Sketching from a scientific perspective

CHENGDU — Li Jian is a professional sketcher who values accuracy over creativity and draws to record, not to make art.

The 61-year-old is a senior lab scientist at the Chengdu Institute of Biology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and has dedicated himself to scientific sketching of animal and plant taxonomy.

"My job is to draw amphibians and reptiles from the best angle and with the most accurate morphological features and colors for the readers," says Li.

Over the past 40-plus years, he has sketched thousands of animals and plants, presenting to readers more than 730 species. He has developed a particularly keen eye that helps him identify even the tiniest features of animals and plants.

"It is impossible for an animal to arrange every part of its body in the way we want it so that we can take a clear picture of it," Li says.

"Different from works of art, my drawings require a high level of scientific rigor."

In animal and plant taxonomy, species are often identified through tiny features. Take frogs, for example. Some have long fingers, while others have short ones. Some have fingers that are unwebbed, some partially webbed, and others fully webbed. The tip of their fingers can be pointed or round, and with or without grooves.

"Sometimes, I need to study the structure of my subject under a microscope before starting to draw," he says.

Usually, it takes Li about 10 days to draw a palm-sized animal. For complicated animals, like snakes covered in scales, it will take him nearly a month.

A big obstacle Li encounters in his work is the fading color of specimens as a result of longtime immersion in chemicals. In this case, he needs to rely on known morphological characteristics of the specimen and text descriptions to make his sketches more accurate.