, as she filled in a simple, tiny oval
with entomological details my unpracticed eye hadn’t picked up on but immediately
recognized as unique to our subject.
After a hilarious minute of alternately sketching and corralling the pea-sized creature, Audrey
was flushed and laughing, but triumphant in producing a
life-sized replica of our friend on the page. Admittedly, the
drawing was in black and white, but there was no doubt it
was our ladybug.
So real it looked ready to “fly away home” alongside its
cherry-red twin.
Certified illustrator
Port Townsend resident Audrey Miles Cherney has always been an artist.
“As a young person, plants and animals were a favorite subject,” she says. “I leaned toward
drawing things with a touch of realism rather than abstraction. I was drawn to the details.”
But it wasn’t until college that Audrey realized her aptitude for science could be combined with
her love of art—in the field of natural science illustration.
She declined a scholarship to art school, but her four years at Colorado State University
resulted in a double major in forest biology and studio art. “There was no formal blending of
the two subjects. It was up to me to find the connection,” Audrey recalls. “So often, I was
asked, ‘How are those related?’ I came to realize I could do illustrations that would educate
people about science and about nature.”
A college internship with the U.S. Forest Service led to her illustrations being published in
national forestry handbooks, and an independent study resulted in a series of nature trail
signs that were posted at CSU’s Environmental Learning Center.
Audrey met fellow scientist Luke Cherney at CSU and after graduation they both found
seasonal natural resource jobs in Washington state. Luke asked her to marry him on a
backpacking trip along the Olympic coast in 2000; they wed in 2002 and soon after returned
to settle on the Olympic Peninsula.
Luke found employment with the Jefferson County Conservation District and Audrey went to
work for the North Olympic Salmon Coalition as a restoration steward and outreach/education
coordinator. Many of the trees now growing along Chimacum Creek were planted on her
watch.
In the fall of 2004, Audrey committed to a twice-a-week Seattle commute and became certified
as a natural science illustrator through the University of Washington’s 9-month certificate
program. “It was geared toward scientists wanting to learn to observe and draw better, or
artists who wanted to improve their biological understanding,” explains Audrey.
“For me, being both an artist and a scientist, it helped me blend my educational background
and take my illustration to the next level of professionalism.”
Rosehip Studio is born
Life’s priorities shifted in the fall of 2006, when Audrey gave birth to her first child at age 30
and made the leap to self-employment. She launched Rosehip Studio from her Port
Townsend residence in the spring of this year, offering clients her diverse background in art,
natural resource management and environmental education.
One of her early projects on the Peninsula was illustrating a native plant brochure for Wild
Olympic Salmon’s garden at H.J. Carroll Park in Jefferson County.
Now with 8-month-old Evelyn in her life, Audrey finds herself—and her pen—gravitating
toward children. This has resulted in a side business to her natural science illustration:
portraits drawn from photographs as well as from life. Her portraits are especially popular
among families with children, but Audrey also immortalizes pets, prized garden flowers, or
other special objects, places and people.
In addition to portraits and other fine art, Rosehip Studio provides hand-illustrated artwork for
scientific and educational projects and publications. Owner/artist Audrey Miles Cherney can
be reached at 360-379-4743 or at audreyanne@rosehipstudio.com. For more information,
visit www.rosehipstudio.com.
Illustrating Her Points:
An interview with Audrey Miles Cherney
Writer Shelly Randall (SR) speaks with Audrey Miles Cherney (AMC), owner/artist of Rosehip Studio in Port
Townsend, about her approach to natural science illustrations.
SR: How do you begin a natural science illustration?
AMC: It starts with researching your subject so that you understand what you’re drawing. It’s not just the
visual elements of your subject you’re studying; you’re researching the biology of it. If it’s a living thing, what it
does, where it lives, why it does what it does. If it’s an inanimate object, how it was formed, where it’s found,
and other relevant details.
SR: How do you go about your research?
AMC: If it’s a subject that I have access to, I’ll definitely go to it. If it’s a native Washington plant, I’ll seek it out.
If it’s a subject that’s not regional or if I need more information, I’ll do research online, at a library, or at a
museum. The University of Washington’s herbarium (of plant specimens) is especially useful for studying
rare plants, and is generally useful for showing size relationships, vein patterns and growth patterns,
although because the plants are dried, you lose the color. The Burke Museum collects bird and animal
specimens, so you can look at the bones, the pelts, the wings, the feathers.
SR: So you prefer to have your subject in front of you?
AMC: Yes, it’s much better to work from the actual object, or at least to have spent time with it. You can turn
the object and get a feel for the dimensions of it and see how things relate. If it’s an animal, you can see
how it moves. I also use photographs, but with those, you’re limited by the lens’ depth of field. If you don’t
know the object intimately and up-close, you may miss details that you would see otherwise if you had the
specimen in hand.
SR: What if you can’t take your subject back to your drawing board?
AMC: If can’t take the specimen with me, or if the specimen will change over time—like a plant that will wilt
after it’s picked—I will sketch it in the field to get a feel for how it’s situated in its habitat. I will also make
written notes about the subject and its surroundings, and then I will take a series of reference pictures.
Usually I’ll print the pictures, but if my color needs are very specific, I’ll use slide film. I don’t own a slide
projector, so I use a slide viewer or a light table with a magnifying loupe.
SR: When it’s time to start the actual drawing, what’s your process?
AMC: First I sketch out different plans for the visual composition. Once I find an appropriate design for the
project, I start a preliminary illustration with pencil, or in some cases, charcoal—so the lines can be
changed easily as I make corrections. I’ll start with wanting to capture the general form and shape of an
object. If it’s something I can pick up and hold, and I want to get a really precise drawing of it, I’ll take
measurements of it, using rulers and calipers. But often I’ll start out with the suggestive form of the object
and get a feel for its shape. Once I get that, I start adding in detail, starting with the larger details and working
in towards the small, delicate details. When I'm ready to do the final illustration I have to transfer the image
to a clean drawing surface because the preliminary drawing gets marred by extraneous lines and erasing. I
do this by tracing the preliminary drawing onto the final illustration surface. I then finish the illustration by
adding in the shading and/or color.
SR: Say more about color.
AMC: My approach with color is that I build it up in layers. I start off with undertones and work up to the final
colors. I typically work slowly so that I capture the subtle colors. My favorite media are watercolors, color
pencils and oil pastels.
SR: How do you see natural science illustration as different from “fine art”?
AMC: For natural science illustration, it’s about communicating specific information. The idea is to educate
the viewer about the subject. It’s also definitely about studying your subject well and being accurate with
measurements and scale. It’s not about my impression of the subject, it’s about what’s actually there. It’s
also knowing how to render certain details that might otherwise be lost, and knowing what details to leave
out. Or doing an inset to zoom in on a minute detail, like the scales on a butterfly’s wing. Fine art can
certainly include scientific details, but it is more about the emotional response of the viewer, not the
educational value. There’s one more difference between fine art and illustration. I typically sell only certain
reproductive rights to the illustrative work, so as the artist, I get to keep the original art.
To obtain reprint rights for this article, contact author Shelly Randall.
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