Career Blog Post - Medical Illustrator

Medical illustration is a technical field of art that requires knowledge regarding the human body and anatomy. Medical illustrators must gain expertise in the biology and chemistry that play a role in the human bodily functions. To obtain a career in this field, a person will need a bachelor's degree in art and design as well as some courses that have a concentration in the pre-med biological sciences. Medical illustrators work directly with doctors and scientists to create the drawings. Oftentimes, these illustrators will have a specialty in a certain field, for example a medical illustrator can specialize in forensics. The process of creating a medical illustration begins with the knowledge of the topic, then working out the visual solutions by drawing multiple thumbnail sketches. Accuracy is required within these drawings so the availability of creativity is slim. The best colleges in Virginia for medical illustration include Virginia Commonwealth University and George Mason University. The top colleges and programs for this career include Harvard University, Johns Hopkins University, and Stanford University.

Awareness Post: Marc Quinn

Marc Quinn is a contemporary British visual artist that has experimented with multiple mediums but he pursues hyper-realistic painting the most. His paintings are almost separated into categories of subjects. Some of these subjects include flower paintings, iris paintings, and even flesh paintings. What initially drew me to his work was the hyper-realism aspect to his pieces. At first glance to one of his flower paintings I had initially thought it was a photograph. The strokes all look so delicate and real that I didn't even consider the possibility of it being painted.

Under the volcano, Slopes of Jan Mayan, 2011, oil on canvas, 279h x 419w

This painting is very aesthetically pleasing to the eye due to the bright colors and the detailed strokes that make it look very realistic. I've noticed that my eyes naturally gravitate toward the bright pink flowers in the center of the painting, the detail and color truly encapsulates the essence of the real flower used in the still life but also brings so much more life into it the way he blends his paint. The strokes create a look that feels soft to the eyes and the subtle white strokes on the edge of each petal really highlights the pink present in the petals. The strawberries below the flower have exceptional details and color. The strawberry on the left has so much delicate precision within the dirt and the seeds on the strawberry. The highlights are placed in such a way that it feels like there is a real light flashing onto each strawberry and every other plant and fruit in the painting. He pays very close attention to the highlights and their place on the object to be true to the actual still life. The highlights on the tomatoes look almost as if a camera is blurring them, which I can only assume is very hard to perfect. The background's objects are all slightly blurred which adds to the photograph effect, I think that is a very nice touch that pulls the painting all together. The black color in the background makes the bright colors stand out, but it isn't done in such a way that looks flat and 2D.

Ice Age, 2023, oil on canvas

This painting of an iris really drew me in because of the bright blue color paired with the geography of the world is so creative and meaningful. What I interpreted from this piece was that the blue surrounding the pupil was meant to signify the ocean and the red and orange spots were meant to signify the change in climate and global warming that our planet is currently experiencing. The pupil could possibly allude to a black hole that can symbolize outer space and how our planet is the only one that we have and we can live on. The eye is our way of viewing and understanding the problems and facts all around us and yet people continue to ignore it. The black hole can also represent the unknown, how we as humans are the first to experience these changes within our planet and we have to experience the consequences without having an answer. The geography laid upon the eye symbolizes how we as people believe that the planet is ours but in reality, the planet is made up of us and so much more. The planet does not need us, but instead we need the planet. These are all my interpretations, therefore I do not know exactly what the artist was meaning to put out. The blending of the entire painting looks very similar to that of a real iris and it is extremely different from the painting of the flowers, which shows me that he has an extremely wide range of artistic ability. His creativity stands out to me the most because I had never noticed the similarities between an iris and a planet. I think this meaning and symbolism is very smart, but also is very important for people to understand and I think art is a great way to help them.

Flesh Painting (On Calligraphy), 2013, oil on canvas, 279h x 418w

His collection of flesh paintings through me off, since his other paintings were based on such different subjects and I had never seen anyone paint flesh in such a way. But it also is extremely meaningful and beautiful. Quinn is displaying the beauty within flesh that people need to be able to see. He states that people can be repelled by the idea of killing an animal and witnessing its flesh, but they will then go and order meat at a restaurant. He believes that this hypocrisy signifies the duality of humans. The bright red and the white are very vibrant and a huge staple within his flesh paintings. It draws people in because it is unlike anything else. The flesh may be an unpopular topic, but it is an important one. He delicately places each white spot in a significant place that relates to the true image. I think that this painting is extremely realistic, but very different from his other paintings mainly due to the subject but also the colors and strokes. He matches his strokes to the true subject, unlike some artists I have seen that have a distinct stroke. His strokes are unique to each of his painting subjects, which I think is very interesting. Despite the hyper-realism, it is difficult to understand how he painted both this and the flower painting. However, I think that he also fills up the canvas entirely with his flesh, flower, and iris which provides a similarity. His paintings are all very large throughout his entire portfolio, which displays his hard work and determination because I am sure that each painting takes an extremely long time.

Process Post: Oil Painting

The first step to the oil painting process was to make my canvas and prep it with gesso. I had never manually set up my canvas prior, so I was nervous that I would mess the entire process up during the very beginning. Despite my nerves, it ended up going rather smoothly, although the staple gun was difficult at times to staple the canvas. I had never worked with gesso on an unprepared canvas so I was quite surprised when I found out we had to do so many coats over the span of multiple days. My gesso layers were not the best and my canvas could have been tighter and more taut, but I think it will suffice for the rest of the process. The second step was to decide what I was going to use in my still life. This step was difficult in the sense that I didn't have a lot of objects that were to fit within a small cardboard box. The objects that I did find, I was worried that they wouldn't fit or look aesthetically pleasing together. However, the process of building the still life went easier and I think the objects ended up looking quite nicely together. Although, there were moments that I worried the still life was too symmetrical. The third step was to draw the sketch of the still life from my perspective on the canvas. The charcoal was hard to work with because I couldn't manipulate it to what I wanted exactly to draw due to its awkward shape and size. The initial sketch did not take me that long as I didn't incorporate detailed aspects of the drawing, however I had to redo part of my sketch because it wasn't the composition I originally had in my photo. The final step that I have done was to begin the oil painting with only black and white oil paints. I began with a dark grey color and started to fill in the darkest values I could see in the actual still life. I felt like the process got easier as it went on and the painting wasn't as scary as it would have been if I were to have began earlier and without the right prep.