heart

3D Heart

3D, Anatomy, Crafty

 

 

About 2 years ago I needed to make a 3D model of the human heart for my research project.
3D anatomical heart

Then about a month ago I decided to try and 3D print it. The models are SUPER small ( 0.454w x 0.83d x 0.507h (in) ). The following two objects are test prints of the model in strong flexible white plastic (left) and metallic plastic (right).

 

 

3D printed heartsThe models were printed via Shapeways, and the plan was to make necklaces for Valentines Day, but I think I will make miniature wall plaques instead. I will redo the model to create a point to hang the hearts from for the necklaces, and make sure the walls are thicker. I don’t want to mess these precious little hearts up!

Feel free to visit the model’s site here: http://shpws.me/A9oF .  While I don’t think others can print the model, because some of the walls are thin, everything seemed to turn out great! Some of the details (vessels)  printed a little messy since they are thinner than spec. But I like it, it gives the heart a more organic feel. ❤

Heart & Liver Drawing – Fin

Traditional Work

Assignment 3 is complete! Well enough for critique. One thing with artwork is the infinite feeling of ‘more that could be done’.  First I would like to show you my shapes:

And now for the final piece (sans labeling):

Some advice I was given was to incorporate darker darks and some lighter lights, including but not limited to contrast. I did start to loose some over all shape of the heart as a whole when I got into working on the textures. This assignment was interesting because a lot of people executed the liver differently, and seeing the solutions to different problems was enlightening. A big problem with this task, was to figure out how to show that all the different veins going into the right atrium separately. Given that they are all in the same area, it was easy to misconstrue the drawing and lead the audience to believe all the veins joined together before entering the atrium. A successful solution, used by most, was ghosting the veins behind the left hepatic vein. Another individual displayed this even more successfully with a ‘cut-out’ of the left hepatic vein, showing where the veins drain into the atrium.

Over all though I feel confident that I put all I could into this piece by planning ahead, looking at lots of research and discussing issues during the creation process. I look forward to going back into this drawing and really punching up the over all form of the heart!

In Lab Drawings

Traditional Work

A week ago today I, along with the rest of my class, had our first anatomy exam. The pressure was on to succeed, and with great perseverance, we ( the BVIS group ) did just that. It was a very exciting moment. We have since then proceeded on to the next section, which will cover the thorax and the abdomen.

The following are some drawings that I completed in lab while observing/ studying our cadaver.

Brachial plexus of the right arm.

The superficial dissection of the hand.

The femoral triangle, and surrounding areas.

Articulations of the knee.

In mediastinum with lungs removed.

Over the years I discovered I enjoy drawing so much because it is how I learn. And while I am not quite sure that the time I to put into the sketches really educated me on what things are, it did make me look at ( and realize) the things I did not know. Some difficulties I did find is once I drew specific structures ( such as the brachial plexus ) I would be left with empty space and tissue that I didn’t really want to visually describe. All this made me start thinking and turn to our atlas to understand how medical illustrators ‘fill this space’.