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Us science artists don’t get no respect… at least that’s what I thought until now. When I heard that the AOI (Association of Illustrators) added a Research & Knowledge category to their prestigious, international ‘Images’ competition, I was stoked to have … Continue reading →

Dissecting Art, Intersecting Anatomy: Merging contemporary art with the works of Pauline Lariviere. This exhibit was organized by a small group of esteemed Chicago-based artists and entrepreneurs interested in medical art, and guest-curated by the ever fabulous Vanessa Ruiz of Street Anatomy. [...]

Dissecting Art, Intersecting Anatomy: Merging contemporary art with the works of Pauline Lariviere. This exhibit was organized by a small group of esteemed Chicago-based artists and entrepreneurs interested in medical art, and guest-curated by the ever fabulous Vanessa Ruiz of Street Anatomy."The exhibition is an homage to Pauline Lariviere (1906–1988), a French-Canadian artist whose fame came from her extensive work in medical and anatomical illustration. Lariviere had a very di [...]

I've begun working with the male form. The following are 10" x 8".I'm surprised by how different they feel compared to the women I have painted.The other day I bought a blow torch. It melts the wax much faster than the heat gun I use. It also doesn't b...

Here are a few photos I took this morning:

Fracking (otherwise known as hydraulic fracturing, the process of drilling deep into the earth for natural gas) is the hot button issue within the environmental and energy community. Supporters say it is the next great scientific development that will create … Continue reading →

In the late eighties and early nineties I was a student at La Guardia High School of the Arts. My life was devoted to music. Thelonious Monk, Sonny Rollins and Lester Young were my idols. At eighteen I began gigging with my quintet in small venues in New York City. I wrote music and played tenor saxophone with a passion; I would end a gig or practice session in physical pain and emotional exhaustion.

Jazz clubs were dropping like flies. Swing and bebop had been a vital aspect of American culture. Yet the glory years of the thirties, forties and fifties, with places like NYC's 52nd street, didn't exist anymore. The music I was playing was disconnected from the times I was living in; I was rehashing a music that had died decades before. I was tired of pouring my heart into something that felt useless. I stopped playing.

At twenty I began working at my father's illustration and animation studio, Slim Films. There I learned that illustration and information graphics serve a specific purpose and have a defined goal. It was a revelation to be doing something concretely useful. After a couple of years working as a freelance illustrator I took a job as an assistant art director at Scientific American magazine. The editors worked with a passion that was eye-opening—even as they were writing about the most obscure subjects, like a particle physics theory that had no perceived relevance in our daily lives. It was as if I were surrounded by artists and musicians.

This reignited my desire to make music. I decided to leave Scientific American and go back to Manhattan School of Music, the conservatory I had dropped out of a few years earlier. I quickly learned that I didn't have what it would take to make it as a professional musician. It seemed as if the pinnacle of success was getting into the pit band of a Broadway show. The prospect of playing the same music day in and day out was a nightmare. At the time I was earning, and enjoying, a decent living as a freelance illustrator. Once again I stopped playing.

Over the years I became relatively successful as an illustrator. Five years ago I began to hire people and transition from a freelance illustrator to the creative director of my own studio. Two and a half years ago we moved the studio from Maplewood, N.J., to New York City.

I reentered the world of the useless; I decided to devote a significant part of my time and energy to creating fine art. Creating something that is of no use is an exercise in frustration. The other day I was complaining to an artist friend about this. Shaking his head he said, "People have no idea how hard this is. It's awful. Just awful."

And then, a couple of weeks ago I downloaded an album from iTunes of Barry Harris and Charles Davis, two of the teachers I studied with years ago. At the first notes my knees buckled. Time stopped and joy welled in my heart. It didn't matter what year it was. It didn't matter that what I defined as jazz had died years ago. What mattered was that for this brief time it was alive and well in my studio as I listened and danced.

I am constantly amazed at the human body — the interconnectedness of its many layers and parts, its mechanical marvels and beauty, the way it grows, changes and repairs itself. Even after 25 years of drawing human anatomy, I am still moved by its wonder and mystery. […]

The post Why I do what I do. appeared first on Clark Medical Illustration.

January 2012 was filled with hope as my wife and I reconciled. Yet the stress of everyday life, exacerbated by the grim reality of my recently excavated past, began to affect how I functioned in the world as a husband, father, creative director and artist. This tension culminated in April, leading to my semi-enforced two-month sabbatical. 

I reentered the world in June reenergized. By August the honeymoon withered and died. But in October I began feeling a subtle, hard-won stability. I was standing on the new foundation that I had begun cobbling together in April.

If you have followed this blog over the past two or so years, you may have noticed a change in tone since I returned from my sabbatical. I am uncomfortable with how personal my older posts are. Since getting back I've swung to the other end of the spectrum. In the service of not being too personal I have cut off much of the lifeblood and passion with which I wrote. How I can retain some of my fire without being melodramatic will be a challenge for me in 2013.

One of my intentions for 2012 was to make a larger, more realized body of work. Now that the year has come to a close I'm happy and proud of what I have made. In 2013 I will be getting the work out there. (Given that you are reading this and—hopefully—looking at the pictures, the work is of course "out there." What I mean is getting the work in an appropriate gallery.) With this intention in mind I've redesigned my art website. It will be going live sometime in January. I've also produced a 36-page booklet that I will be sending to the galleries I can imagine my work in.

Here are three of the last pieces I made in 2012:

I've been working with multiple figures:A friend of mine, artist Jim Angell, said, "You're knocking on the door" when he looked at these. In introducing more than one woman the challenges of color, composition, and movement become more apparent. I'm ha...

I made this last week. It measures 24" x 20":I'm using two layers of silk instead of four or five. With this technique the line becomes clearer; it's a more graphic approach. When I finished this piece my initial feeling was that it was too literal. Bu...

A couple of posts ago I had written that I was starting a new series of panels measuring 20" x 16". Here are two I'm happiest with:I'm intrigued with the blue piece. It's hitting a sweet spot between representation and abstraction. After making this pi...

I plan on doing a few postings about anatomical visionary Andreas Vesalius (1514-1564) who is considered to be the father of modern anatomy.  Vesalius hailed from Flanders, and was born in Brussels, to a learned family of physicians.  He stud...

I've been taking pictures of the city that I use as reference for ink drawings.It's good to have ink on my fingers. It's good to smell materials other than the plastic and metal of my computer. It's good to have a tangible object in my hands after...

Jim Angell stopped by the other day for lunch and a studio visit. He was struck by the portraits I had started and given up on. He liked the way I had arranged them on my wall as a group. We did a little rearranging and editing and came up with this se...

The Higgs boson has been the Holy Grail of physics since its proposal in the 1970s, so the announcement of its discovery on July 4th from scientists at CERN marked a watershed moment within the history of physics. I’m excited … Continue reading →

In London, in the Tate Modern, there's a room devoted to the canvases that Mark Rothko was commissioned to paint for the Four Seasons restaurant in the Seagram's building. When I entered the room, warmth and ease flooded my body. I was peerin...

I was in Chicago with Erica Schwartz-Hall, our studio manager, last week. I spoke at the CUSP conference. More about CUSP tk soon.I took these shots of the city:

I just finished, or gave up on, this piece:It measures 40" x 30". Its the first time I've worked larger than 24" x 18" using the encaustic and organza process. Written down, it doesn't sound too big. But it is. I'm happy with how the art is holdin...

Rates in a Bad Economy Ideally on this blog I’ll talk a little bit about my work, giving you a behind the scenes look at the process that goes into creating my art. Along the way I’ll also offer some … Continue reading →

It’s not everyday that science illustration gets picked up by publications as varied as the The Huffington Post and The Mirror. In this instance a story about a cancer “smart bomb” seems to have sparked some interest. It’s a funny thing, creating artwork … Continue reading →

It's either "on" or "off" for a frozen pizza. You never get to sit around at 72 degrees.

Jim Gaffigan made a joke about "pouring himself a glass of bread" and it inspired me.

These new illustrations by Sayo-Art for How It Works Magazine demonstrate the ways graphics and text can be integrated to create features that are simultaneously compelling and educational. SayoStudios works hard to create illustrations custom fit to your layout and … Continue reading →

Check-out the cover art and opener for the “Born Gas Giants” article in Science News Magazine, describing recent developments in our understanding of the solar system. You can see more of the art up-close here: SayoStudio and read the Science … Continue reading →

Happy Valentine's Day from Maya, Clint, and Shoemaker Medical.

Many of you saw the fundraising portion of my project "Day in a tree" last month, in which I raised over $1000 for homeless youth. I have yet to fulfill my pledge and spend my workday in a tree. I'm scheduling it for next week, I believe. This weekend ...

Today I will be painting from 2-5pm Central (or longer) and streaming it online! Watch to WIN the painting. Visit my ustream channel here. To win the painting, comment here! I might not see them right away if my hands are painty, but I'll be reading a...

Today it's a t-shirt giveaway again! How to enter: comment below![I think our shirts are super cool and I can't wait til the shipment arrives.]

Free medical illustration! **EXTENDED until Friday at midnight** For this contest, we are giving away TWO prizes. Two is better than one, no? We'll draw from comments on this post made before midnight Friday (Nov. 18, 2011). 1. For anybody, one signed ...

Today you can win an anatomy t-shirt simply by liking our facebook page! If you've already liked us,  you're in the drawing. We'll pick a winner Monday evening (Nov. 14) and contact you for your mailing address. Yay!

"NASS" stands for the North American Spine Society, and each year it holds an annual meeting much like other associations to become smarter, inspired, and updated in the field of spine surgery. This year I was invited by my client, Orthofix Spine, to a...

You may have noticed that my company, Shoemaker Medical, has been hiring a lot of people lately, and that they are all my relatives. It's true, we've added 6 brothers and sisters to our team of associates - it sounds crazy, but these people are a great...

A little followup on yesterday's event: photos! Back soon with more medical illustrator interviews. Thanks for visiting. Here's Michelle's pics at her blog.

If you come to art day, this is the kind of fun you'll have: See you Sunday, June 5 - that's tomorrow! Drawing, painting, and chill-axing. For more info, see this schedule. Now go enjoy the rest of Saturday. I think we're going to the pool.