I have continued to grow my digital art skills and have found these skills essential for living in a rural place so that I have access to remote work and can plan my large-scale public art installations and how I will present them to the public. It's important to maintain an online presence to promote my work.
What is your favorite part of your job? What are your job's biggest challenges?
I find so much joy in learning about the natural world and formulating imagery that is both visually compelling and knowledge-based. Scientific illustration is a field that comes with many positive interactions with other people as you work together to learn and inform others about the nuance in the world around us. If you are interested in this field, I encourage you to pursue your passion but to make yourself as prepared as possible for a career with less defined goals and objectives than other fields. You will likely have to chart your own path.
What advice do you have for a student interested in your industry? What skills are most crucial?
I recommend the following:
Create relationships with institutions that could become future employers.
Having strong digital art skills has been essential for developing my personal projects and enabling me to work remotely for a larger studio while still living in a rural area.
Additionally, try to understand the realities and options available in freelance work versus more traditional employer-based work, and think about what will work for you.
