THE CUTAWAY

I was recently reading a review of the aforementioned Canon EOS 50D on a particular website, and the article featured cutaway illustrations of the camera (Though I'd like to credit the illustrator, the image isn't accompanied by any credit notice).

I recall meeting artist, Mark McCandlish, many years ago, and he did cutaway illustrations of things like rockets and jets (he had to have government clearance to work on those illustrations because they were based on actual blueprints). But I recall thinking back then that those kinds of illustrations were a nightmare, and even today I wouldn't want to tackle a project like that. The entire thing is just too technical for my taste. I've found I prefer organic things. After all, one can hardly complain that a tree isn't perfectly straight, or this or that limb should have been thicker or thinner. It's not that nature isn't highly ordered, but the design is so subtle that most people don't catch artistic errors as easily as they would when viewing a drawing of a building that tilts to one side -- unless the error is obvious, like a drawing of a one-eyed bonobo, or something of that nature.

Anyway, I have the utmost respect for artists who do this kind of technical illustration. Sure, it's probably done mostly digitally these days, but still, it requires a certain attention to detail that's challenging. Hats off to them.