An interview with medical illustrator Emily Holden
Hello!
I am Emily, one of the Directors of Now Medical Studios. You can go and read about our other Director, Annie Campbell here. We have such a wonderful team here at NMS and they are constantly bringing their unique experiences and talents to the table. I wanted to share a bit of my own journey to becoming a medical illustrator and animator to hopefully inspire others to join this fascinating career path.
Where did you go to school?
There are typically two routes to getting into one of the post-graduate courses in medical illustration, a science undergraduate degree or an art degree. I came from an art background and did my undergraduate in Painting at Edinburgh College of Art (The University of Edinburgh). During my undergraduate degree I became fascinated with the subject of anatomy, its history and the way that we perceive our bodies along with the fact that we know very little about what lies beneath the surface of the skin.
This interest led me to contact both the Anatomy and Veterinary departments of the University of Edinburgh and I began doing observational drawings from the specimens and collections. I felt like I finally found what I was truely interested in - discovering all of our hidden complex structures and bringing beauty to what people may perceive as ‘disgusting’.
It was not until my fourth year that I discovered that there was actually a career path for this interest. The course leaders from MSc Medical Art, The University of Dundee, came to do an introductory talk at ECA. That was it, that was the only thing I wanted to do with my life!
The course was wonderful and I met so many like-minded, talented artists. The scientific and anatomy training I received suring my time there was invaluable.
Where did you work?
From my course I went on to do an internship at the medical school of the University of Dundee and then landed a job in the School of Dentistry as their Medical Artist and Educational Resource Developer. After having a wonderful experience working for the university (and being very fortunate to meet Annie there!), it was time for me to work closer to home and I then worked for an eLearning company as a Content Developer for their NHS Health and Social Care projects.
When did you become a freelance medical illustrator?
I freelanced on the side of my day job throughout my career but went part-time freelance during my last year at the eLearning company. This opportunity allowed me to try to focus more on what I was really passionate about. I had always wanted to work for myself and I finally got the opportunity to do so when I finally took the leap and left my job and joined forces with Annie in February 2020.
When did Now Medical Studios start?
Annie and I had kept in touch over the years since we had worked for the university. We were constantly collaborating and helping eachother with work or sharing ideas. I had done quite a few freelance projects for Campbell Medical Illustration and really admired Annie’s drive and professionalism. To be honest, in my eyes, Annie was living the dream and I had always wanted to work with her since we first met (but don’t tell her that…😏).
We got to a stage with our businesses that it made sense to merge our companies as we were stronger together than as seperate companies competing in the same market. We had also started on passion projects which lead to forming our educational learning channel, Learn Medical Art, and our future ambitions were aligned.
I am so proud of the team we have built at Now Medical Studios and to have a fantastic business partner and friend in Annie.
Thank you to everyone who has supported us through the years, both individually, as our team as a whole. I am very excited for that the future holds.
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