Ep 30 - Illustrating for Science with Oliver Hoeller
I speak with Vienna-based researcher and illustrator Oliver Hoeller about the field of science illustration, and what he finds in the practice of urban sketching to make him a better illustrator, a more patient observer, and a happier person.
He tells me about his path to a scientific career, and how he leapt at the opportunity to make his first science illustrations. We talk about where good ideas come from, and the ways an illustrator can and must build a mental library of reference material. We also speak about how he used observational drawing at a difficult time in his life to catalogue his memories and deal with adverse circumstances.
Check out Oliver's work on his website, or find him on Instagram.
Find SneakyArt on Instagram or visit my website for a summary transcript of this conversation.
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Episode Summary
How did Oliver pursue his early interests towards a career in scientific research?
Oliver resumed drawing after he found himself less satisfied by the growth of his scientific career. At this time, he took the opportunity to pursue science illustration, and realized it was a niche area with him in a unique position to provide value.
"I'm not a typical science-illustrator. I wanted to use my sense of humour and artistic inclination and see how it can fit into that."
Oliver explains the nature of his illustrations and how they work at multiple levels, based on the viewer's level of understanding in the subject.
Nishant asks Oliver to explain the first few jobs he did and how he developed the thinking behind how to represent scientific concepts.
Where does Oliver get his references to generate good ideas?
"You need to engage with the world somehow and consume things as well. I realize that digested versions find their way back, even if it's just a starting idea."
"In my case it comes from 2 very different worlds - one is the world of words, certain phrases that are in the text, what they might mean and other ways to construe that. The other world that feeds into my illustration is directly from images, perhaps even that I draw. I might start with a word which grows into something else. By drawing that initial idea, something might suggest itself, that I wasn't aware of before, from seeing what I've put on paper."
Nishant talks about Derrida and the idea of words having multiple meanings. How words like liberty, mercy or justice have various meanings over time - i.e. diachronicity. And our present understandings of those words are simply their synchronic definition, which also varies from person to person. Oliver relates this to the meaning of a "flag" and how it can be thus variously used in an illustration.
How did urban sketching enter Oliver's life?
They discuss their motivations to observe and draw people in public.
"Therapy is a big word, but when you draw and you're in it, you can't think of anything depressing or anything that doesn't work. You're in that thing and it consumes you and you get your head out of other things."
"As an introvert, being able to express something about the world appealed to me."
Nishant explains how he came to start a podcast despite wanting to avoid conversations with other people. They talk about being introverted in public places while drawing, and how it changes when you do a workshop.
What are big differences and similarities between teaching in an academic setting and in an urban sketching workshop?
How does Oliver see his evolution as an artist over time?
Oliver talks about lessons he has learned, and strategies he has built over time with his practice.
What is the value of drawing or illustration in an age with multiple forms of media?
Nishant asks about Janus.
Oliver speaks about how drawing became his way to deal with and process his diagnosis of colon cancer. He put his ideas together as a graphic novel idea and approached publishers with it. But since then, publishers have lost interest and he is looking for people interested in bringing the work out.
How does art help us deal with things that are out of our control?
"First of all, it takes your mind off things... Secondly, it helps with cataloguing your experiences. By making a record you make it specific... If you take a close look at a stoma device or something, you engage with it in a meaningful way. Thirdly, and this only happens afterwards, all these diary entries and drawings help you to construct a narrative."
"We always construct a narrative. We only make meaning looking back on things."
Nishant cites the book "Order of Time" in speaking about our poor understanding of the concept of time. There is something to lose and something to gain in the idea that we reconstruct the past everytime we "look back".
Picking on Oliver's point about constructing narratives and making a story out of our past, Nishant speaks about finding patterns as a control engineer, and the conversation with Felix Scheinberger where he spoke about pareidolia.
They come back to art, and how art itself involves suspension of belief and pattern recognition between the artist and viewer. Nishant talks about the artist Maria Picasso.
How does Oliver use popular symbols in his illustration work?
What are Oliver's plans for the near future, in science illustration, arts education, or even just as an artist himself?