According to an article on the Wired blog by Betsy Mason,
science benefits when people draw their field notes by hand. The
results are not only beautiful, they're the most efficient way
to record field observations. Another reason artwork is so
important in this age of photographic imagery is that
illustrations can select and enhance features that photographs
can’t. In this photograph of the skull of Daemonosaurus, it is
very difficult to ignore the substantial cracks and deformation
due to preservation. The line drawing makes it much easier to
discern what is bone and what is rock. Scientific American
blogger Kalliopi Monoyios says, “Illustrators can ignore color
variations and minor cracks and complete missing sections based
on other specimens; essentially, we act as editors, pruning
extraneous visual information.” Read more at: 5 Reasons Your
Camera Won’t Steal My Job. Wired article on the value of field
notes Monoyios’s art/science blog is called “Symbiartic.” The
blog’s co-author is Glendon Mellow. Photo