I have years of experience in higher education illustration. My skill set has evolved to accommodate new technologies, and because of my self-motivation, I was typically called upon to develop imaging methods that met the needs of our clients. If there was a problem I tried to solve it. If I couldn’t do that I would try to provide options.
Scientific Illustration
This particular illustration combined the use of multiple forms of media to complete the final project. This cellular membrane was rendered using detailed vector information combined with Photoshop, and 3D rendered molecular structures for a chemistry book. The membrane was done in Photoshop with some Illustrator overlays, the diagram was constructed in Illustrator, and he molecular structures were created from PDB files available through the Protein Data Bank and other open-source chemistry and molecular structures sources.
Photoshop
The Photoshop file was created by creating an illustrated lipid brush stroke in Illustrator and tapering the thickness to create the perspective in the membrane cutaway. The surfaces of the membrane were illustrated by creating warping patterns, blurring, and adding transparency to create a sense of depth. The illustrated file was imported into Photoshop and further enhanced to distinguish between materials and surfaces.
Illustrator
The foundation of this figure was created in Illustrator. By creating custom brushes, patterns, and styles along with color palettes and style sheets, I managed teams of artists on large projects to produce consistent art programs award-winning projects.
Molecular structures
These molecular structures were created from 3D lipid PDB files that I edited in Chimera. I isolated the Carbon, Oxygen, Hydrogen, and Phosphorus elements and created custom selections, which I then colored each a unique color. Because these were 3D images, I was able to rotate them and save different views. The views can be saved with different surfaces, lighting, and shading and then exported. For this job, I exported the files in a 3D format that could be edited in Maya, improving the color and shading.