Dry Eye Syndrome

August 26, 2018

How many artists have a fascination with drawing an eye? You know—the single eye. The one you can really enjoy drawing. Once you add a second eye, everything changes. Suddenly you’re dealing with symmetry, subtle differences, and the reality that eyes are more like siblings than twins. One eye, though? Pure pleasure.

So when a project about dry eye landed on my desk, I was immediately on board. The job came through my agent and focused on illustrating the causes and impact of dry eye—something that, as it turns out, many of us are already very familiar with. City living, air conditioning, and spending long hours staring at screens all play a major role. Occupational hazard, anyone?

The illustrations were created for a supplement to The Pharmaceutical Journal, published by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society. The goal was to clearly communicate a common but often underestimated condition, using visuals that were both accessible and grounded in accurate anatomy. It was a great example of how editorial medical illustration can take a familiar topic and make it easier to understand at a glance.

And yes, I got to draw just one eye. Sometimes the stars align.