Author Archives: Bill
How To’s and Explainers – A Check List
- Jul
- 19
- Posted by Bill
- Posted in Business, Explainers, Illustration Tips

Here it comes. One of those tedious, detail oriented EXPLAINER series of illustrations that can have dozens of steps, multiple file names, different sizes and proportions for different applications, a work in progress from the client and is handed off to you with a crazy timeline. First take a deep breath. Then go through this […]
One of the Best Genetic Engineering Explainers, Ever!
- Sep
- 24
- Posted by Bill
- Posted in Animation, Illustration Tips, Marketing, Motion Graphics

An easy to understand Explainer on the subject of CRISPR, a complex Bio-Medical subject that we all should learn about. The text is easy to understand. Graphics are fun and help immensely to tell the story. Even the music is supportive of the theme. It all adds up to storytelling at its best.
Explainers: It’s All About the Story
- Sep
- 20
- Posted by Bill
- Posted in Animation, Illustration Tips, Marketing

Last month I was hired to to consult on a mechanism of action explainer. I was working with a great team that had developed a script and storyboard laying out the path of how this drug worked. But there were a few bumps in that route. Merging science with art is where the rubber hits […]
Heart Renders: Realistic and Symbolic
- Aug
- 20
- Posted by Bill
- Posted in Illustration Tips

While sorting through artwork to post on my revised website, I discovered that I had rendered hearts over a dozen times in a variety of styles. In addition to the straight forward anatomical studies, they represent a range of conceptual ideas, from the heart as a highway, to a lover’s note, to a tattoo.
New Graham Studios Website
- Aug
- 16
IT’S ALIVE! Yes, the new Graham Studios website is online. New work and a new design. Many thanks to DiggsDesign for the collaboration.
The Small Stuff
- Feb
- 16
- Posted by Bill
- Posted in Business, Illustration Tips, Marketing

Many years ago, legendary creative director Al Adas critiqued a thumb I had drawn for him: “Dis tumb looks like a sausage.” Always one to take Al seriously, I have been working on my “tumbs” ever since. Often these images are reduced to postage stamp size to illustrate how to work a medical device, but even reproduced […]
5 Great Medical Animations to Watch Right Now
- Apr
- 28

This week, Serbin Communications is featuring 5 Great Medical Animations to Watch Right Now on its Medical Illustration Sourcebook website. It’s a very interesting overview of different creative approaches that are used today to convey bio-medical information in a moving format. Check it out at: http://blog.medillsb.com/5-great-medical-animations-to-watch-right-now/
Valentine’s Day for Guys
- Feb
- 12

Well, that day that all guys fear and loathe is almost here. Yes, its Valentine’s Day, that smarmy hot pink forced declaration of love day. Assuming that you have been unable to schedule an out of town business trip or an emergency visit to a desperately ill uncle in Fort Meyers, face it – […]
O Tannenbaum…
- Dec
- 18

Celebrating the holidays with the American Holly, Emerald Arborvitae, Austrian Pine, Black Hills Spruce, Douglas Fir, Eastern Red Cedar, Blue Point Juniper, Mugho Pine, Arizona Cypress, Scotch Pine, Balsam Fir, Bristlecone Pine, Canadian Hemlock, Pacific Cedar, Loblolly Pine, Lodgepole Pine, Ponderosa Pine, Giant Sequoia, …and the recently discovered Verizon Faux Fir
Should I Work for Free?
- Nov
- 26

Last week I was invited to lunch by a recent film school graduate. She was looking for a job and showed me her reel on her iPad. Good work. Over shrimp tacos, she explained that she had a dilemma and needed some advice. An Oscar nominated producer, knowing she had just graduated from USC with […]