Meet the Artist
Catherine Hu, Natural Science Illustrator
My Art Journey
When I took art lessons as a child, I enjoyed them but never felt very attached or invested in any of the pieces. School got busy, and I didn’t think twice about dropping it. During my senior year in college, I was under a lot of pressure in engineering school, participating in student orgs, and looking for jobs. The Society of Women Engineers held a social event where we painted together. As I was scrolling through my phone for inspiration, I saw the famous painting “The Scream” by Edvard Munch. The more I read about it, the more I identified with the screaming figure. I painted furiously for two hours, pouring all of my stress into it and felt much better after. This is the painting that started it all.
I took a gap year after college and began making time regularly to practice painting. The subjects were whatever I felt excited about or could find a tutorial for on Youtube, including plants, animals, landscapes, and buildings. When I started my career in land management and ecological restoration, I needed to learn plant identification quickly, so I collected samples or took photos and painted them. I started with flowers and maybe a leaf, but now I am working towards learning all the parts of a plant’s lifecycle including roots, seedlings, mature leaves and flowers, fruits, and seeds.
Because I paint to learn, it is important that my paintings are accurate and realistic. Using feathering, lifting, masking and layering, I capture details that aid in identification. My primary medium is transparent watercolor but I will occasionally use Japanese Gansai paint, gouache, and colored pencil. I am intrigued by the colors and shapes found in nature but am especially fascinated by relationships between organisms and how they have adapted to live with each other. My goal is to share the beautiful flora and fauna that occur naturally here in the Midwest and to hopefully encourage others to plant natives!
PC: Brian Lu, Cam Mannino, Mike Saxton, Sophia Shui
My recreation of “The Scream” by Edvard Munch from 2015.
Artists I’ve learned from: Lindsay Weirich (TheFrugalCrafter), Robin Sealark, Sha’an d’Anthes (furrylittlepeach), Lena Danya, Makoccino, Zoe Wilson, Minnie Small, Pearfleur