The interdisciplinary field of scientific illustration is concerned with reflecting the findings of science and technology. As scientific illustrators, we bridge the gap between science and art by creating renderings that make complex concepts understandable, often showing the unobservable and that which cannot be photographed. Scientific illustrations appear in print, exhibits, the web, video, animation, and wall art.
Use /r/scienceillustration to share art, critique, discuss technique, post jobs, and explore the field.
Some useful resources:
http://www.gnsi.org/ http://ami.org/ http://scientificillustration.tumblr.com http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Scientific_illustrators
/r/scienceillustration
If I posted this anywhere else it'd be kinda weird. But I think here it's okay.
I like to draw scientific illustrations. I draw animals the best but I'm good with plants too.
I need a website or youtube channel that has all types of dissections so I can include dissected models in my drawings, but can't find it anywhere and Google keeps asking me if I need help. I'm pretty sure I'm in some sort of list at this point.
Thanks for the help.
My art is being published in one of the big academic journals. I can’t believe this is happening!!!
A drawing of the Lesbia Victoriae. Had the opportunity to participate in an art exposition with this. You can see more of the drawings at @melcrarts on Instagram.
I am currently a sophomore in college, and I am pursuing a biology degree. I am working on a minor in art, too. My school does not offer a specific scientific illustration degree, and I am not sure what to do once I graduate with my bachelors.
Should I go to grad school specifically in scientific illustration later on? Is having a biology major and art minor even a decent way to pursue scientific illustration? I would rather graduate with a biology degree in case my dreams of becoming a scientific illustrator fall through.
I have read a lot of vague advice online saying that I should talk to professors or advisors on my campus about this or look up what I should do on google. However, on my campus, there isn't even a scientific illustration course. It isn't really talked about or pursued in my state, so every professor I have talked to is just as lost as I am lol.
I apologize for how long this post is. I know reddit might not be the best place to seek advice about this kind of thing, but if anyone has some less vague advice on what I should do, please let me know!
I will be soon graduating my bachelors and i was super interested in the science illustration field but there is only certificate programs or a few masters program around the world. Being from an asian country doesn't really help much either due to financial restraints. Wish it was available here because im not really good with innovative ideas or interacting with people which are the two main traits to become a researcher... i just have a passion for art and biology. This illustration is something i worked on for an article.
National institute of health has released a library of 500+ free scientific illustrations
You can use these to create figures, presentations, and illustrations!
all freely available in the public domain. Retweet and spread the message!
I have completed my Master's in Life sciences from IISER Trivandrum, Kerala, India. Currently working as a science Communicator at a research and policy centre at Hyderabad. I want to know the possibilities of pursuing science illustration as a career. I don't want to continue this job as it includes more of graphic designing part. I like to do a lot of illustrations and digital drawing. I am interested in natural history illustration and want to help the non-scientific audience to know more about natural history, evolution and ecology through my illustrations. I am willing to pursue another Masters degree in science illustration. Could someone help me with a list of colleges to apply abroad ( not India specifically) and how to go about it. Would appreciate if there are any other possible advice on how to go about with this whole thing.
Just found out that the two pieces I entered into the GNSI juried members exhibition have both been invited. This is the second time I have entered and the second time I have been accepted. It is such an honor to be included with such a talented group of natural science illustrators. Has anyone else here had work invited to be included in this exhibition?
If I wanted to commission a poster, what would that usually cost? This would be more for art on the wall. What if I wanted it on Canva or PowerPoint with a template?
Is this the type of thing that costs hundreds of dollars, or is it much cheaper?
I teach middle school, and I am doing a unit on biodiversity. I want to make a few scientific illustration posters that look like they are from an old book, and I want to get my students to do it as well. What would you say is an outstanding tool to use? I looked at Canva, but I could not find any good templates. I am not looking to publish anything, just for my students to have fun. They would grab pics and info from Google and then present it.
I have a strong focus on drawing animals and working with specimens. I am currently a sophomore at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC), getting a basic fine arts degree. I am currently taking a scientific illustration class this semester, which is hosted at the Field Museum. Along with this, I also volunteered with the museum last semester in the mammal department and, hopefully, this semester in the insects department.
My issue is SAIC only offers two classes focused on scientific/natural illustration; these classes are technically the only illustration classes. I fear I don't know what to do; I want to be an animal illustrator working with museums and organizations. My school is a conceptual art school, meaning a lot of abstraction and metaphors. This means you can spin a project into anything you want but for some reason my teachers get disappointed when I draw animals. Wanting a more human-focused narrative.
I am unsure if I should just continue at this school to get my Fine Arts Degree and then get a master's in zoology or something. Or transfer to another school to be able to minor in an aligned field. Or transfer to another school that just offers a degree in scientific illustration? I heard RISD offers a scientific illustration program? Right now, I am just trying to look into different internship programs.
I just don't know what to do and fear I am running out of time.
My name is Rafeeque. I am a science illustrator. Me and my friend created this AI tool. It is in beta stage. You can upload the graphical abstract and written abstract to get design feedback as a downloadable PDF. Give us your ideas how to improve. Its 100% free now. Enjoy.
i have made a post on here before about wanting to delve deeper into scientific illustration but i don’t have lots of practice with realistic drawing. i have looked through my colleges program and they start with drawing 1 for the design classes. is it going to be impossible to thrive in this major without extensive past training?
Hey there,
I'm currently interested in medical animations (and medicine in general), because I think it could be a really nice service to offer and/or to learn... However I can't afford to engage into studies that are not useful haha. Are there any people that have worked in the medical world and who think that medical animations are a must ? For example, to explain to patients what they'll be going through, like a surgery... Is it at all perceived among practicians as a nice thing to have ?
Or do you guys think it's not that awesome ?
My apologies if that's not the right place to ask, (getting first contact with reddit actually)
Cheers !
I have been trying out stippling as a shading method, but am having some trouble integrating the wings of insects with a realistic level of transparency!
Hi everyone! I am looking for an artist/illustrator to make covers for articles I publish online on my personal website. I have been trying to find someone for a while but I haven’t found anyone that fits with my style. Are any of you interested? My articles are mostly about molecular biology and society (a few examples of the topics are: Golden Rice, Biomining and greenwashing).
I am happy with students and people that don’t have any biology background, I really just want some cool illustrations to reflect my articles!
i have minimal experience in realistic art styles (with an exception of sculpture) but i have an intense 10+ year interest in science and biology, particularly entomology, paleontology and marine sciences. will it be difficult to teach myself scientific illustration?
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I'm a high-school student, with a heavy background in art and illustration (of a very animalistic variety) and ever since a biology course where I got to illustrate a frog dissection, I've been hooked! I am hesitant to dump a ton of debt/money into a college degree just yet, so are there any courses you'd recommend I kit-bash over the next couple of years to increase portfolio, skill levels, and scientific knowledge? I would love to be in this field and have already gotten the business knowledge/skills from personal design work. I've been making pamphlets and design layouts for a bit and am wanting to further my abilities! Thank you!!
Okay here’s my predicament:
I just graduated this spring with a bachelors in Biology. I have a passion for art and recently discovered science illustration. I would love to go more of a natural science art route, so I am looking at the RISD 2 year certificate for natural science illustration. However I’m so conflicted if I should get my masters in medical illustration. I would have to take a couple prereqs but nothing crazy. The closest school is about 8 hours away tho… and RISD is online.
I just am curious what you guys think is the smarter route to go career wise. I just don’t want to get a certificate and end up not being able to use it
Im by no means a dodo bird expert or scientist! I am just an artist who has recently been interested in scientific illustration. I made this info pamphlet a few months ago!
This is a compilation of insects I've done over the years. I've always found it interesting the variety of clients and why they needed the illustrations. A couple were for a science magazine and some for a kids bug book. But others were for a restaurant magazine article on food pests, and some for an agricultural promotion for resistant seeds. Your clients aren't always who you think they'll be.
To preface, I'm not an artist, but I am a zoologist and amateur photographer. I'm working on editing/writing a book on the mammals of North America and I'd like to include skull illustration for every species in the volume based on photographs of skulls from museums I work with. I'm photographing the skulls dorsally, ventrally, and from the side, plus dorsal and side views of mandibles, all probably won't be in the book. The photographs were taken with a 100 mm macro lens on a canon R5, and created by photo stacking 15-25 images taken at different focal lengths (trying to do this using Helicon Focus, but for now it's in adobe since Helicon is a little finicky).
It's a mostly volunteer based collaborative project with no current external funding, plus, it's still in the early phases where we're building the workflow. All future funding would go more towards offsetting publishing costs to make the book more accessible to the research community. But a major issue for us is that we can't afford to hire a scientific illustrator, and none of us are really artistically inclined.
So I'm trying to see if I can work with photoshop myself to make the skull images into more functionally usable skull black and white illustrations, while having to do as little manual drawing as possible. I've had some specific styles and techniques in mind, but wanted to know if anyone on here has any advice on the best way of doing this.
Thank you all!!
Hello! I am a biology student trying to teach myself illustration to accurately draw the insects and plants I research. I wanted to ask if anyone knows of any good instructional videos or practice techniques, particularly on drawing with pens as I'm hoping to use pencil less in the future for finished drawings. Any advice on improving the illustration above is welcome as well!
This is a timelapse of my recent update of an old drawing of mine.