 | Patrick Lynch used a little computer magic to surround himself with some of his illustrations in this photograph by University photographer Michael Marsland. |
The digital world has changed so much in the 12 years since Patrick Lynch first developed an animated computer program simulating a bird in flight that his creation is no longer useable.
His program depicting the workings of muscles and joints as birds flap their wings appears just as a blur on the screen of the speedier modern-day computers.
Lynch, director of the School of Medicine's MedMedia Group -- part of Information Technology Services -- has witnessed technology advance in leaps and bounds during his 33 years at Yale, where he has served in such roles as medical illustrator, biomedical photographer and audiovisual producer, among others.
While the technological revolution has brought about huge changes in Lynch's creative tools, his fascination with his most frequent subjects -- the human body and wildlife -- has remained constant.
Since coming to Yale in 1972, Lynch has blended art, science and technology to advance understanding of the human body and of the natural world, particularly its wildlife. His medical illustrations, computer-designed images and multimedia presentations have been used to demonstrate surgical techniques and to educate physicians about diagnostic imaging, among other purposes, and he has garnered many awards along the way.
Also a noted web designer, Lynch co-authored the "Web Style Guide" with Sarah Horton of Dartmouth College, which offers basic principles and guidelines for effective communication on the World Wide Web. The best-selling book, originally published in 1999 and now in its second edition, has been translated into nine other languages.
Outside of Yale, Lynch spends much of his time observing birds and other wildlife and then creating detailed illustrations of what he sees.
He has co-authored two books -- "Manual of Ornithology" (1993) and the forthcoming "A Field Guide to North Atlantic Wildlife: Marine Mammals, Seabirds, Fish, and Other Sea Life" -- with internationally renowned natural historian and biologist Noble S. Proctor, who is now retired from teaching at Southern Connecticut State University (SCSU). The former has won several national awards for editorial and design excellence, and is now one of the most widely used texts in ornithology courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels. The latter, which features more than 300 species of marine life, will be released in April. Both were published by Yale University Press.
Lynch traces his love of illustration and his interest in the natural world to his boyhood.
"When I was a kid, my grandmother lived about a block-and-a-half away from the Peabody Museum," recalls Lynch. "I was always fascinated not just with the dinosaurs but with the illustrations there -- and, of course, with the [Rudolph] Zallinger dinosaur mural."
At New Haven's Hillhouse High School, Lynch took art classes in order to improve his ability to create true-to-life depictions of human anatomy. Not long after he graduated, he joined the staff of Yale's Biomedical Communications Department, where he worked while also studying at SCSU. There, he pursued his goal of becoming a medical illustrator by majoring in biology, with a special emphasis on vertebrate anatomy and biology, and minoring in studio fine arts. He went on to earn a M.S. degree in biology from SCSU while continuing his work at Yale.
Lynch began his work at the University as the manager of photography in Biomedical Communications, but quickly earned a reputation for his finely detailed illustrations of the body. He eventually began a special collaboration with Dr. Carl Jaffe, a former chair of diagnostic imaging at Yale who now oversees diagnostic imaging at the National Cancer Institute. Together, they developed multimedia programs to teach radiologists and other medical staff about diagnostic imaging.
"In the 1980s, digital imaging was becoming a very big deal in radiology, but the machines were very expensive," recounts Lynch. "But you could show the images on personal computers. I helped develop materials that could be used on computers to educate cardiologists, radiologists and other physicians about imaging."
For more than two decades, Lynch and Proctor have been whale- and bird-watching along the New England coast. The idea for their recent book arose when the two became tired of constantly carting with them seven or eight reference books to identify the wildlife they observed.
"We'd bring all these books in our backpacks because there was no single volume we could turn to when we were on our excursions," explains Lynch. "We realized that the coastline and offshore environment of the North Atlantic is relatively simple, and that we could describe in one volume almost everything in that environment that someone might be interested in."
The pocket-sized "A Field Guide to North Atlantic Wildlife" features maps and concise information on the invertebrates, mammals, birds, turtles, fish, sharks, rays and some of the plants that live along the Atlantic Coast and offshore in a region encompassing the Canadian provinces in the north and extending south to North Carolina.
"It would be ridiculously large if we tried to cover every species in that region, but we did include 99% of what a fairly engaged bird or whale watcher would notice in that environment," says Lynch. The book could be useful to sports fishermen, boaters and natural history buffs, as well as anyone else interested in ocean life, he adds.
Lynch first drew the approximately 100 full-color illustrations for the book in pencil, and then painted his drawings on computer using Adobe Photoshop.
He discovered that fish can be a complicated subject matter.
"Many fish colors are very subtle, and their colors fade very quickly after death," he notes. "Fresh fish are dramatically more colorful than what you see at the fish market. So I went out on a lot of commercial fishing trips, which gave me the opportunity to look at a lot of things I wouldn't ordinarily have seen." Lynch also used sport fishing magazines and other books as references for his drawings.
The design and computer specialist found the side project so enjoyable that he and Proctor plan to do another book on marine life, this time covering more southern Atlantic waters.
"It will be fun to do a tropical environment," comments Lynch, who says that his responsibilities in his current Yale post leave fewer opportunities for creating illustrations. As director of the ITS MedMedia Group, he directs a 16-person department that provides audiovisual services, video and digital media production, scientific graphics and medical illustration, and website design and development to the medical community and wider Yale community.
Since he has done less of his own drawing for work, Lynch has been inspired to pursue other projects outside of work, including painting scenes of natural landscapes, building ship models and designing beaded jewelry.
"In computer design, everything has gotten very abstract now," says Lynch. "Doing a book is nice because a book, eventually, is a concrete thing. So creating the wildlife illustrations for the book, landscape painting and doing various other things with my hands is a way to keep in touch with being an artist."
-- By Susan Gonzalez
T H I S
Lynch uses technological know-how to create
his vivid illustrations of coastal fish and fowl
W E E K ' SS T O R I E S
BPA in plastic food containers harmful to brain, says study
FORE! Scientist's invention helps add zing to golf swing
Festival offers family fun and cultural activities
Lynch uses technological know-how to create . . .
ENDOWED PROFESSORSHIPSRonald R. Breaker appointed to Henry Ford II Professorship
Anna Marie Pyle is new William Edward Gilbert Professor
Daniel E. Rosner is named to Llewellyn West Jones Jr. chair
Paul Van Tassel designated as Lee Associate Professor
Research sheds more light on brain's role in face recognition
Former Mexican president Ernesto Zedillo to give a public lecture
Activist Peruvian theater troupe in residence during April
Olympic soccer star to talk about 'Going for Gold' as Kiphuth Fellow
Grants support special initiatives of the Yale Library
Conference participants aim to re-envision . . .
'Simply Ming!' chef will give campus talk
SCHOOL OF MEDICINE NEWSResearch: For many smokers, potential risks of quitting . . .
Symposium will offer latest news on risks and treatment of stress
Study finds low levels of anti-clotting proteins early in pregnancy . . .
Investigators discover that a molecule important in cell . . .
Regionalizing care for heart attacks in U.S. problematic
Symposium will address the 'disconnect' between research and policy . . .
Conference to explore Korean-American relations . . .
Conference to explore wide-ranging impact of parliamentary rule
Yale Press book co-authored by F&ES scholar . . .
Scholars explored the themes of tradition and modernity . . .
Improved relations
Campus Notes
Bulletin Home|Visiting on Campus|Calendar of Events|In the News
Bulletin Board|Classified Ads|Search Archives|Deadlines
Bulletin Staff|Public Affairs|News Releases|
E-Mail Us|Yale Home