Hoeksema Written Project 11 Audobon Analysis
November 7, 2011
As I stared at the illustration of these fierce-looking birds, attempting to recreate an image of the drawing with as little stray from the original as possible, I contemplated the amount of time and effort the artist must have put into creating this drawing. The detail of the drawing is incredible, especially in respect to the birds. Every line, color and angle of the birds in the picture represents something new and important in both the aesthetic and scientific interpretations of the drawing. Even though there are many other parts of this work of art besides the birds, each points out a different aspect or detail of the birds. This is why I realized that the main focus of the drawing, besides the fact that it is in the “Audobon Book of Birds”, is undoubtedly the birds.
The first aspect of the book that I realized was not actually part of the picture, but the size of the book. It raises the questions: why was there a need for such a large book?
Wouldn’t it be inconvenient to have to carry a book that big when one is using it to try to identify birds? Well, besides the fact that a larger book would most likely sell for more money, a larger page would be able to include more details of the birds. Freedburg wrote about the amount of detail needed in these pictures in order for them to be used for scientific purposes. He mentions that there were only some illustrations of animals and plants could be used because it was so hard to include the amount of detail needed for classification.
1 There is also more space to include other objects, such as the butterflies, caterpillar, and leaves, that point to other aspects of the birds that might not be included in a smaller illustration. The enormity of the drawing is more aesthetically pleasing as
1 David Freedberg, “The Doctor’s Dilemmas,” The Eye of the Lynx (Chicago:
University of Illinois Press, 2002), 1-10, 275-304, 456-461

well. People’s eyes tend to be attracted to larger, more colorful objects than those that are smaller and duller.
As I began to sketch the nature depicted on the page of the Audobon, a few details of the illustration caught my attention. One aspect that I noticed first was that there are three birds instead of one. One would think that an artist would try to draw one large, detailed picture of the bird to try to include every little intricacy as clearly as possible.
However, drawing three birds is actually more advantageous in terms of classification.
Nickelsen brought up the difficulty of illustrating certain plants and the same could be said for birds as well. She writes that there are, “whole classes of objects,” that are included in illustrating something for classification.
2 While an illustration with one large bird would include the smaller, less important details of the bird, a drawing with three birds shows the bird from different angles. Considering that one would not know in what circumstances one would encounter the bird, knowing the bird from different angles would be beneficial.
Even though having three birds instead of one bird includes more of the details of the bird from all angles, usually the main focus of pictures are portrayed in the middle of the illustrations. The three birds make the drawing unbalanced. This brings up the question: how do we know that the birds are the intentional focus of the illustration? The answer is the immense detail and depth of the picture. The birds have much more detail than any other part of the picture. The other nature in the drawing have generic colors or details and faded lines, while the birds are all specific colors and sharp edges and lines.
2 Kärin Nickelson, “Draughtsmen, Botanists and Nature: Constructing
Eighteenth-Century Botanical Illustrations,” Studies in History and Philosophy of
Biological and Biomedical Sciences 37 (2006): 1-25

This increases their importance in the drawing. The birds are also in the foreground of the illustration, while most of the other objects, besides the branch, are in the background.
The different levels of the painting not only increase the aesthetically pleasing aspect of the drawing, but also the prowess of the birds.
In addition to the different angles of the birds in the illustration, I noticed the rich colors of the illustration quickly as well. During the time when the Audobon was created, it was rare to find classification books in color. However, especially when trying to portray the different details of birds, color is very important. The colors of the bugs, leaves, and branch are all not as specific as those of the birds. The birds are depicted in the most lifelike colors that are possible. The small specifics of the birds are included in color as well; all of the shadows created by the wings and different designs of the feathers are present. The lush details of the birds increase their significance in the picture.
While drawing the other pieces of the picture, I began to wonder why the artist had decided to include the other aspects of the drawing besides the birds. The artist could have only included the birds at different angles with a blank background instead of in nature. The birds are clearly the main focus of the illustration, so why include anything additional that might lead the viewer’s eye away from them? I then realized that each component besides the birds added an element that might help in the classification of the birds. Nickelsen writes that the teacher Christoph Jacob Trew wrote in a letter to his former teacher Johann Ambrosius Beurer, “As to the background, I will leave this to the judgment of the artist… I would plead once more for nature to be expressed as clearly as

possible…” 3 This shows that classification artists choose their background based on what they think would make the drawing more accurate. I saw the branch, and the moss-like growth on it. This might help the viewer learn where the birds are found and something about their natural habitat since moss doesn’t grow in very many places. I then noticed the butterflies and caterpillar. Further, the flying depiction of the bird is looking towards the butterfly, almost as if it is chasing it. These insects might be the pray of the bird, which would help classify the bird even more. These bugs could also help the viewer understand where the natural habitat of the bird may be. The last aspect that I noticed was the size of the leaves in comparison to the bird. This contrast helps make the viewer understand that the bird is most likely quite small. The butterflies and caterpillar also help make this distinction about the bird. Besides increasing the visual experience of the picture, the additional elements of the drawing also increase the detail of the birds and their importance in the picture.
As I finished up my flawed attempt of refabricating the Audobon picture, I looked back at it and found that I had included an incredible amount of detail on the birds compared to any other part of the painting. In noticing all of these different elements of the illustration as I drew, I had focused the most on what they tried to emphasize. This furthered my belief that all of the parts of the drawing built up the significance of the main point of the drawing: the birds. The fact that there are three birds instead of one, that the birds are much more detailed with their color and lines, and that the other elements of the Audobon picture, such as the surrounding animals and plants, emphasize
3 Kärin Nickelson, “Draughtsmen, Botanists and Nature: Constructing
Eighteenth-Century Botanical Illustrations,” Studies in History and Philosophy of
Biological and Biomedical Sciences 37 (2006): 1-25

the importance of the birds, all point towards the birds being undoubtedly the most important part of the drawing.