The reason why nature illustrations look a particular way is actually really interesting. I don't have a source to show, but we actually learned a bit about bio

The reason why nature illustrations look a particular way is actually really interesting. I don't have a source to show, but we actually learned a bit about biological illustrations as part of my biology degree. To make a long story short, illustrations tend to depict what you are trying to show. An unnatural position might be the best way to illustrate an organism if you are providing a guide for people to classify them with, especially if you can only provide a single photo. The more natural depictions of birds, etc. can all basically be traced back to John James Audubon. Before then almost every illustration looked exceedingly staged. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_James_Audubon#Art_and_methods https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_James_Audubon#Art_and_met...