• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer
SayoStudio

SayoStudio

Seeking: Scientific dreamers in need of a partner to visualize their discoveries & technology.

  • Case Studies
  • Services
  • Our Process
  • About Us
    • FAQs
  • Get In Touch
  • Gallery
  • Blog

Generic selectors
Exact matches only
Search in title
Search in content

Ocean Ecology Science Illustration

Polluted Oceans Future by Nicolle R. Fuller, SayoStudio

The Future of Our Oceans Science Illustration

Picture our oceans in 30 years. What do you see? The year 2050 isn’t that far off, and it’s critically important that we make changes now to secure a healthy future. The lead image above paints a dark picture of future ocean ecosystems—but it doesn’t have to turn out this way.

Ecologist, marine biologist, and conservationist Douglas J. McCauley, UCSB, contacted Nicolle to create this ocean ecology science illustration. For McCauley’s article, 10 steps to save the ocean, he needed a vivid visual of the consequences of inaction. Read on to learn more about the process of creating this epic illustration, and to see the alternative, healthy future (or jump to the full art close-up).

Land vs Sea Extinctions by Nicolle R. Fuller, SayoStudio
Humans have had a drastic impact on land, leading to pollution and extinctions. Will our oceans face the same fate?

This is the kind of challenge we love at SayoStudio—making epic, conceptually complex art pieces for important causes. Nicolle has had the pleasure of working with the McCauley lab for many years, with one of our first and most popular collaborations shown here, comparing land and ocean extinctions. McCauley referenced this land vs sea extinction art as a starting point for his vision of the new ecology landscape. (Here’s another of our favorite ecology illustrations, focused on hippo poop!).

The land/sea extinction comparison was one of SayoStudio’s first ‘epic’ pieces. It shows the history of the human impact on land and the parallels to our oceans’ possible ecological future. This piece became a great example of how rich and visually complex an infographic can be.

Clarifying Details: Research and Sketching Ocean Ecology Science Illustration

McCauley provided Nicolle with a detailed list of content to include, plus pages of helpful photo references. The healthy ocean ecology illustration needed to include:

  • sustainable fishing
  • green energy, including solar, wind, and wave
  • sustainable farming, including landbased and aquaculture
  • people’s role, enjoying recreation, and clean cities and communities
  • responsible shipping powered by green energy
  • diverse marine life, from mangroves and corals to deep-sea vents

versus the unhealthy vision, where the ocean ecosystem has collapsed:

  • destructive trawling fishing leaving little behind
  • oil drilling, polluting the ocean and air
  • large-scale pollution from land-based farming and aquaculture
  • unsustainable land-use; unhealthy housing
  • polluting cargo ships that interfere with whales and other marine animal communication
  • little sea life left, replaced with plastic pollution

Composing the Ocean Ecology Science Illustration

Science Ecology Illustration sketch by Nicolle R. Fuller, SayoStudioStarting with McCauley’s references, Nicolle gathered her own research to envision what a healthy, sustainable landscape might look like in 30 years. Since we were visualizing a tropical ocean, Singapore’s amazing, futuristic architecture served as great inspiration.

Sadly, envisioning the unhealthy alternative isn’t as hard, as there are already many photographic examples from across the world.

To confirm that our visions matched, Nicolle followed her typical process with a pencil sketch for review. The details of the sketch are a bit rougher than usual. Since we’d worked together so many times before, we had an ample range of work to reference, and McCauley felt confident about the final art’s quality. Mostly we needed to confirm the overall composition and make sure there weren’t missing key elements. He and his lab gave some suggestions on the sketch to incorporate into the color art creation: for example, they emphasized the need to represent people in the healthy view.

Color Art, Bringing the Ocean Art to Life

With the composition agreed on, Nicolle started 3D-modeling the landscape. First, she focused on the background hills and underlying ocean bottom. This was created in the terrain software Gaea, which uses erosion algorithms to create realistic landscapes. We wanted to have the option to create a simple animated version, fading from one view to the other. To do so, the ‘bones’ of the 2 landscapes needed to match as closely as possible.

Oceans 2050 3d art process SayoStudio, N.R.Fuller
Individual 3D components that were composited in the final art, by Nicolle R. Fuller, SayoStudio

When representing ecological systems, Nicolle often begins with the overall sky. It helps set the tone and motivates her to fill the scene. From the start, we knew we wanted a sky free of pollution for the healthy view, and a darker, polluted sky for the unhealthy scene. With the overall landscape taking shape, Nicolle started modeling individual components.

When working in 3D it’s possible to buy pre-made models to place in a scene. Although SayoStudio does use stock models on occasion, we often hand-model to create our own unique pieces that better fit the science. Custom models in this creation include much of the coral, the futuristic city, the futuristic fishing boat and cargo boat, the yellow Argos floats, and the fishing nets. For the people, models were customized from Daz 3D. For other parts, like the complex cargo ships, it made more sense to use stock models, such as the complex cargo ships in the unhealthy scene. Still other pieces start with a model with details hand-drawn on top.

Final Touches to the Ocean Ecology Illustration

Marine Life drawn by Nicolle R. Fuller, SayoStudio
Hand-drawn sea life that was incorporated into the final art.

Like many digital illustrators, we remind ourselves from time to time that we were trained to draw traditionally. It was more efficient to hand-draw the fish and other animals. As each piece was finished, whether with a 3D model or a hand drawing, Nicolle added it to the larger landscape in Photoshop. This collage approach allows for more flexibility. Although compositions can’t be fully changed in the color art stage, collaging makes it easier to add or subtract elements.

With most of the pieces in place, the final task was to emphasize the contrast between the scenes. Nicolle has trained herself to make uncomfortable subjects palatable, so it was challenging to make the unhealthy vision dark and foreboding. McCauley did a fantastic job art-directing and suggested ways to really make the contrast clear. Nicolle shifted the polluted landscapes’ colors toward more browns and exaggerated the saturation of blues in the healthy version. You may also notice other details, like more garbage, in later iterations of the polluted scene. In the healthy future, Nicolle “planted” kelp in the background and played with the balance of colorful fish to keep the eye moving through the image.

Science Ecology Illustration Process and edits by Nicolle R. Fuller
On the left is the first full-color draft. Moving to the right, you see more iterations that increase the contrast between the 2 visions. Notice the subtle differences?

The Final Ocean Ecology Science Illustration

There are so many details in this illustration that Nicolle created an animated view to zoom in for a closer look. The article used the final still art, but the animated version proved useful to promote the story across social media. To learn more about the science, and what you can do to impact change, see McCauley’s article at the World Economic Forum.

 


« Previous
Next »

Back to Case Studies

Ready to get started?

We are excited to learn more about your work to help visualize your story.



Footer

Navigation

  • Case Studies
  • Services
  • Our Process
  • About Us
    • FAQs
  • Get In Touch
  • Gallery
  • Blog

Contact

(703) 594-6755

info@sayostudio.com

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter

Resources

  • Science Image Pricing & Licensing Rights

Newsletter

Recent Blog Posts

  • Human Cell Atlas Science Cover
  • Animation of Volcano
  • Earth Day Graphics
  • Black Hole Drawings
  • 10 Best Science Illustrations of 2021

sayostudioscience

#sciart—microbes 🔬to galaxies 🔭—Nicolle Fuller leads SayoStudio creating art & animation of science wonders. #scienceillustration

SayoStudio
Did you know you can make a free, DIY water filter Did you know you can make a free, DIY water filter out of wood?! 

Trees naturally have xylem -- a straw like tubing -- to transport water and nutrients into the tree. The pores inside these xylem tubes are very complex on a nanoscale. Water molecules can flow freely through the tubing, but larger bacterial cells get trapped inside the xylem structures.
Because this filtration system removes rotavirus and E. coli, these filters meet the standards set by @WHO for clean, drinkable water. 

Learn more about nanoscientist Krithika Ramchander and Dr. Rohit Karnik's (@mit_engineering) research and see an animation of the xylem catching bacteria on our blog: https://sayostudio.com/science-diy-water-filter-animation

Art and animation created by Nicolle R. Fuller, SayoStudio
.
.
.
#waterfilter #diywaterfilter #xylemwaterfilter #treefilter #tree #xylem #mit #engineeringweek #engineering #mitengineering #nanoscience #scicomm #sciart #scienceillustration #scientificillustration #sayostudio #animation
Is #ScienceFriday a thing on social media..? It is Is #ScienceFriday a thing on social media..? It is? Then allow us to introduce you to the basics of #StringTheory! ⠀
⠀
String theory is a Theory of Everything (Grand Unification Theory) that seeks to unite the gravitational force with the other fundamental forces (electromagnetism and nuclear forces) that are already described by quantum mechanics at the atomic level. ⠀
⠀
Gaining a foothold in the theoretical physics community during the 1970's, string theory states that fundamental particles such as quarks + electrons are not points of energy or matter, but result instead from the vibrations of one-dimensional ‘string-like’ entities on a far smaller scale. ⠀
⠀
Although string theory is highly debated and very complex, it poses very interesting solutions to why our observed universe acts the way it does. ⠀
What's your take on string theory? ⠀
⠀
Artwork by Nicolle R Fuller, SayoStudio ⠀
. ⠀
. ⠀
. ⠀
#stringtheory #granreunificationtheory #theoryofeverything #physics #quantummechanics #nuclear #multidimensions #dimensions #sciart #scienceillustration #scicomm #electromagnetism #energy #matter ⠀
⠀
⠀
⠀
Could neurodegenerative diseases really be caused Could neurodegenerative diseases really be caused by ancient viral infections? ⠀
⠀
The recent discovery of viral proteins in the brains of MS/ALS patients created a mysterious link between human genes and neurodegenerative disease. ⠀
⠀
Researchers are just now beginning to understand how ancient human endogenous retroviruses (or HERVs) affect our immune responses today. HERV proteins cause disruptions of nuclei in cells; triggering the cells to mount an immune response in the central nervous system. This disruption spreads from cell to cell progressively; and is shown to cause significant motor neuron deterioration. ⠀
⠀
You can read more about this research here: https://loom.ly/_uTOBvc ⠀
⠀
Artwork by Nicolle R. Fuller, SayoStudio for @the_scientist_magazine. ⠀
. ⠀
. ⠀
. ⠀
#msawarenessweek #multiplesclerosis #neurodegenerative #neurodisease #als #ms #medicalillustration #cell #sciart #scicomm #scienceillustration #medart #stem #sayostudio ⠀
Having your heart flutter on Valentine's Day might Having your heart flutter on Valentine's Day might seem normal...but for some, it's a common symptom of atrial fibrillation. 💓

Afib is a heart arrhythmia characterized by irregular or fast beating. Electrical signals in the heart dictate how often your heart pumps-- and for some this can get out of whack, causing palpitations and dizziness. 

Luckily  treatment exists to manage Afib. To learn more, visit the American Heart Association or click the link below: https://www.heart.org/en/health-topics/atrial-fibrillation

Artwork by Nicolle R. Fuller, SayoStudio for @popularmechanics
.
.
.
#AmericanHeartMonth #NationalHeartMonth #Scienceillustration #sciart #hearthealth #americanheartassociation #afib #atrialfibrillation #arrhythmia #valentinesheart #heartart #medicalart #medicalillustration
Follow on Instagram

Copyright © 2022 SayoStudio · All Rights Reserved · Privacy Policy

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Cookie settingsACCEPT
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT