Welcome to the portfolio! Here you will find an overview of the projects I have done during my training in scientific illustration and collaborations with the research laboratories and other institutions.
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Scientific illustration.
Species archetype
Grapsus grapsus
(Zapaya, Crabe Sally Lightfoot)
Description: Typical dorsal view of Grapsus Grapsus, representing the species archetype for an adult male specimen. Museum stuffed material and live specimens in the field were used as reference.
Technique: Watercolor and colored pencils.
Do you want to know how I work with color images?
Descriptive panel
Helychrisium valentinum
Description: This description of Helychrisum valentinum is based on herbarium specimens from the Botanical Garden of Madrid. Taking into account the scale and harmony of the composition (indicated by the sidebars of each figure), this card shows the main structures of the angiosperm, essential for its description and taxonomic classification: a) habit, b) and c) leaves, d) florets, e) and f) achenes, g), h and i) inner, middle and outer bracts respectively.
Technique: Pen and ink.
Do you want to know how I work with the descriptive cards?
Species archetype
Opuntia ficus-indica
Description: Known in Mexico as ‘Nopal’, this plant has a wide range of uses, from medicine to gastronomy. This domesticated species of Opuntia sp has been of undeniable importance in America since pre-Columbian times.
That's why I chose this species to include in the exhibition at the Green Open Gallery of Ellas Ilustran botica at the Royal Botanic Garden of Madrid, which showcases the excellence of contemporary botanical illustration by 21st-century artists.
In this illustration, taking into account the harmony of the composition and the detail and rigour needed to represent the species: the oblong cladodes with their flowers and fruit.
Technique: Watercolour and coloured pencil.
Find out more about the Open Green Gallery exhibition at Madrid's Botanical Gardens:
Species archetype
Lucanus cervus
Description: Dorsal view of an adult female Lucanus cervus. The distinctive features of this beetle species are illustrated with rigor and attention to scale, creating realistic volumes with lights and shadows.
Winner of the biological illustration contest organized within the framework of the I Congreso de Posgrado en Biociencias del Instituto Politécnico Nacional de México.
Technique: Graphite.
Do you want to know how I work with graphite?
Species archetype
Lophium pinicola
Description: View of the fruiting bodies of Lophium pinicola taken in the laboratory of Dr. T Raymundo of the Instituto Politécnico Nacional.
Taking into account the contrast between dark and brightness as well as the harmony of the composition, the usual distribution of these gregarious fungi in conifers was depicted in an unique way, where the morphological characteristics representative of this new species are highlighted.
This file, along with two others of which I am the author, will be the subject of a collaboration that will result in the publication of a joint article (still under review).
Technique: Graphite.
Mytilinidiales
Description: This file on Mytilinidon mexicanum was produced in collaboration with Dr. Tania Raymundo's laboratory at the Instituto Politécnico Nacional.
Taking into account the contrast between dark and brightness and harmony of the composition as well as the real scale (indicated by the side bars of each figure), the structures essential to the classification and description of this new species of ascomycete have been studied and represented in detail, such as: the fruiting body (a and b), the ascospores (c), the ascus (d) and the hymenium (e).
This sheet, along with two others of which I am the author, will be the subject of a collaboration that will result in the publication of a joint article (still under review).
Technique: Graphite and digital.
Species archetype
Caulerpa cylindracea
Description: View of the stolons, fronds and rhizoids of Caulerpa Cylindracea. This illustration, with scale and rigor, highlights the distinctive features of this seaweed, but also uses the rules of drawing and composition to give rhythm and naturalness to the specimens, as if they were under the sea.
Technique: Watercolor.
Do you want to know how I work with color images?
Naturalist illustration
Caretta Caretta
Description: Emphasizing the contrasts of light and shadow to highlight the beautiful textures of the caparace of this small turtle that just come out of the shell.
This naturalistic illustration was made based on specimens of Caretta caretta, a species of sea turtle that inhabits almost all the seas of the planet.
Final project leading to the completition of the study programme "Natural History Illustration 101" of Newcastle University.
Technique: Graphite
Palaeo-artistic reconstruction
Would you like to know how to reconstruct an extinct animal from fossil remains?
Euplocephalus tutus
Description: Palaeo-artistic reconstruction of Euplocephalus tutus on a coastal plain of the ancient continent of Laramidia in the Late Cretaceous, now western Canada.
The explosion in the diversity of other mega-herbivore species during this period was accompanied by the appearance and diversification of angiosperms. In the final illustration, we aim to highlight this phenomenon by depicting the palaeoflora of the time, such as. To ensure that the two species were reconstituted with the remains in the same deposits found in Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta, Ca.
Technique: Digital.