Evolutionists asked Ronald J. Ervin,
a medical illustrator to create misleading
illustrations for their evolutionary textbooksThis article originally appeared in the March - May 1995 issue
of Creation ex nihilo magazine and is reprinted here with their permission
BEAUTY may be skin deep,
but if you want to see what's
under your skin, top-notch medical
illustrator Ron Ervin can show you.
His outstanding knowledge of
anatomy enables him to peel back
your outer layers to reveal your
bones and muscles with amazing
detail. Ron has worked as senior
medical illustrator at the University
of Iowa, as medical art consultant at
the University of Virginia, and has
been called on to produce medical,
scientific, and graphic illustrations for
textbooks, journals, and courtroom use.
In 1992 he was chosen to appear on a
television show which featured his work
among the talents and resources in
America"s State of Virginia.But with all his knowledge about the anatomy of humans and animals, Ron admits there is one area where medical artists have little to work from. When it comes to re-creating exactly what extinct creatures looked like, or what those allegedly "transitional" creatures between apes and humans supposedly looked like, science doesn't know, so artists are expected to fill in the blank spots. "No one knows for sure what they looked like", Ron said. "So the artist has the freedom to "create" with colours and forms."
Ron was once commissioned with another artist, a medical doctor to produce a huge number of illustrations for a major college biology textbook - Raven and Johnson's Biology. The drawings included one of "Lucy" (the creature which some evolutionists believe was a pre-human ancestor). "I was given the task of re-creating the anatomy and structures of so-called "prehistoric" animals, mammals and humans. I didn't really know whether to make it this way or that way, because there was nothing concrete to go by", Ron recalled.
In one chapter of that biology book, Ron's drawings were used to supposedly picture the evolution of man and animals. "I was told to make the illustrations either more or less human or modern - whatever the subject was. I was pleased as an artist to have the freedom to create a drawing no one could question,
because they didn't know for sure themselves what the creature looked like. But I was uncomfortable as a Christian to be told that they wanted more "ape-like" or more "human-like"
qualities." Ron said that with any
illustration of 'normal' anatomy, he can turn it, twist it, and picture it inany position while keeping it anatomically correct. But generating a drawing of a chimp-like Australopithecus fossil (like the famous "Lucy"), for instance, was different.
"With this Australopithecus I was told to re-create something that was a big "maybe", and then make it look believable." He originally drew this Australopithecus as too human-like for the book's authors. "I was told to make he more ape-like, or more "transitional" in appearance", he said. "I had been given a cast of a skull, and I was shown some drawings the artists had done of "Lucy", and was asked to improve on these to make them look more transitional. I had to make some things up, while keeping the anatomical bones intact, like the temple bone and other features which are standard.
Ron points out that the soft parts of a body, such as
lips, nose, skin colour, and hair, are impossible to
re-create with certainty from bones. He was asked
to alter his picture of "Lucy" to conform with the
evolutionary transitional creature which the biology
textbooks authors wanted. "I added more body hair,
and did another sketch. "No", they said, "she"s got
to have more this and more that." I just kept adding
and subtracting until I got what they wanted."
Although Ron produced the drawing which the
authors and publisher wanted, he did get his own
subtle comment into it for fun."To give her an "attitude", I had her carrying a big stick. She is looking right out at you, and to me she is saying the same thing as so many modern-day women - "I walk softly and carry a big stick!" The whole evolutionary thing is just like illustrating fiction anyway. It has to be "made up", because there"s no fact to it. He said this is something he wants to emphasize to students in particular. "They can't believe everything they see in textbooks, because it"s not always the truth."
Ron was also asked to re-create a Neanderthal man. He said he had been told that if a Neanderthal was walking down Main Street in a three-piece suit he wouldn't even be noticed. "So that"s the way I started to do the drawing. There's nothing that says it looks like this or it looks like that. As a matter of fact, the drawing I did of Neanderthal man had a pretty good likeness to a fellow who goes to my church. We all remarked, "Wow, he looks like one of our guys.""
Ron has had a lot of satisfaction, even fun, in his career as a leading medical illustrator, but he has also suffered the occasional negative reaction from evolutionists. "At the time I was doing some drawings for people who were evolutionists I was involved with a local creation conference. I was criticized badly for taking time off to help with the creation conference for three or four days. The outcome was that I was sort of black-balled by the people I was doing the drawings for."
Ron now runs his own business
as a freelance illustrator. For
young creationists contemplating
entering the field of commercial
art and illustration, Ron says you
have to do what your employer
requires, but sometimes you need
to "stick by your guns". He won"t
do some kinds of work. He has
rejected offers to draw pornography,
for instance. "A young person
starting out wouldn't want to do
what I did and not be able to get
another job. When I did the biology
book I had left the University of
Virginia and had my own business.
So all they could do was black-ball
me with other publishers." Blackballed
or not Ron's skillful talent for drawing
is in demand, and he is currently
illustrating two books."After many prayers, I stepped out
in faith into my own business, and
with the support of my wonderful
wife I have never regretted it."(Ron Ervin can be contacted at PO Box 112, Keswick Virginia 22947, USA.)
