Matthew Holt

A couple days ago we had a UIC Biomedical Visualization Alum, Matthew Holt, come in and give us a presentation of his lifestyle and work process. He is a freelance medical illustrator that lives in Wisconsin close to the Illinois border. He knew he wanted to do freelance right after grad school and he has been doing that ever since. From what he said, freelancing seems like quite the lifestyle; never knowing when a job will come around or busy for a bit and making a lot of money in a short time frame and then not having work for awhile, working from home, being there with your children, pursuing other passions, being your own boss, etc. It was interesting to hear about the life of a freelancer, but I would not want to do that unless I had to. I would be a stressful little person constantly; I'm the kind of person that likes more routine in my life than not (even though I'm always up for a surprise). At least he loves what he is doing and it makes me appreciate that there are all kinds of people that have to opportunity to find their own niche that works for them.

What amazed me with his talk is the speed that Matthew can finish an illustration. He showed us one of a profile of the face completely rendered and from start to finish he said it maybe took him two and a half hours! Of course, he didn't start out this fast, but still that just blows my mind! I guess it is all in practice and when you have been doing this for so many years and you have your technique down, it reduces the time. Take a look at his website for more work by Holt and to see what else he does when he isn't illustrating.

Photo courtesy of bodyrender.com. Small Joint Replacements. Matthew Holt. 2008. Photoshop.

One Thing After Another

My intention was to get this one out earlier, but I have been a busy person (not like that's anything out of the usual) with a lot of great and memorable experiences. It all started at the end of last week when our class finally had the opportunity to visit Abelson-Taylor, one of the top pharmaceutical ad agencies in the US right here in Chicago. Since this is exactly the direction that I would like my career to go, I was not going to miss it at all. To do this, I had to reschedule work that day which really wasn't a problem. That morning, however, was another story.

What should have been a 25 minute max commute, quickly turned into 45. The bus did not come the time it said it should have been on BusTracker and then waited for the Blue Line for 10 minutes and when it finally came, it was not going its normal speed at all. Awesome. I'm visiting a potential employer and I'm late. That just looks fantastic. After dashing up the stairs and elevator and sulking into the conference room where the visit was at the moment, I was pretty embarrassed. I do not like to be late; it stresses me out so I prevent it as much as I humanly cane. Gladly, it was okay and the visit was fantastic. It was more than I expected and was obviously pleasantly surprised. After the class left, I stayed after for awhile to get a deeper look at the company and meet some talented people with Vanessa Ruiz, who went through UIC's Biomedical Visualization program as well. It was a great experience that greatly validated my passion to go into this field and makes me very excited about the future.

The weekend was a entirely busy as I moved this weekend to a cute little place in the heart of Lincoln Park. My family came down to help, of course, even though they hate moving me. (Hopefully this will be the last time for awhile!) If you don't know anything about Lincoln Park, it is a great area; I am only a block away from the park, the conservatory and the zoo. However, parking is a bit of a problem, especially when you are moving with a full-size truck that takes up almost two parking spaces. That was an experience I could have done without! Surprisingly, we ended up getting one for the beast right in front of my building. At first, I was really disappointed in that apartment. Needless to say, there was no security deposit, therefore, there is not motivation for it to be cleaned. Also, some of the electrical was not the best shape. I was pretty upset that I moved in two weeks after my lease officially started and some of the stuff that was promised to me that it would be completed before I moved in still was not done. It is done now, so it wasn't too much of an issue (I think the building engineer could tell I was a little ticked when I officially moved in), but still pretty disappointing. After the fixing up and the cleaning, it has turned into quite the little pad I think!

After all of the non-homework responsibilities I have been back at the thing called "schooling". However, it has become a little overwhelming and I really need to catch up. (How many times have you heard that from me! Ha ha!) Like always, it will get done and done well. I work better under pressure and deadlines and they are coming up!

Photo courtesy of hi.baidu.com. Abelson Taylor Reception Space.

FAT!

Getting back into school from a great weekend was tough, but I think I have a handle on it now. I was doing a bit of research online pertaining to my subject for my Flash interactive that I have to do for class. At the moment, we just have to create a little outline of what we want to include and how we are envisioning the layout. I am planning on doing mine about the different stages of obesity, particular health hazards, and BMI. While researching, I was thinking about adding the anatomy of an adipocyte, an individual fat cell, and I ended up finding this little guy. Though I have seen these critter, creatures, whatever you want to call them, I thought I would present them anyway since I didn't know that cells were included.

The stuffed cell is from a brand named Giant Microbes by Drew Oliver. Drew Oliver was initially a lawyer educated at the University of Chicago Law School, but creating cute stuffed microbes and cells and being his own boss was more up his alley. Started in 2002 to be an education tool for children, his small business attracted national attention a year later and the rest is history. The Giant Microbes collection contains Health (microbes like the kind that cause the common cold and the flu as well as cells), Critters (such as dust mites), Calamites, (such as those that are responsible for black death and ebola), and Exotics. Each stuffed microscopic 'critter' comes with information and illustrations about the real thing it is symbolizing. Get one for your sick friend or family member (they have a new Swine Flu one as well!), or as a little reminder to keep that waistline!

Photo courtesy of giantmicrobes.com. Giant Microbes Fat Cell (Adipocyte).

Independence Day in Chicago

I have to say that this Independence Day was one of my best. My parents came down not only to bring me some of my huge packing bins, but to spend some time in the city and enjoy the festivities. I was so excited that I started planning right away for their visit, since they really haven't seen much of the city other than what is close to my apartment. I also planned and booked a little surprise for them by booking a Fireworks and Architecture Cruise from Shoreline. The day after I booked it, Mom gives me a call mentioning the cruises. She's not supposed to be looking into that stuff! I always do the planning when they come down! Crap! I quickly say that I saw that and called all of the places and they are all booked; the websites must not be updated yet. Being as stubborn as she is (that's where I get it) I was almost expecting her to book them anyway and not listen to me. I was just hoping she would just drop it and not look further the rest of the week.

Of course, when I planned everything initially, it was supposed to be a beautiful, warm and sunny day, but that's not what it turned out to be..... stupid weather. That didn't stop us though! Even through the annoying drizzle and rain, we started our day of fun at the Taste of Chicago. At least we had umbrellas, but we still ended up pretty soaked. All I was thinking through the whole time was "Please let the rain stop before 7 pm" while convincing my parents that we had to be to Navy Pier to get nice seats for the fireworks. While we were waiting at the bus stop to get to Navy Pier, one bus just completely flies by. AWESOME! We need to be there in 10 minutes to get the tickets before we board! Thankfully, another one came (and stopped) soon after. For some reason, the Ogden Slip dock where we had to be is not well-known or really well-documented on its location, so I'm still scrambling while my parents are probably wondering why the hell I was spazzing. We finally got there with enough time to spare and I announced my surprise. Mom was tickled pink and was so excited, and I think Dad was too (he tends to control his emotions more than Mom).

I recommend the Fireworks and Architecture Cruise to anyone. Considering being a Chicago resident, I learned a lot about the buildings that make Chicago the place it is. It was interesting to hear the thoughts behind the designs as well and all the little details that are often looked over. The cash bar was pretty awesome too being cheap (to Chicago standards) and high quality liquors. Needless to say we took advantage of that. Lastly, the best place to view fireworks are on a boat, hands down.

Afterwards, we headed to Navy Pier and ate and drank at Charlie's Ale House since we had cravings for a good burger. Yum! When we were done there and ready to head back we took public transportation back.... I was a little squeamish since it was at night and unfortunately the most interesting people come out of the cracks later at night. We did it anyway, I mean there were three of us so it wasn't a big issue. But when we were waiting for the Blue line with my parents sitting and me facing them and not paying attention, a man approached us, and being startled, I just automatically turn around and put my hand on my purse that was on my shoulder. I didn't notice what I did until the man kept on telling me that I was "insulting" because I did that. I'm sorry, but I would have done that to anyone, any time of day, anywhere in Chicago. He continues on calling me insulting, but then starts to ask us for money. Again, I'm sorry, but you think that I am going to give you money after you were just rude to me? Don't think so! I apologized, but he wasn't taking it. So he leaves, but then a minute later he starts on his rant at my from a distance. Great. "Welcome to the El at night Mom and Dad, this is why I don't travel by myself at night," I say. It was fine, but it still bothers me a bit. Whatever, I'm a young female in Chicago, what do you expect me to do with my purse?

Other than that little situation, the time with my parents was excellent. I am so happy that they had a great time and I was able to surprise them. They deserve it since they have done so much for me. They are the best parents I could ask for.

Photo courtesy of Flickr.com. July 4 -- Fireworks Over Chicago, Guy Flaneur, 2008.

Panoramic Views To Say the Least

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This week has been full of ups and downs for me. I obtained by keys for my new place yesterday, and I have been attempting doing projects for my classes, however, that has not been easy. I had to re-open 3Ds Max again to do a couple touch-ups to a piece that I am submitting to the AMI Salon, which, of course, did not come easy. After failing at working on that yesterday, I moved to using Osirix (mind you, I haven't used it for at least 8 months) to find a skull and position it in a way that will help me with accurately illustrating the skull at downward lateral view. Couldn't get that to work for me either. I threw in the towel and watched Flash CS4 tutorials on Lynda.com. Well, at least I attempted at doing something.

Today has been a better day and I have been able to work on both of the projects that I could not for the life of me get to work yesterday. At least they are kind of working today. Things are looking up for me, at least hopefully.

Something else has people looking up (and down) in Chicago. Just in time for the America's birthday, the Sears (soon to be named Willis) Tower has added a new addition.... glass. More glass you say? Yes, glass that you can stand on 103 floors up. The Sears Tower added "The Ledge", a glass balcony to their Skydeck so visitors can get a panormic (yes panORMic) view of the city out of America's tallest skyscraper. Though I am a fan of the Hancock Observatory, I may have to take a look at this new addition!

Video courtesy of The Today Show on MSNBC.com. Sears Tower Opens Glass Observation Deck.

My Inspirations

Oh man, I have been a pile and I'm not quite sure why. Sure, I have been doing research on all of my projects I have to do and working, but I just cannot get myself to get any farther than that. I can always find plenty of other things to do/have to be done. I don't know, but I need to get out of this little funk soon. It will come back to me though, I will make sure of that.

One of our assignments for class was to find artists that inspire us to encourage our own style to come out in our illustrations. Here are mine:

Photo courtesy of drawingsofleonardo.org. View of a Skull. Leonardo da Vinci. c. 1489.

Leonard da Vinci
The Renaissance man, Leonardo was always not only painting and sketching, but discovering and inventing. His painting are beautiful and finished, but I always was more fascinated with his sketches. Even though they are just sketches, the detail and line work in them just blow me away.

Photo courtesy of ghostco.org. A Tree With Roots. Matthew Woodson.

Matthew Woodson
A local Chicago artist that graduated from the Art Institute of Chicago in 2006, Matt Woodson has a more graphic style. His use of line, blocks of color and patterns gives the illustrations movement and whimsy, yet have a strong sense of realism. He also uses some inner anatomy in some of his works.

Photo courtesy of muchafoundation.org. Summer 1896. Alphonse Mucha. Decorative panel. 1896.

Alphose Mucha
Always being a fan of Art Nouveau, Alphose Mucha has been one of my favorites for years. His decorative style, muted color palette and use of outline is very well done. Simple, yet ornate.

Photo courtesy of iamgabz.com. Personal project inspired by Miami Ink episode. Grzegroz Domaradzki. Pencil and Photoshop. 2009.

Grzegroz Domaradzki
Also known as Gabz, Grzegroz is a polish freelancer who creates paintings, commercial art, graphic design and storyboards. His style varies depending on what he is working on which can sometimes be quite a feat. My personal favorites are his drawings and illustrations. Once again, his use of line is what gets me as well as the heightened contrast. He also uses anatomy in many of this drawings.

I hope that I will be able to take something from these amazing artists and be able to create my own style to put towards my anatomical art.

100th Blog Post!

There you are ladies and gents! If you have kept up with my blogging from the beginning, thank you and continue to read on, and if you are newer addition; welcome and I hope you obtain some knowledge as well as a chuckle from my life in the past 10 months, the present, and the future as a graduate student at UIC in the biomedical visualization program.


Now that I'm done with my little 100th-post celebration, I would like to talk about one of my newer fave artists who was saved for this special post. Plus, he also drew some medically-inspired art finally (well kinda)! Juan Fransisco Casas, 31, is a Spanish artist that works on huge photo-realistic works of are created and rendered with a blue Bic ballpoint pen. Trained as a traditional artist, he started doing these huge drawings 4 years ago as a joke to make something look like a photo but was far from it. It wasn't until he won 2nd place in a national art competition that he took these pieces seriously that he based on nights out with friends and sexuality. At the present, my new personal favorites are the ones above named Eating Vesalius and Licking Vesalius in ode to the tattoo first illustrated in Andreas Vesalius' book De Humani Corporis Fabrica. Check out more of Juan's art here! Now it is back to working on my thesis project proposal and Flash tutorials on Lynda.com!

Thanks again everyone!

Photo courtesy of juanfranciscocasas.com. Eating Vesalius (detail) and Licking Vesalius. Juan Fransisco Casas. Bic ballpoint pen. 2009.

Letting it All Hang Out

The first week of our 8 week summer session is over and though I am trying to keep up with things the summer keeps on tempting me to relax, hang out, and to put it bluntly, just chill. I haven't quite stepped back into the class mode yet. It is nice in a way that our course load isn't that intense, so I still feel like I am in the clear.... I just don't want it to get out of hand, you know, since all of my weekends are already books for the entire duration. That will happen.

Though I say I have been a bum, I have:

• Checked out artists that I admire for my advanced imaging techniques as well as choosing my scientific subjects to illustrate.
• Taken my first Flash class and rewrote my crazy-messy notes (I swear, in the past month I forgot how to write.)
• Gutted my room of unnecessary things that I don't want to move in less than a month.
  
• Worked 16 hours and did my first tech help email and phone call. :D
  
• Caught up with friends.
• Watched Horton Hears a Who. (The animation is great and the humor is not just for kids.)
  
• Worked on my online class, which thankfully has only one more week.
  
• Talked with my thesis project committee chair and advisor about where I am going and what I have to do.
  
• Went grocery shopping at my favorite cheap (but good) ghetto grocery store
• Made a large amount of black bean salsa and chicken fajitas. (I missed having fresh produce.)
• Sat and took in a wonderful summer storm.
  

So there, I can say I have done something with my life. One thing I'm glad I didn't do is what these little characters are up to. This anatomical imagery is from Tom Giesler, an illustrator and entrepreneur in the San Fransisco Bay area. His ties with the graphic design and medical devices industry, as well as his humor, can both be seen in these clean and simple illustrations, made to look anatomical charts. Take a look at his website as there are more anatomically-based images there!



Photo courtesy of tomgiesler.com. The spirit of sharing and Brimming with enthusiasm. Tom Giesler. 17 x 22", acrylic & digital, 2007.

Lazy Summer Days are Taking a Break

My summer is now officially temporarily over. Today was the first day of classes of the 8 week schedule that our Biomedical Visualization program requires. We started off with Surgical Orientation which will prepare us for Surgical Illustration in the fall. Mostly, it is about not using mechanical pencils since the lead can easily break and could possibly fly into a body cavity of an individual having surgery. Okay, that was only one part of today's intro lecture and there will be more to learn! After that, we talked about the expectations in the next class, Advanced Imaging Techniques. Three high-quality works, eight mere weeks. No big deal when there are other classes to worry about as well. :D What I will like about it is that we can choose exactly what we want to do, in any media we choose, and in any style. Now I just have to think about what I want to do....that can be a feat in itself. We finished early like usual on the first day and went home.

While on the walk to class this morning, I received a pleasant phone call to start the day off right. My application for my new apartment went through! I am so excited to be moving to Lincoln Park since I will be by the lake and a block away from the park. I will be smack-dab in the middle of an awesome community and I can't wait to explore it more. The only thing is that everyone works out like crazy there, hopefully that will kick me in the butt to get myself back in shape. Sitting in front of a computer working on projects doesn't maintain the greatest figure even though I wish it would.

Now back from my tangent. I couldn't wait to sign the lease so I went after a little bit of lunch. Thank goodness I brought an umbrella since on the way back it was downpouring. My intention was to go to the grocery store, but now that wasn't going to happen. Nope, not without a car in the city and waiting for public transportation with bags full of groceries trying to hold up an umbrella when it is windy enough for it to turn inside out. That's just a bad omen and I have enough of them the way it is. ;) Also, I already had to walk a little bit from the bus and the gladiator sandals that I was wearing get slippery on the sole when wet so I could barely walk since my foot was slipping forward in the sandal but it's strapped to my foot and it is a thong design. OUCH! I had to walk differently so they wouldn't hurt me but then it took me even longer to get home in the pouring, windy rain. Once again, learned my lesson. Oh the joys of life at times!

Workin' It

Yes, I am back in the workforce... well kinda. I have just started working as a graduate assistant at the UIC ITL (Instructional Technology Lab). I'm very happy to be there, but getting started is going to be the hardest part of the job. After finishing all the paperwork and what not, I didn't know exactly when I was going to start so I was just waiting and keeping myself occupied with other activities which did not include checking my email religiously when I wake up in the morning like I do when I'm in school-mode. One day, a fantastic, sunny Tuesday, I didn't check my email until 1 pm. I received an email from my employer (from that same morning sent at 8:17 am) apologizing for not responding for awhile and asked for me to come in at 1 pm that day. #$^&! Needless to say, I jumped up, changed my clothes, cleaned up a bit and was out the door. Thank goodness I only live a 15 minute walk away and I don't have to dress up too much for the job. I was so upset at myself when I was power walking to my first day of work already late. Great first impression Lindsey. Needless to say, the person that was training me wasn't really informed either so it was okay. He just laughed at the my explanation and we went on. Phew, I learned from that lesson, even though it wasn't all my fault. What if I was gone or had an appointment that day, you know?

Anyway, we started right then and there and needless to say, there was a lot of information thrown at me at once. The job requires being a tech help person to help faculty with Blackboard, a Web-based course-management system designed to allow students and faculty to participate in classes delivered online or use online materials and activities to complement face-to-face teaching. Therefore, I need to know it backwards and forwards, inside and out. Okay, I can do that. But wait, there's more! We are there to help with technology, which means other forms of software as well. This includes video-editing, knowing everything about all the Adobe products, VCR to DVD transfers, html language, and on and on and on. I dabbled in some of these programs but not to the extent to teach someone else at the moment. @$#^! Needless to say, I went home satisfied that I started working before classes, but now I have all this to learn as well! It will be fine though, I mean I didn't expect to not learn or do anything for the benefits that come with being selected for an assistantship. Still very happy, plus I have been having a great time enjoying my freedom to explore the city and hanging out with friends. Unfortunately, my social life will be coming back to graduate school level in a mere four days.