Workshops and Lectures

Events

Rick Simonson is available to give lectures and teach workshops on scientific illustration techniques and practices.

  • In-person and online lectures

  • In-person and online workshops

What kind of instruction are you interested in?

Topics:

  • Sketching

  • Graphite drawing

  • Watercolor

  • Colored Pencil

  • Digital illustration (Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, Corel Painter, Procreate, Rebelle, etc.)

  • Illustrating specific subjects (paleontology, insects, birds, mammals, processes, etc.)

  • Business practices (setting up a scientific illustration business, working with clients, etc.)

Expertise

Rick Simonson has taught numerous in-person and online workshops on a variety of scientific illustration topics including sketching, digital illustration, business practices. Has over 25 years of experience teaching at the college level. He has taught courses in scientific illustration and biology, both in-person and online, at the undergraduate and graduate level.

He has recently taught workshops for the Guild of Natural Science Illustrators (GNSI). Online workshops as part of the GNSI Education Series and In-person full-day and half-day workshops at conferences.

“This got me out of the way I usually approach my artwork, and I’m really happy with what I produced during the workshop.”

“I did a couple of very cool things today, and I thought I’d share one of them now: I attended an Advanced Sketching workshop by Rick Simonson, sponsored by the Guild of Natural Science Illustrators. This workshop was held over Zoom, and the focus was on making relatively quick sketches that contain all the necessary information to go back later and create a fully rendered illustration. This was great practice for me … I think of myself as a slow artist, which is kind of inconvenient when trying to field sketch birds and wildlife. Given the online format, today we were drawing from reference photos, and Rick encouraged us to sketch fast, focusing on shapes rather than detail, and to also play with compositions that were informed by the references, but adjusted the poses and POV. This got me out of the way I usually approach my artwork, and I’m really happy with what I produced during the workshop. I also took a bit of time this afternoon to render one of my sketches to its final form. Thanks so much to Rick and the GNSI for a genuinely useful event!”

Wendy St. John

“I’m looking forward to taking more of your workshops.”

“I THOROUGHLY enjoyed the workshop yesterday and it sparked the creative fire. 🔥 Timing was great because we had the opportunity to work quickly. The key for me is the self assessment as I draw. I usually find an error and during the next round fix it and find the next and so on. I like your plan to spend an “uncomfortable” amount of time studying and assessing. I’m looking forward to taking more of your workshops.”

Ken Fasano