An eye for detail: an artist brings science to life with picture-perfect illustrations

Science World, Nov 13, 2006 by Andrea Thompson

When Utako Kikutani was growing up in Africa, she loved observing the wildlife there. She would watch lions, cheetahs, and elephants roam through the grasses of the safari parks. Then she would go home and spend hours drawing pictures of the animals she'd just seen. "I was fascinated by the big mammals," Kikutani says.

When she was thinking about what to study in college, "it was hard to decide which way to go: art or science." Kikutani decided to concentrate on zoology because she enjoyed learning about animals so much. But soon she discovered that she preferred sketching animals to researching them in a lab. That realization put her on a new academic track: scientific illustration.

Scientific illustrators help people understand science by showing it to them, says Kikutani. For instance, their drawings allow people to see dinosaurs, rain forests, or inside the human body, instead of just reading about them.

To become a scientific illustrator, Kikutani took classes to learn different methods of drawing and painting, such as pen and ink, watercolor, and computer graphics. Since the aim of scientific illustration is to draw an accurate picture of the subject at hand, Kikutani also learned to be a careful observer. "You can't just make up things," she says. "There's an object, and you have to observe it and think about its accuracy."

To study the animals she is drawing, Kikutani might go to the zoo and watch the animals there or look at pictures of them in wildlife magazines. Drawing extinct animals, such as dinosaurs, is trickier because no one has actually seen them. "We only have skeletons," she says. These old bones help her to sketch the dinosaurs' shape, but when it comes to their skin color, Kikutani has to do some detective work. She looks at modern-day reptiles to see what colors they are. If she is working with scientists, she'll also collaborate with them to get their expert opinions.

Once, Kikutani was asked to draw an elephant's trunk for an illustration that was to appear in a scientific magazine. "That was very fun--to work with scientists and think about the whole composition of the illustration," she says. But sometimes the scientists were very exact about what they wanted. "They would ask: 'Could you shorten the elephant trunk [by] 2 millimeters or 3 mm?'" says Kikutani. But she never minded the detailed instructions, because working with scientists and learning about their work is one of her favorite parts of being a scientific illustrator.

Did You Know?

* Scientific illustrators don't just create pictures for textbooks. Their art is often found in museum displays, magazines, advertisements, films, and television. Their work also appears in computer programs designed to help medical students learn different anatomical features.

* If you're interested in a career in science illustration, you may need to take these courses in college: biology and microbiology, chemistry, anatomy and physiology, and pathology. You'll also need to take a number of art courses, including life drawing, painting, color theory, and graphic design.

RELATED ARTICLE: Komal Bora.

FUTURE MEDICAL ILLUSTRATOR

Komal, a 17-year-old student from Martinez, Georgia, has been interested in art ever since she was a young girl living in India. She also loves science and medicine, so she decided to combine her two interests. "I would look at anatomy books and I would see a heart or brain and I would try to mimic the pictures," says Komal. But she didn't realize that her hobby could lead to a possible career.

Komal first learned about the field of medical illustration while taking a class called Health Occupations in her freshman year of high school. She was so interested in the field that she decided to focus her senior year research project on learning more about the career.

What tips does Komal have for kids interested in medical illustration? "Look at anatomy books and start drawing or tracing simple structures. Even if you don't do it well in the beginning, over time your drawings will improve--becoming more and more accurate and detailed."

The Medical College of Georgia, near where Komal lives, is just one of several places that offer a degree in medical illustration.

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To learn more about medical illustration, visit: www.ami.org

RESOURCES

* To learn more about careers in medical illustration, visit the site of The Association of Medical Illustrators at: www.ami.org/ECOMAMI/timssnet/web/AboutAMI /career.cfm

* Many universities offer graduate degree programs in scientific illustration. Check out this program's site to learn what they look for in a master's degree candidate: www.scienceillustration.org/html/faqs.htm