Update: For the past year I've mostly been employed doing freelance medical illustrations, design work, etc which doesn't really flow with the rest of my work below. So it seems that my professional illustrations have finally become too numerous and varied to be satisfied by blogspot anymore– it's time for a real website.

Click on image to see detail, Botanical illustration, July 2008, 8x10" watercolor on bristol board

Basil drawing, 2009, 6 x 7" pen and ink on bristol board

I'd also like to showcase my art and such that has NOT been done for clients, although admittedly I haven't had as much time for that as I'd like lately... I've been busy! AND I've just started a children's book.... So expect to see much more once I master web design (it shouldn't be too long now). :)

In the meantime I am still accepting new clients with interesting ideas, so feel free to contact me!

Best wishes,
meghan byrnes


(Just a very teeny tiny sampling of the medical illustrations I've been doing for awhile now... please excuse the low resolution!)

DINOSAUR EXHIBIT ILLUSTRATIONS, ECOTARIUM MUSEUM, AUGUST 2007


Click on images to see detail

Coelophysis


Coelophysis skeleton


Interactive balance puzzle


Lesothosaurus


Dilophosaurus


Plateosaurus

INTEGRAL LIFE LOGO SUBMISSION
My design didn't get picked as the logo, but I was told it may be used on the new Intergral Institute portal.

Some older stuff: OUTDOOR SIGN PROJECT EXAMPLES, ECOTARIUM MUSEUM, 2006-2007

Fox signage, 2007:


Illustrations:




Eagle signage, 2006:

"ATTACK OF THE BLOODSUCKERS" EXHIBIT, ECOTARIUM MUSEUM, FALL 2006


This was without a doubt the most difficult illustration project I have ever worked on. I had only just started to learn Adobe Illustrator when it became clear that I would need to use the program exclusively for the next seven months or so. It was quite a challenge, but the results were well worth the vision we had during our initial meetings last April. Thanks to the EcoTarium Museum's exhibit design staff, Jane's Trust Foundation, my friend Andrew Tang, and Chris Danemayer of Proun Design, I am now completely proficient in one of Adobe's more complicated design programs, not to mention the "Marvel Romance Comic Book" style the exhibit manifested itself under graphically. I also know way more about designing for print than I would care to, especially when it comes to limited Pantone pallets and transparencies!

Leeches Poster ("Creature From the Black Lagoon" spoof)
(displayed next to the leeches tank)


Click on images to see detail

"Swamp Water Ballet" Poster
(displayed next to the mosquito breeding tank)

This is the strangest concept I have ever been asked to illustrate: "Synchronized swimming in a swamp with a mosquito larvae water ballet." I did the best I could.


Click on images to see detail

Mosquito Cockpit Entry Poster


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Cockpit area interactive panels (exterior):

"Seabee" Mosquito Logo

I created this logo illustration to be used as the Bloodsucker's mascot. This mosquito appears in various colors throughout the exhibit in posters and interactives and was used for marketing purposes.

Bed Bug, one of many bloodsucking insects drawn for the "Twitcher" Twister Game

First sketch for Living Room Wall Panel



Living Room Wall Panel



Yard Scene Wall Panel

Deck Scene Wall Panel


Click on images to see detail

Leech Tank

Mosquito Life Cycle


Click on image to see detail

Mosquito Breeding Tank

How Attractive Are You to Mosquitoes?


Click on images to see detail

Mosquito Bite Reactions

Arms Interactive





Watch a short video of the exhibit!

Only two of these creatures actually suck blood
Click on images to see detail

Payara "Vampire Fish" (or is it a "Dracula Fish"?)
Not a bloodsucker.

Paracanthopoma "Dracula Fish" (or is it a "Vampire Fish"?)
Bloodsucker.

Cinclodes antarcticus "Tussock Bird"
Bloodsucker.

Alternative Graphic/Illustrative Style Samples for the Bloodsuckers Exhibit

These two illustrations were both rejected graphic styles I came up with for the exhibit. We thought the "Edward Gorey" style was too creepy and problematically uncolorful, and the "1950's Horror Poster" style too scary. What we ended up with was a "Marvel Romance Comic Book" style with horror poster concepts.

"TREEHOUSES" EXHIBIT, ECOTARIUM MUSEUM, SPRING 2006

I wish I could say that I helped design the structural look of this exhibit (which is one of the most beautiful I've seen the EcoTarium create thus far), but alas, I only served to illustrate the tree-dwellers in the interactive components. Still, this is by far my favorite exhibit in terms of aesthetics and overall conceptualization.











Watch a short video of the exhibit!

Treehouse Exhibit Animal Illustration Sample
Click on images to see detail

MEADOW INTERACTIVE "FIELD GUIDE", ECOTARIUM MUSEUM, SPRING 2004


Click on images to see detail

Field Guide Illustrations of the Meadow Plants



Field Guide Meadow Illustration


Click on images to see detail

"TURTLE TRAVELS" EXHIBIT, ECOTARIUM MUSEUM, LATE WINTER 2005

To create the graphics for this exhibit's game-piece floor tiles, I illustrated path and grass squares, trees, and turtle tracks which were then photoshopped to create each individual floor tile. There were also a few unique tiles which included a suburban development and "turtle town," extra graphic elements including "Start," "Finish" and "Detour" signs and fonts, interactive component backgrounds, and illustrated "cultural stories."











Watch a short video of the exhibit!

Animal Crossing Interactive

As I was still interning for exhibit design while "Turtle Travels" was in its conceptual phase, I was given the opportunity to create this interactive for the museum. The idea is based on actual animal crossings that are in place on various roads and highways in this country. Participants were able to move several animal figures (salmon, salamander, wolf, deer, turtle, etc) on tracks and try to determine which crossing would best suit it's size, habitat, and preferences. Hints were given under "road crossing" signs depicting each particular animal in silhouette. Based on my very unbiased opinion, it was the most popular interactive in the exhibit.

Turtle Floor Border


click on image to see detail

Little extras...

TURTLE EXHIBIT CULTURAL STORY ILLUSTRATIONS

The Earth on Turtle’s Back
Native American creation story

Click on image to see detail

Turtle Returns the Gift
A traditional Japanese story

Click on image to see detail

Anansi and Turtle
A Yoruba tale

Click on image to see detail

The Tortoise & the Egrets
Tibetan Story

Click on image to see detail

Tortoise shell calendar

Click on image to see detail

This is my favorite piece in the Cultural Stories series. In this illustration I incorporated several key elements of the story, moon cycle phenomena, and Native American symbolism. The spotted turtle rests upon a traditional medicine wheel depicting the four seasons, each with their corresponding colors and directionality (North, South, East and West). The adjacent four trees also correspond with the seasons, while the outer ring around the medicine wheel depicts the flowing tides, a force of nature which is directly influenced by our moon's cycle. On both the outer edge of the illustration and the outer plates of the turtle one can see depicted the full 28-day cycle of the moon. On the inner plates of the turtle's back, the spots are in a configuration of 1-13, each symbolizing one of the thirteen moons of the year.

Write me! meghanbyrnes@mac.com



"The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and all science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead: his eyes are closed."
( Albert Einstein - The Merging of Spirit and Science)