"I think it's something to do with a class of products or services that, to people without expert knowledge, seem to self-create or self-maintain; that we feel have always been there. It's to do with the nature of work where, when it's done right, the worker isn't even noticed."
Sometimes I could eat people's faces for their comments about the worth of my job (well, soon-to-be vocation when I graduate).
I'm training to be a medical illustrator. For some reason, people can only ever fixate on one of those words, which means I'm either automatically a doctor (huh?) and I should be able to answer all of their questions about their various and sundry ailments; or, I'm a dirty, no-good artist who will probably fail at life and starve because being an artist automatically means you will never make anything of your career, ever. *SIGH*
But, wrt the quote, I have had conversations with very well-meaning people (including my boyfriend) about why there is a need for us in the first place. After all, hasn't everything anatomical been illustrated already? Why don't publishers just pay each other royalties and publish the same images over and over? Never mind actually making sure artists get paid for the re-use, or the fact that books commission new illustrations so that they will actually stand out among their competitors...
People really do seem to assume that these pictures made themselves, and additionally that they were all made like 50 years ago. People look through science textbooks and never once consider that a Real Person had to sit down and actually draw all those figures! (Never mind the fact that medical illustrator is a total misnomer and we are actually web designers, animators, programmers and illustrators all in one). But yeah, I feel you about people thinking your job is worthless. :/
Well, it's not. You're creating culture. Even if people don't remember your name over the stories you've written, what you do DOES matter, and there are people out there who know it.
(And believe me, even if my work gets published in a book or magazine, you can bet no one's going to remember my name since medical illustrators are rarely afforded the status of co-author...)
no subject
Sometimes I could eat people's faces for their comments about the worth of my job (well, soon-to-be vocation when I graduate).
I'm training to be a medical illustrator. For some reason, people can only ever fixate on one of those words, which means I'm either automatically a doctor (huh?) and I should be able to answer all of their questions about their various and sundry ailments; or, I'm a dirty, no-good artist who will probably fail at life and starve because being an artist automatically means you will never make anything of your career, ever. *SIGH*
But, wrt the quote, I have had conversations with very well-meaning people (including my boyfriend) about why there is a need for us in the first place. After all, hasn't everything anatomical been illustrated already? Why don't publishers just pay each other royalties and publish the same images over and over? Never mind actually making sure artists get paid for the re-use, or the fact that books commission new illustrations so that they will actually stand out among their competitors...
People really do seem to assume that these pictures made themselves, and additionally that they were all made like 50 years ago. People look through science textbooks and never once consider that a Real Person had to sit down and actually draw all those figures! (Never mind the fact that medical illustrator is a total misnomer and we are actually web designers, animators, programmers and illustrators all in one). But yeah, I feel you about people thinking your job is worthless. :/
Well, it's not. You're creating culture. Even if people don't remember your name over the stories you've written, what you do DOES matter, and there are people out there who know it.
(And believe me, even if my work gets published in a book or magazine, you can bet no one's going to remember my name since medical illustrators are rarely afforded the status of co-author...)
Bah. I ranted. I apologize.