Chris Ceccarelli scratches his pencil across his sketchpad. The president
of the company watches as he draws a few more lines on the page. He is in
a meeting with potential clients, drawing as they describe their new product
to him.
At this meeting, he is sketching an ink distributor for a printing press.
He hasn't seen the device. Ceccarelli is simply sketching the descriptions
that people give him. The people in the room decide how they want the object
to be represented, the angle, size and the coloring. After Ceccarelli has
an idea of what the client is looking for, he photographs the object.
"This particular part was way down in the bottom of the press," he says.
He takes photographs of the object from the angle that the members have decided
on, and then heads home to work on the illustration.
Sometimes Ceccarelli is able to take the object home with him, but in this
case the piece was six feet long. He has to rely on descriptions and photographs
to create the work.
At home, he turns on his computer. Like many other illustrators, he hasn't
used ink and paper for a long time. "I handed in the old equipment long ago,"
he says. "Now I turn on the computer and draw on a blank screen."
Technical illustrators use advanced drawing software and touchpads to draw,
but the basic concept of creating an illustration is the same. "I decide on
the layout for the piece, what angle I want to represent it from, and what
lighting source makes it look best," says Ceccarelli.
At this stage, he works slowly and carefully. If you decide at a later
stage to redo the lighting source, you may have to redo the entire drawing.
After a week of drawing the printing press ink distributor, Ceccarelli
checks back at the office for feedback. Ceccarelli is usually in contact with
his clients throughout the illustration process.
This is especially true if he is drawing it solely from other people's
descriptions of the object. "I sketch it up and then they tell me things that
need refining. I constantly adjust the proportions and sometimes am required
to distort the perspective." Listening to the client's suggestions is
almost as important as drawing.
After the meeting, Ceccarelli heads home to refine the drawing, and in
another week the illustration is complete. The time it takes to complete a
drawing varies with each project. "It usually depends on how fast they respond
to the rough drawings I submit to them."
Handing in the completed drawing gives Ceccarelli a sense of accomplishment
and satisfaction. "I drew a medical illustration for a company, and they phoned
later to tell me that the advertisement with my drawing generated $16 million
in sales," he says. "I was a small part of that, but it was pretty exciting."
Ever since Ceccarelli was 10 years old, he knew he wanted to be an artist.
He took as many art classes as he could in high school and went to art college
after graduation. Ceccarelli wanted to make a living painting with oils. "But
I struggled as a graphic artist," he says. "I found I was more comfortable
in the technical area."
He developed his talents in technical illustration. "As hard as it was
to let go of oil paints, my technical illustrations were what people kept
responding to." Although he still does a few oil paintings a year, Ceccarelli
is a full-time technical illustrator.
Ruth Leftwich, an illustrator in Colorado, also began her artistic career
in another medium. She went to university to study fine art. "Deciding I wasn't
cut out to be a fine artist, I then attended the Colorado Institute of Art
where I excelled at ad design and graphic design."
After graduating, Leftwich was surprised that most of her clients were
asking her to do technical illustrations rather than graphic design. She decided
to stick with what works. "It was never my intention to become a technical
illustrator," she says. "It just happened."
Leftwich has done illustrations for professionals in engineering, natural
gas, environmental studies, molecular biology research, aeronautics and the
medical field. She doesn't limit her help to illustration. Often, she
helps with technical writing and photography. "I'm a jack of all trades,"
she says. "If my client needs their complex information translated into simple
terminology, I'm a technical writer."
If they need complex illustrations made simple, Leftwich is also there
to do the job. "I enjoy taking complex subject matter and breaking it down
into basic elements and components that are understood."
Ceccarelli agrees that creating an easily understood drawing is satisfying.
When he laid down his brushes and pens in order to start drawing on a computer,
he wasn't sure if he'd get the same sense of satisfaction.
"I imagined I wouldn't have that sense of satisfaction
sitting in front of a computer," he says. "I worried that I'd never feel
that again." He was delighted to find that it doesn't matter what medium
he works with, he is happy when he can be proud of the work he has produced.