As you walk through the doors of Hays Hall this semester, take a moment and examine the smooth lines and intricate strokes of Evan Dickey ’26’s biological drawings. A combination of watercolors and ink pen drawings, Dickey’s collection brings details of six plant species found on campus into high relief, all of which are located at Petty’s Patch in the Arboretum.
Dickey, an art and biology double major, spent his summer working with Norman Treeves Professor of Biology Amanda Ingram, learning this rare skill. Expanding his knowledge of botany as well as practicing his artistic skills, Dickey found a perfect marriage of both his interests.
Ingram has been curating a space for students to learn about both botany and floristics as a whole in the Wabash biology department. While grading his lab notebook in an introductory biology course, Ingram found that Dickey’s drawings possessed incredible detail and accuracy, far above the class norm. Realizing that Dickey possessed incredible talent as an artist, she encouraged him to apply for her internship.
“[Evan’s] BIO-112 notebook was extraordinary,” said Ingram. “His drawings were incredibly accurate, and he took a lot of care with them. I was really impressed with his skills, interest and close observation.”
“In my lab notebook, I would take way too long drawing whatever plant or animal we were learning about that week,” said Dickey. “I love to draw anyways. And [Ingram] took an interest in those drawings. That’s how it all started.”
For six weeks, Dickey spent hours every day sketching different pieces of the six plants he planned to paint or draw over the course of his internship. Focusing on one plant a week, he would painstakingly practice drawing that week’s plant. Then, by the end of each week, he would craft the final product now seen on display in Hays.
These types of technical drawings are used by scientists when publishing their work to show the reader key features or structures of a specific plant that may not be visible to the naked eye or could be hard to spot via a photograph. A beautiful blend of composition and functionality, Dickey’s drawings reveal intricate details of plants such as smooth solomon’s-seal, Jack-in-the-pulpit and butterfly weed that could theoretically be used as a reference for scientific publications.
“[The drawings] are just very aesthetically pleasing,” said Ingram. “But they also, at the same time, show a lot of the key details that the casual viewer of a plant would never notice. There’s a bridge between something that’s purely decorative but also showing some of the detail that a scientist would be interested in.”
Biological drawing is not a common skill within the discipline. It requires a unique skill set consisting of high-level biology knowledge and immense technical drawing and/or painting skills. A perfect combination for Dickey, but hard to come by otherwise. Because the skill is so rare, most botanists will learn enough of the discipline to draw their plants of interest themselves. Not exactly the work of a professional, but the alternative can be pricey.
“We’re not funding enough of alpha taxonomy work, which is the basic science of exploring biodiversity and describing it,” said Ingram. “The incentives are poor for doing that work; it’s hard, time consuming and the places that will publish it are not as high-impact. Scientists rarely have the money on hand to pay a professional illustrator to do an illustration.”
While Dickey may not have his sights set on becoming a professional biological illustrator, it’s clear that he will continue to merge art and science in meaningful ways at Wabash. Even as a junior, Dickey knew that working with Ingram was a gateway to ideas for his senior art project.
“For a senior art project, you’re supposed to come up with your own set of pieces, similar to what I did this summer,” said Dickey. “And so even before I started the internship, I was trying to think about how I would be able to do that.”
“I really want to merge biology and art together in some way for my senior project,” added Dickey. “This summer really helped me put into context how I could do that in an impactful way. It’s very satisfying to see just how well those two majors can work together in ways that I really didn’t expect.”
An artist’s hand and a botanist’s eye is a potent mix for Dickey. His attention to detail and careful brushstrokes make for a stunning display of craftsmanship, making the display in Hays one of the best new additions of student research to Wabash. All that’s left to do is sit back and enjoy it.