Scientific Illustration Services for Publishers

I make scientific illustrations for books and journals: species plates, botanical and anatomical drawings, cutaways, and diagrams that explain a process. Every piece is researched, checked by the people who know the subject best, and drawn to work at the size and in the format your book or journal will actually use.

I studied Illustration at the Savannah College of Art and Design and took biology, anthropology and biomimicry alongside my core classes, because I wanted to understand what I was drawing. My motto is "educational aesthetics": an image should be clear, accurate and interesting, and also beautiful, because a reader who enjoys a picture keeps looking long enough to learn from it.

Who this is for

• Textbook publishers who need biology, ecology or earth science figures that hold up to review by subject editors and stay consistent across a whole program.
• Journals and authors of research papers who need a figure a photograph cannot provide: a reconstruction, a cross-section, a habitus drawing or a graphical abstract.
• Field guide publishers who need species plates drawn in a consistent pose, scale and light, so readers can compare one plant or animal with the next.
• Trade nonfiction authors and editors writing about natural history, evolution, medicine or archaeology for general readers.
• Children's science books, where a drawing has to be friendly and inviting without becoming inaccurate. A child who learns the wrong number of legs on an insect has to unlearn it later.

What I make

Most book and journal work falls into a few kinds of image:

• Species plates and portraits of plants, animals and fungi, drawn from specimens and references so they show the typical form of the species rather than one damaged or unusual individual.
• Botanical plates that combine the whole plant with enlarged details of flowers, seeds and leaf structure, as in my plate of African rice (Oryza glaberrima).
• Cutaways and cross-sections that show what lies under a surface, from the layers of amphibian skin to the inside of a seed.
• Process diagrams and life cycles, with stages, arrows and labels arranged so the sequence reads at a glance. I describe this work in more detail on the life cycle diagrams page.
• Reconstructions of extinct animals, past landscapes and archaeological scenes, built from the evidence that survives.

I work in graphite, pen and ink, watercolor and digital media, and choose the medium for the job. Pen and ink reproduces cleanly in one color and at small sizes, which suits journals, keys and field guides. Graphite gives detailed tonal work for black and white interiors. Watercolor and digital painting suit color plates and covers, and digital files make later corrections much easier.

How I keep the science right

A published illustration gets reprinted and used in classrooms for years, so a mistake in it travels. My process is built to catch errors early, while they are cheap to fix.

Research first. Before I draw, I read species descriptions, the manuscript and the papers the author recommends. I note the diagnostic features, the characters a specialist uses to tell a species from its relatives, because those details must not be wrong.

Specimens and references. Whenever possible I draw from the real thing: live plants, collection specimens, or material the author provides. I combine several references rather than copying one photograph, which lets me show a clean, typical example.

Expert review. Pencil sketches go to the author, scientist or subject editor before any finished rendering begins. Most corrections happen here: a proportion, the angle of a limb, the number of veins in a leaf.

Agreed review rounds. Every project has its review rounds written into the agreement, usually at the sketch stage and again before final delivery, and labels are checked against the manuscript so the figure and the text use the same terms.

How a commission works

1. Brief. You get in touch with the subject, the intended use, the figure or trim size, color or black and white, the number of images and your schedule.
2. Proposal. I reply with questions, a suggested approach and medium, a timeline and a quote. Once we agree on scope, rights and schedule, the work starts.
3. Research and thumbnails. I gather references and send small compositional sketches so we can settle the layout, the view and what each figure needs to show.
4. Tight sketch and expert check. A detailed pencil drawing goes to you and your expert for accuracy review.
5. Final art. After corrections, I render the final in the agreed medium and send it for a last review.
6. Delivery. You receive production-ready files, with labels on separate layers or as editable type if your designers will set them in the book's fonts.

Files for print and digital

I deliver to your production specifications. For print, that usually means high-resolution TIFF or layered PSD files, commonly 300 to 600 ppi at final printed size (higher for fine line art), in RGB or CMYK as your production team prefers. Line art and labels can also be supplied as vector files. For ebooks, websites and slides, I supply versions sized for the screen. Traditional pieces are scanned at high resolution, and the original art stays with me unless we agree otherwise.

Rights and licensing

Most publishing commissions are licensed rather than sold outright. The license covers the uses you need, such as a print edition and its ebook, and is written into the agreement before work starts. If you expect later editions, translations or marketing use, tell me at the brief stage. Broader or exclusive rights are possible and are priced to match. Unless the agreement says otherwise, I keep the copyright and may show the work in my portfolio after publication.

Frequently asked questions