Virgil Wong on Artistry, Drawing Cadavers and Visualizing Health Information

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Several years ago, as a result of a conversation with Karen Cheng, I taught myself how to draw. Mostly by following the steps played out in the book You Can Draw In 30 Days I learned all of the incremental components to be able to draw circles, increasingly complex perspectives, and eventually my own hand. But even more interesting that specific techniques, I was interested to explore perception, even without the ability to produce photo realistic drawings.

So, when I met Virgil Wong (@virgilwong), I was equally intrigued by his company Medical Avatar and by his artistry.

How I Learned to Draw in 30 Days

During the winter of 2013 I learned to draw. Even though I grew up around the arts, I had never really tried putting pencil to paper. My first attempt was as rudimentary as I would have expected…

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Fortunately, I had excellent tutelage in the form of the book You Can Draw in 30 Days, a comprehensive introduction of the art of drawing by Mark Kistler. Mark’s instruction embodies many of the aspects of learning I frequently discuss, including small steps and celebration.

The progressions that Mark described were well considered. After attempting spheres, he taught some practical applications of drawing circles.

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While my spheres aren’t world class, by immediately putting into function simple tools like spheres and shading, I was more confident and eager to apply future lessons. I moved into drawing perspective, which, of course, began very modestly.