Into the World of Scientific and Medical Illustration

January 12, 2015:

Have you ever had one of those "AH HA!" moments in life? The kind where the word "ah" and "ha" need to be all in caps because it is such a huge and possibly life changing revelation? That's what happened to me last night, and in the shower of all places. I usually get my best ideas when I am in the most inconvenient locations, such as in the shower or in bed when I can't get to a sketchbook and write my ideas down. I don't even know how many good ideas have gone down the shower drain or disappeared into Dreamland because writing them down was impossible at the time they came up.

Anyway! My big "AH HA!" moment last night was the realization of what I want to pursue as a career: scientific and medical illustration.

In high school, I took an IB Biology course and at the end of the two years she wrote a college recommendation letter for me. In this letter she proposed the idea of me one day becoming a medical illustrator. While I didn't think much of it a the time, I think it planted the idea in my head. Over time this idea germinated and grew like a little seed and now has breached the soil's surface.

But there was also another element in my education that led me to make this decision, and that happened last year in my freshman year of college at the Columbus College of Art & Design (CCAD). The first year of courses is a foundation studies program designed to reinforce the basics of art and design. At this time, I had entered CCAD as a Photography major, and I was approaching all of my courses with a photographic eye. During my second semester I was enrolled in the freshman drawing class that focussed on anatomy.

Some of our homework assignments included anatomical drawings with acetate overlays, and I was reminded of the things I learned in high school from IB Biology. Below are a few examples of my work from my drawing course:

With one of the best drawing teachers in the world, I quickly fell in love with drawing all over again, and after my semester drawing final (a 30 in x 40 in illustration) (the last image) was completed, I began to rethink my intended major. After thinking about it over the summer, I decided to switch to an Illustration major and then minor in photography. I figured, at least this way my photo credits wouldn't go to waste and I can always look into photo illustration for rings like book covers.

But then I took a shower and thought about it and here we are. Now I have decided to rework my college plan to this: an Illustration Major, a Photography Minor, and Business Minor, a minor in a science, and to graduate with the CCAD Honors Program. After that, I will be headed off to grad school (hopefully to Johns Hopkins), and front there become an AMI (Association of Medical Illustrators) certified. It's a big plan, but with some hard work I think I can do it.