The Digital Biomedical Illustration Handbook

For those of you interested in pursuing medical illustration as a career this book is for you. It is a fantastic overview of the profession.

The book is split into two sections: a history and introduction to medical illustration followed by in depth tutorials in Photoshop and 3d Studio Max. Just attempting one of these tutorials will make you fully appreciate what a medical illustrator does. I only wish I would have known about this book back when I was learning about the field.

It also includes interviews with current professionals in the medical art/design field, very insightful.

The official description:

The Digital Biomedical Illustration Handbook is the only book currently available that provides in-depth coverage of the medical illustration field. It includes a brief history of the field, a state-of-the-industry, an overview of the training required to be a medical illustrator, and the techniques and tools used to create high-quality digital illustrations with Photoshop CS and 3ds max 6. This beautifully illustrated book is written for artists, graphic designers, art directors, art students, and those interested in learning about medical illustration.

The goal of the medical illustrator has always been to educate, conceptualize, and clearly communicate biomedical knowledge visually to the scientific community and the public at large. However, the tools used to achieve this goal have changed significantly in the past few years, and this book teaches artists how to adapt their skills to the digital realm. Artists will learn how to use digital tools to create a variety of professional quality illustrations-surgical, editorial, veterinary, patient education, real-time 3D for the Web, and molecular and cellular animation.

If you are interested in learning about medical illustration and the skills it requires, or if you are a practicing illustrator looking for new insights, this is the one resource you'll need. [www.delaflor.com]

The author, Mike de la Flor, is a freelance medical illustrator and writer. I thank him for taking the initiative to sit down and write this book so that people can get a better understanding of this often obscure field.