Concept Art and the Copyright

I have been a little off lately; this semester has been busier than I would have ever expected it to be. My life has been crazy recently even during Spring Break which was supposed to be a bit of a break, though I should have been working on stuff more. Therefore it is catch-up time as usual. This week was special in the way that I am starting some great big projects. Above are three concepts for what I would like to do with one (actually two) of them. Two of my professors are collaborating together to create an assignment in which we have to digitally visualize a physiological process: one to be 2d used for print and the other 3d for viewing in HDTV. I chose to illustrate intestinal villi absorption. I tend to be pretty enamoured with intestines this semester (if you haven't noticed, look for yourself here, here and another on the way) and it's not even intentional! I've always been interested on how the food we eat is transferred to energy, so I jumped at the opportunity to create this piece.

I found out quickly that this whole assignment was going to be a tough one. Medical illustration is all about accuracy and working at the cellular level is even more of a challenge to do that since we don't know exactly what histology look like when living and in situ. Creativity and accuracy in structure and proportions is what I was struggling a bit with while coming up with the concepts, but I am aware of that now. But that's what concepts are for: they are just a starting point to present issues and a potential final project. I had a great time painting in Photoshop to give my bland pencil sketches some color and character and creating concepts are really helpful in the thought process instead of just jumping in and it helps with creativity by working on more than one. I'm thinking making these concepts will save me a lot of precious time. The concept I will be working with is the topmost image.

I also added a © and year to my watermarks. Why you say? During my Business Practices class a local lawyer named Eric Scott Swirsky came in to give us a presentation dealing with copyrights and contracts. In the art field, creators can be taken advantage of from individuals using images made by someone and using it as their own; I guess it can be related to as plagiarism of art. Therefore, medical illustrators have to educate and protect themselves to evade this situation. It was a very informative talk and I learned a lot of essential information that I will be able to utilize now and in the future.

All in all, a good and busy week.

Concept designs for intestinal villi absorption, Lindsey Pionek, Photoshop, Spring 2009