Website Updated

Check it out–my updated portfolio website with improved appearance and a selection of the latest works. http://www.illustrationideas.com/

Build Your Own Anatomy

Next week I begin an internship at an anatomical model company, so out of pure interest I started looking up various anatomical model companies all over the US.  What I found was an anatomical model system called “Anatomy in Clay.” Rather than a full anatomy model, the “Anatomy in Clay” system offers skeleton mannequins with clay, clay tools, instruction, and learning DVDs so students can learn anatomy by building it. See for yourself at the videos below or check out http://www.anatomyinclay.com/.

I personally wish I had something like this when I learned anatomy (I did attempt to build muscles and nerves using string and cotton balls on a 10 inch skeleton). Here is what some teachers and high school students think of the Anatomy in Clay system:

One more video showing people building muscles, nerves, arteries, veins, and “guts.”

Hello Again

A few months in hibernation brings new directions for this blog.

Aside from being busy, the classes I took just didn’t revolve around art–so it became very difficult for me in the past couple of months to write about art/visualization. At the same time, my interest shifted from general scientific visualization to a more specific direction–3D sculpting and technology.

I also thought about comments from friends and past readers about wanting to read more about what the life of a scientific illustrator is like. After much consideration, I decided to shift the focus from “general scientific visualization” and speak more truthfully about my personal experience as an illustrator.

The field of scientific and medical visualization is extremely specialized yet broad. Even though my experience does not represent that of all illustrators in the field, I think it will provide a unique perspective to those interested in this field.