Becoming a scientific or medical illustrator

Resources for scientists, doctors, teachers and writers:
:: Hiring a medical illustrator :: Getting your book illustrated (Writer's FAQ) :: Making your own presentations :: Finding / making lesson plans :: Science links :: Healthcare links :: Writing associations ::

Resources for illustrators and designers:
:: Teach yourself :: Get equipment :: Go to school :: Find jobs :: Print & promote ::
:: Societies :: Museums :: Fellow artists :: FAQ (about the field) ::

illustration books illustration software fellow artists museums introduction about the field business getting started education educational sites jobs societies self promotion

Introduction

I recently attended the Guild of Natural Science Illustrator’s annual conference, and heard a lot of people describe getting into the filed this way:

“I was a science student, but I didn’t want to do research. I also took art classes, but my teachers did not like my work because it was so representative.”

When I heard that story the first time, I said “Exactly! That’s exactly how it was for me!” (although I was an art student taking science classes.) Neither of the fields really fit, but mixed together they fit like a glove.

Trying to figure out how these things fit together was a huge challenge for me, and the process took me three years after I had a pretty clear idea of where I was going – because that is how long it took me to figure out what this field is, and how it fits in with the related fields.

Over the course of these years I have learned a good deal of information that really would have made life easier if I had known these things from the beginning.

I have received an increasing number of inquiries from scientist/artists who are trying to figure out whether scientific or medical illustration is the field for them, and I realized that this information that came so hard for me comes pretty hard for everyone.

Because of this, I have created a report that will ease this process for you. In the report, I give you all of the pertinent information about this field that I have garnered, and have done research to fill in any blanks.

I hope that you find this information helpful in your decision about what career path to follow. If you have any comments, information you would like to add, or additional questions feel free to email me.

Disclaimer

The intention of this project is to help you decide on your career, and if you decide on a field of scientific or medical illustration, to help you launch that career.

Everything in this review is my opinion only. There are different paths you can take and different methods of getting down those paths. I am exposing you to all of the paths and opportunities that I could find in my research and through my career, but there are more options out there and you can blaze your own trail.