About the artist
My name is Joanna Culley (married name Butler) and I am a freelance artist specialising in the drawing of human and animal anatomy, scientific and medical subject matter and our natural world. I am truly passionate about our planet and all that lives on it and its a privilege to work as an artist in this field.
Right from the start I have specialised in creating drawings of the natural world, with a special love of animals and wildlife leading to a desire to not just observe these animals in their environment but to also understand their anatomy and physiology. This inspired me to study medical and scientific illustration to degree level. Just recently I have become a PhD student on a part time basis, where I am researching and completing medical illustrations of skin neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) at the University of Surrey. What is so purposeful is that due to NTDs being so under resourced and underfunded, there is a gap where these patient education style illustrations could really help in early disease detection and where my illustrations I hope, will become a valuable visual resource in the clinics of rural Africa.
Why I Specialised in Scientific and Medical Art
Medical and scientific art is so interesting to illustrate because it involves human and animal anatomy, topics involving medicine, the natural world and science and where there is always a need to complete prior research in order to fully understand and draw any subject accurately. It is a constant fascinating journey of discovery! And of course it’s a style of art that requires absolute precision and detail, I love working on the detail, drawing everything from scratch.
Career to Date
For the last 12 years I have primarily been commissioned to work on commercial projects where my illustrations have been used within publishing and patient education materials. This has led to my becoming very adept at creating illustrations that suit each project, the target audience, ones which tell the key client message while being attractive and appealing for the viewer.
While this website is dedicated to showcasing my artwork within the science fields, I have also been commissioned to complete a wide range of medical art and this work is showcased separately on my other website called www.medical-artist.com.
There is also the possibility to purchase many illustrations as licensed stock illustrations on the business’s sister web site called The Medical Stock Images Company. If you are in a rush or you can find an existing illustration that is suitable, then this service will suit you very well.
