If you love art and science (of course you do—you’re on our website!) and are looking for a job, a good path to go down might be scientific illustration. As a scientific illustrator, you collaborate with various companies to create science-related graphics. Ever wanted to have your art be displayed in a scientific magazine as the cover? What about as a medical illustration in a college textbook? Scientific illustration provides the necessary foundations for all of that to come true. However, some are debating the legitimacy of the career in our modern world—one that is dominated by artificial intelligence that can generate art just as if not more technically impressive than a human in a fraction of the time.
Most careers in scientific illustration start off with attaining a bachelor’s degree. Throughout the process, you will immerse yourself in scientific subjects, learn how to communicate through visuals, and study both digital and traditional arts. However, as colleges spike in tuition, participation in higher education for the fine arts is decreasing, especially with a projected 0% job growth rate within the next decade.
Another detail about this career path is that you often have to become comfortable with the uncomfortable. In previous centuries, a lack of scientific understanding called for the need for interpretations of scientific ideas such as human anatomy. However, as we procure more and more scientific knowledge, we no longer need illustrations of the same concepts, making most of today’s commissions rather niche in subject. Oftentimes, you can be asked to work on projects that are either on a molecular scale or are niche with very few references available. In those cases, most of the work has to be done in the brain. It is for this reason that scientific illustrators are often creative and can think outside the box.
Interestingly, this field is not always called “scientific illustration”.” Depending on your concentration, you can specialize as a medical illustrator, biological illustrator, scientific 3-D modeler/animator, etc. Most illustrators who work with scientific subjects concentrate on 1 or 2 subjects, such as paleontology, botany, or molecular biology. It has become a largely interdisciplinary field, as artists now have to adjust their skills to compete with the image-generation capabilities of artificial intelligence. Some of these adjustments can include learning different art forms such as animation, sculpture, and 3D modeling to present unique artwork. Those who adjust and others who remain solely illustrators face the possibility of irrelevance and unemployment. Aspiring job finders in this field are also at stake as AI could potentially affect the field’s authenticity and allure.
Finally, let’s talk about the salary. Depending on the sources you use, expect to see your pay scale roughly between $50,000 to $80,000. The pay, as for all jobs, heavily depends on extenuating factors such as location and job level. Unfortunately, you shouldn’t expect to become a millionaire just by drawing some pictures. Scientific illustration does fall under the umbrella job category of “illustration” and “fine arts”, which are fields notoriously scarce in salary. However, scientific illustration is one of the higher paid illustration jobs, so keep that in mind if you’re struggling to pick a future for yourself.
Overall, scientific illustration is a relatively stagnant field that affords the artist a chance to work on more technical pieces in the sciences. Although it can be hard to find suitable job offers, scientific illustrators are in demand in several types of institutions, including universities, hospitals, and laboratories. The estimated salary for the job is not the best, but most scientific illustrators are motivated to work in their field due to their enthusiasm for delivering scientific education to a wider audience through art. So if that sounds like you, get drawing and one day your art might be on the cover of Science’s magazine.
