What is a Science Art?

Get the audio answer from my podcast interviews:

The World of Science Illustration with Mesa Schumacher on SVSLearn Podcast 3PointPerspective

Interview with Paul Kelly on the Medical Illustration Podcast

…Or the quick answer here!

Medical and scientific illustrators are visual translators.  I call myself an information illustrator because my expertise includes a broad background in the sciences and in visual and media communication.  I am uniquely suited to partner with you in any visual communication challenge you may have.  We will take your idea, data, or project, and work together to find the correct platform, media, and visual approach to get your message out there! This may be accomplished with an animation, ipad interactive application, 3D artwork, or a good old illustration. Or maybe something else!   I willto serve as a bridge for you between the language of science, and the language of your audience.

 

What are my qualifications?

  • Science degree from Stanford University.
  • Graduate Certificate in Scientific Illustration at the University of Washington.
  • Graduate Degree in Medical Illustration from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.
  • Fine Arts training from GAGE Academy of Art.
  • Over 10 years experience working in creative arts in projects, editorial publishing, medical and scientific visualization, graphic design and UX design.
  • See Resume.

What is the process?

THE INITIAL MEETING

I will meet with you in person, on the phone, or through email to talk discuss your needs and goals for the project. Whether you know exactly what you want and just can’t draw, or have a vague concept and just know you need to communicate it to your audience, somehow, some way, I can help.

 

The process

THE SKETCH

Once we have agreed on the graphic direction, budget and timeline, I will work up a rough sketch. This is like a blueprint for the content, text (if any), and layout which will guide the final piece. Depending on the complexity of the project, the sketch phase may include a few rounds of back and forth until you are satisfied with the plan.

THE ROUGH

Next I will work the sketch up into a rough draft. This will be a much more detailed version of the illustration, and will begin to look a lot more like a finished illustration. You will again make any content or stylistic changes you see fit.

THE FINAL

The final illustration is the version of the art which is ready for publication. This should be very close to what we agreed upon in our initial conversations with any reasonable content or stylistic edits we discuss along the way. If at any point in this process your needs change, we can discuss the new specifications and revisit our plan so you are satisfied with the outcome.

This process will vary depending on the scope and nature of each project, and can be tailored to your specific communication needs.

 

Description of medical illustration process, the interpretation of data to visuals by a medical illustrator.  Shows sketch, rough draft, and final art.  Medical illustrator Mesa Schumacher is also a science illustrator, animator, and sculptor.