The winning and highly commended pieces of art for this year’s Nancy Rothwell Award have been announced, with an array of intricate anatomical drawings including a hummingbird in mid-flight, a boa constrictor and a swimming crocodile.

The Nancy Rothwell Award celebrates artwork that captures the intricacies of anatomy, and this year more than 800 pieces were submitted by young artists from across the globe.

Submitted entries spanned three age categories (7-11, 12-14 and 15-18), and were judged by a panel of biologists and illustrators.

The winner of the 7-11 category is Ji Yoon Park, aged 10 from Seoul Foreign School, South Korea, for her drawing of a hummingbird in flight using coloured markers and coloured pencils.

Find out more about the judge's comments on the piece and Jin's thoughts on receiving the awards in the below video.

The winner of the 12-14 category is Hazel Nah, aged 14 from St. Johnsbury Academy, Jeju, South Korea, for their drawing of an emerald tree boa using coloured markers and coloured pencil.

Find out more about the judge's comments on some of the highly commended and winning pieces in this catagory.

The winner of the 15-18 category is Shivani Dawson, aged 17 from The Tiffin Girls’ School, Kingston, for her depiction of a broad-snouted caiman crocodile in coloured pencils, white paint and watercolours.

Find out more about the judge's comments on Shivani's piece and an interview with the winner herself.

The winning artists from each category will receive drawing equipment, a certificate, £25 for themselves, and £100 for their school.

All the winners and highly commended entrants will also each be awarded a copy of The Field Guide to Drawing & Sketching Animals by Tim Pond.

Timothy Pond, an illustrator based at the Zoological Society of London and member of the judging panel, commented on the winners from the 7-11 and 12-14 category winners: “Ji Yoon Park’s entry showed different viewpoints within the drawing, for example, showing the iridescence in the kingfisher’s feathers, elements of its wing structure, muscles and also adaptations such as its beak. The piece is a very full and thorough study with notes and beautifully done.

“Hazel Nah’s depiction of a boa is an absolutely stunning piece of illustration work – I can easily see it in a magazine or book. The quality of the artwork is incredible. There is a lot of detail; the reflection on the eye makes it look alive, the anatomy of the scales, and the repeating vertebrae on the inside.”

Professor Susan Standring, editor-in-chief of anatomical key text Gray’s Anatomy and member of the award’s judging panel, also commented: “Every year, the calibre of the entries is uniformly high. I am always impressed by what I see. The judges look for scientific accuracy, how material is placed on the page, and what entrants have chosen to show.

Shivani Dawson’s piece of the broad-snouted caiman is a very clever entry. Shivani has used photographs as reference for the parts of the caiman above the water, and used dissections for the bones and the teeth underneath the water. She has done this beautifully.

“Very many congratulations to everybody but particularly to Shivani for producing a beautiful piece of work.”

The winning and highly commended drawings will be celebrated as part of this year’s virtual Annual Awards Ceremony, part of Biology Week 2020.

This year’s competition was judged by Andrew Crook MBE FRSA, Lucy Eckersley, Kate Oliver and Dr Grace Sim, all from the Royal Veterinary College, Tom Ireland MRSB, editor of RSB’s magazine The Biologist, Tim Pond, illustrator at the Zoological Society of London, and Professor Susan Standring FRSB, King's College London.

The Nancy Rothwell award is named after the first President of the Society, Professor Dame Nancy Rothwell DBE CBiol Hon FRSB, who is a keen anatomical artist herself, and also an advocate for specimen drawing as a learning tool.

Nancy Rothwell Award 7-11 category highly commended:

Starfish by Mylee Filson

Humpback Whale by Edward Jaewook Rim

Cheetah by Delphine Yap

Nancy Rothwell Award 12-14 category highly commended:

The Brown Pelican by Grace Lee

Loggerhead Sea Turtle by Claudia Norstrand

Nautilus by Sophie Wright

Nancy Rothwell Award 15-18 category highly commended:

Sphynx Cat by Aoife Doherty

Chimpanzee by Halyna Mykula

Iguana by Sofia Rambukkana

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