STorytelling through illustration

HOW YOU TELL THE story makeS
all the difference.

Reach out to JR BirdGirl to explore the possibility of commissioned reportage, live/on-site sketching, or non-fiction illustration publication opportunities.

MEMOIR

The following are excerpts of a larger memoir about the relocation and exploration of a new home in the Mountains of Colorado.

  • Hand-drawn illustration of chickens with annotations about their behaviors and characteristics, including a chicken labeled Miss Cluckington.

  • A watercolor drawing of two children with brown hair and a small bird. The girl with long hair is on the left, and the boy with short hair on the right. The bird, in the center, is speaking with speech bubbles saying, "Brownie doesn’t look very well." and "What’s wrong with her? Is she sick?"

  • Hand-drawn illustration of a book titled 'The Encyclopedia of Chicken Laying' with a note about the 40th anniversary. The page features a quote about chickens molting each year and a note about free loaders.

  • Watercolor illustration of a chair with a backpack hanging on its side, set against a brownish watercolor background.

  • A hand-drawn illustration depicts three people talking about a black widow spider attacking a grasshopper. One person says, 'We found a black widow attacking a grasshopper. What should we do?' Another responds, 'You have three choices. You can leave it, catch it, or kill it with a broom.' The third person remarks, 'I think we should kill it. Will you help?' The background is yellow, and the person on the right has glasses and a beard, with a caption that reads, 'Matt our landlord.'

  • Watercolor illustration of a hen, holding a spider, with text and handwritten notes about chickens.

  • New List Item

    Description goes here

REpORTAGE

These illustrations were developed for a workplace reportage assignment. The final illustrations were included in an employee guide describing the importance of, and the role of lab operations professionals in a biotechnology research facility.

  • Hand-drawn diagram showing water piping system with labeled pipes, emergency shutoff, and different water sources including a glass washer, ice machine, and auto clam. There are notes about transporting water, gloves, and an illustration of a person with gloves.

    Workplace reportage. autoclave / glasswash.

  • A hand-drawn diagram of gas tanks and a pressure gauge. It shows a sequence where gas goes to biosafety cabinets, with a pressure control gauge, tanks labeled as 'CO2 tanks', and notes about the dangers of compressed gas tanks, including how they can be dangerous if not handled properly. There is also a note that sometimes argon is used.

    Workplace reportage. gas tanks / manifold

  • Watercolor illustration of a laboratory workspace with notes and equipment. Labels point to items such as a sterile pipette tips box, wireless temperature monitor, incubators, a biosafety cabinet, gloves, kimwipes, ethanol, and biological waste for serological pipette tips. The drawing emphasizes laboratory safety and handling of hazardous materials.

    workplace reportage. tissue culture.

  • A diagram of a laboratory setup for mass spectrometry. It includes labeled parts such as solvent chambers, a source of mass spectrometry chamber, nitrogen lines, a vacuum tube, a pump, a mini mass spectrometer, a secondary containment, oil, hazardous waste, solid waste, and a filter to keep solvents out of the air. Handwritten notes describe the function of each component.

    Workplace reportage. LCMS / Q-TOF

  • Sketch of an indoor space with a large window, a person working at a desk, a wall-mounted temperature monitor, and a door in blue and orange watercolor style.

    workplace reportage. freezer farm.