Lines and Colors art blog

Michael Rothman

Michael Rothman, natural science illustrator
Michael Rothman is a natural science illustrator who appears to specialize in complex scenes of plants and animals in their natural environment. His subjects include both extant and extinct species.

Rothman has a superb ability to render highly detailed compositions — with multiple focal points of individual plants and animals — in a way that is both clear and naturalistic.

Some of his paintings are so naturalistic that they have the feeling of nicely painted landscapes that just happen to be intimate in scale. I particularly admire his representation of textures; many of his images feel highly tactile.

Rothman’s online profile mentions that he works both in traditional and digital media, but the individual images in the galleries on his website don’t have an indication of medium.

There is also a selection of his images on Science-Art.com.

Rothman’s clients include publications like The New York Times, Scientific American and The New Yorker, publishers like Random House, Wiliam Morrow and Harper/Collins, and a number of museums, zoos and other institutions.

Some of his book credits as illustrator include: Here Is the Tropical Rain Forest (Web of Life), At Home with the Gopher Tortoise: The Story of a Keystone Species, The Forest in the Clouds and Jaguar in the Rain Forest (Amazon links).


Comments

One response to “Michael Rothman”

  1. Nice to see that a grand tradition of science and history illustration that we grew up with in publications like National Geographic and the Time-Life book series continues in this vibrant form.