One Xara sketch leads to six academic journal feature articles

[WildRice]

I am a radiologist and sent out my Xara PGD9 sketch of Willhelm Roentgen out to several academic radiology journals. One editor liked it so much, he wants 5 more drawings and for me to write/illustrate a feature in all six of their issues for 2015.

Wilhelm Roentgen, discoverer of X-rays

I drew a Xara digital portrait of Wilhelm Roentgen a while ago and recently emailed it to several radiology journals as a freebie they could use on their websites. I got a very unusual response. The editor in chief of a major radiology journal as amazed by the drawing and asked me if I had 5 more. His journal comes out 6 times a year and suggested that I create a one page feature for each of the 6 issues in 2015. I decided to write a series about the History of Light as it pertains to radiologists beginning with Wilhelm Roentgen (X-rays), then Albert Einstein (Photoelectric Effect), then Niels Bohr (Quantum Theory), then Werner Heisenberg (Uncertainty Principle), the Christian Doppler (Doppler Effect), and then concluding with how artists use light to convey reality and how radiologists perceive light in their daily work. A half page illustration and a half page of text for each. This has not been approved yet, but the editor in chief wants it to happen.

[gray]

Congrats, WR.

[wizard509]

Way to go WildRice! Congratulations.

[Egg Bramhill]

Well done WR.

[gwpriester]

That is always such great news. Good for you.

[WildRice]

Although the editor in chief loved the sketch and suggested that I expand it to six features, his rather minor journal is about current clinical dilemmas and not about quantum physics or history. They had never done anything like this before, so the editorial board got cold feet and said no. But the good thing is that the same morning of the rejection, I got a bite from a much bigger fish. The Radiologic Society of North America (RSNA) hosts the big annual meeting in Chicago which is like the Super Bowl for radiologists and this year is the 100 year centennial anniversary. They love the sketch and want to use it to promote this big historical event. I pitched the "History of Light" concept to them and I am awaiting a response. It would seem to me that this would be the perfect venue for a retrospective graphical display of what Roentgen started accidentally in his lab over 100 years ago. We shall see.

The other good news is that the first of my two self-illustrated fitness books is now listed on Amazon as a pre-order item, due for release in a few months. Search Amazon Books for my name "MARK HOM" to find the title "The Science of Fitness" with Greg LeMond. Click on it to see what it is about and to read our glowing peer reviews. I will post the link later on the thread where I have some of the book illustrations.

[wizard509]

Good news indeed Mark.

[WildRice]

I just got some good news about the Roentgen concept. The first editor in the original post loved the art but his journal is about clinical radiology and not the history of physics. Also his journal (although very high quality and very relevant) is one of many smaller radiology journals. Instead of a series of 6 one page features, I combined them into one concept with 6 connected segments showing the history of light beginning with Roentgen. I also rewrote it as a commemorative homage for the RSNA's 100th year anniversary. Well, today I not only got a big fish to bite, but it turned out to be a whale. I sent the preliminary concept to the editor of one of the two biggest radiology journals and she said I should go forward and submit an official manuscript. So although I got kicked off a minor league team, I have now passed spring training with the big leagues and am about to take to the field in the Majors. I might strike out, but at least I get to play. Anyway, it just goes to show you that drawing a sketch and sending it out for free on the Internet can sometimes lead to bigger and better things. Thank you Wilhelm Roentgen (for discovering x-rays) and thank you Al Gore (for inventing the Internet).

[zaphodeist]

...and thank you Al Gore (for inventing the Internet).

[handrawn]

well it's great to know US VPs are good for something...

to be fair he did a lot to facilitate the introduction of the commercial web as we know it through US legislation that he introduced; but invent it he did not [nor did he actually claim to AFAIK]