Lines & Matter
A closer look at Lines & Matter
A closer look at the living world.
Lines & Matter creates illustrated books, printable learning materials, and free nature guides that help people explore the lives around them. We bring art and science together to make learning something you can read, color, question, and return to.
The guides are free to explore. Our printable products offer another way to spend time with the subjects—and help support the work behind the site.
Hi, I’m Will.
I’m Will McHargue, the creator of Lines & Matter and a PhD student in plant and microbial bioscience. My work has taken me from studying lizards in the Bahamas to investigating photosynthesis in algae and land plants, with a continuing interest in how organisms interact with their environments.
My first research job involved catching and tagging lizards in the Bahamas. During my undergraduate studies in bioengineering, I worked with African savannah species, developing systems to study their water-use interactions. I then spent four years researching photosynthesis before beginning my PhD.
Lines & Matter brings that scientific background together with the pleasure of looking closely. Through illustrated books and a free field guide, I hope to make learning about the natural world approachable, engaging, and worth returning to.
And despite all the time I’ve spent studying plants, my favorite animal is still a shark.
How the collection takes shape
The illustrations are made with AI assistance and selected and curated for Lines & Matter. They are creative interpretations. Species accounts draw on linked natural-history references; reference photographs have their own credits and reuse information.
A beautiful illustration and a reliable species account serve different purposes. These pages are for learning and creative enjoyment, not for identifying an animal to handle or a mushroom to eat.
Help it grow
Found a fact that needs another look? Have a species you would love to see? I welcome thoughtful corrections, questions, and requests. A useful source is always appreciated.