I finished a fallopian tube fimbriae painting. This one began as a typical anatomical study, but I let composition and such get the better of me, so that it became more abstract and less purely anatomical than others. In the medical illustration world, it would be more of an editorial piece than anything. Far too much fun to do!
I was thrilled today to receive the 3D printed forms of the inner ear model I worked on last semester! Several months ago I had a vision of a lovely inner ear pendant, anatomically accurate and actual size. And now I have at least the prototype, beta version –the size may need to be adjusted. Right now the length is 1.5 cm, and I’ve had a heck of a time getting good data on average human inner ear lengths/dimensions. If nothing else, it’s got to be accurate for a newborn’s inner ear.
Here’s a picture!
I thought I’d show my working process in photoshop, starting with drawing and going toward finished illustration!
This portrays the pulling/dissecting up of the gallbaldder from the liver bed. It’s actually kind of a bloody mess; it’s not like the gallbladder just sits and hangs out by the liver, it becomes tightly invested in it via connective tissue and small vessels.
The checked background is the default background in photoshop, letting you know what’s transparent and what’s not. I’d probably leave that out next time.
The original drawing, scanned and masked
Initial masking and tonal development
More finessing of tonal base and vignetting
even more tonal finessing
Rough color study - see the blood?
Refined color choices and flat masking
The final - more vignetting, adjustment of tone, and more color variation, and highlights.
It needed to be clear that it’s not the prettiest thing to happen in the body, but didn’t want to get gory. The final looks rather watercolorish in some respects.
Otherwise known as removing the gallbladder, this surgery is often performed in a particular demographic remembered by the 4 F’s: fat, fertile, fair, female. Often there are stones that have complicated the health of the patient, and this cute little organ has to go! Fortunately, like a lot of surgeries, this one can be done laparoscopically, with the patient in and out of the hospital (although not fully recovered) in a single day.
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Male left ear, graphite. Well, to be precise it’s just the auricle. The middle and inner ear can’t be seen.
Thanks, Chris Davis.
Recently finished is a small study of the internal heart wall – specifically the trabeculae carneae formations that run rampid in both ventricles. Their function? Opinions seem to vary, but they probably aid in contraction and the prevention of too much suction, besides offering a lovely visual surprise when you first dissect a real heart.
For anyone interested in other unique views of the heart, a priceless collection of videos is available via a University of Minnesota project: http://www.vhlab.umn.edu/atlas/index.shtml Not only can you look at internal structures from a myriad of angles, but you can also choose from a range of different hearts, which really underscores how common variations in structrues can be.
Available for purchase on etsy.
I rendered out the vestibulocochlear model and threw it into VRWorx, a simple little program that doesn’t offer the best interactive features, but is great for simply displaying a model or virtual scene.
Here are more finished renders of the lovely vestibulocochlear apparatus, and it’s internal endolymph (paralymph not shown) fluid system. Those black shadows c4d loves are harder to change than you’d think, even after messing with shadow and ambient occlusion colors.
Below is a render of an in progress model.
I love really abstract pieces of anatomy like the vestibulocochlear apparatus! They’re so fun to sculpt. The end output will be a rotatable qtvr that shows labels, nerves, and the endolymph within the bony apparatus.
Next those black shadows need dampening…
I revisited a piece from last December — issues that had not stood out to me at the time suddenly seemed really obvious. Saturation was upped, wet lights put in, color reflections added, and the terrible masking job was softened. Disregard the labels on the first one, they’re not important for this, unless of course you’re terribly curious about the anatomy of one of the cutest organs.
Click for a larger view of the after – on the default view I thought it only fair to give the two versions equal size.
BEFORE:
AFTER:
