Scientific illustrations of animals found in books, encyclopedias, and journals help us learn more about wildlife. They explain the anatomy of animals through colorful drawings and highlight their most important features. Artist Tim Andraka is trying to do the same with his series of illustrations titled “Natural History Collection,” with one distinguishable difference: the science behind his work is made up.
Andraka’s illustrations feature drawings of animals with unexpected and surreal twists. For example, he imagines that Toucans’ big, colorful beaks grow on trees, and the bird simply picks them up once they fall to the ground.
In another illustration, he imagines Armadillo as an opossum who got himself armor.
In a recent chat with Metal Magazine, Andraka shared that there is no specific message he aims to convey with his surreal works, although he does enjoy learning how people interpret them.
“Many of the ideas are just something I thought was weird, unsettling or silly and wanted to share. I also enjoy seeing how different people interpret each piece. Some people resonate with specific animals or objects that carry on a meaning of their own,” Andraka explained.
Continue scrolling to check out more of Andraka’s surreal scientific illustrations of animals.
