How to Work Your Dream Job: A Look at Scientific Illustrators

What does a scientific illustrator do? They do provide context, focus and human interpretation in the illustrations they produce that photographs cannot, but things become more complex when we look at the professionals rather than the profession. This film goes beyond the job to look at the people who do the job. What was initially just an attempt to find out about the daily workings of their job spilled over and touched upon other issues. Ideas of career and of working one’s dream job and finding one’s calling arose. Related to the career itself, what were their origins, how did they reach this point in their lives and what of the legacy that they leave behind? Art and digitisation are touched upon, and the place of the artist in an increasingly computerised world is shown.
The film takes place at the historic K.W. Neatby Building, which is occupied by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. It features Jessica Hsiung, a recently hired scientific illustrator, Dr. Owen Lonsdale, a scientist who does his own illustrations and Go Sato, a retired illustrator who still volunteers at the Agriculture Department and uses the space for his own projects occasionally. I began this project out of curiosity, as I once had a summer job in that building and only heard about an illustrator working on site in passing. My work in that building was confined mainly on one floor, so I set out to learn about the goings-on of another division.

[@wisewomanhealing]

Of course artistic skills can be learned/trained. No one is born with a pencil or paintbrush in their hands. All skill must be learned, practiced and then applied.

[@sydniedesjarlais7917]

Exactly! What is required for any skill, is passion for your work. Which will help you to keep practicing. Without any passion, you wont have the will to keep improving.

[@sydniedesjarlais7917]

But another thing that may be hard to learn, is observational skills and patience. And thats a big thing for this field

[@sydniedesjarlais7917]

It also might be hard to train ALL those skills that have been learned over a lifetime, in a few years.

[@bellafawnnfox5642]

This was a great little glimpse into this world. Some nice cinematography too. Thank you for making this :)

[@sydniedesjarlais7917]

I would love to become a marine scientific illustrator.

[@WrenchNinja]

Very interesting

[@ROSAPEREZ-ze6ck]

Wow, it's sounds cool! Saludos de México

[@norizelleabaya9910]

Do you need to know indesign when you work as scientific illustrator?

[@Babesinthewood97]

I feel exactly the same. But, unfortunately I chose art. How ridiculous. I wish I’d chosen biology. It’s so rare to find a university program for scientific illustration. There’s only one in Europe, and I cannot afford it due to having spent my resources on art school.