Where is that damn carina?

[redehlert]

I know...first thing you think of in the morning....eh?
The carina (aka boat prow; keel-shaped) is where the right and left main stem bronchi meet the trachea in your chest cavity. You have the esophagus and nerves behind it, and the heart and vessels in front of it. My goal was to create cut aways and windows to illustrate how difficult it is to get to the carina for surgical procedures.
This is a portfolio piece for my certification as a medical illustrator. I've already passed my written part, and now it's time to gather my works.
The image is being created in Photoshop 7 and is not finished yet, per se. I'm just fried on it for now and welcome your thougths.

Cheers!
D

http://www.redehlert.com/conceptart/carina_exposed_3.jpg

[redehlert]

Put some more time into the project and starting to get my sense of lighting and mood in place. Need to evolve this much more.
I'm trying to stay away from the classic colors of the vessels (red and blue = oxygen and carbon-dioxide rich blood), et al. But I still want to suggest the differences in value between various aspects of the heart, trachea, nerves and esophagus. Blah, blah, blah.
I want it to feel painterly, yet anatomically alive. Is it working?

Thoughts are welcome....c'mon....don't be shy! Hit me!

Cheers!
d

http://www.redehlert.com/conceptart/carina_exposed_4.jpg

[Coma]

Seems good. Though I've never seen the insides of a human
minus a few knife wounds.

[reelmesh]

I really like it, shading is good, textures (muscles, nerves, fat n'stuff) seem accurate.

Over all i think it's a very good representation of the throat/heart area, all the cuts let you have a 3d look of these tissues and organs.

What did you use as reference?

[redehlert]

thanks coma - are these knife wounds self inflicted, or are they on others?
; )

reelmesh - appreciate the feedback. for reference, i use actual heart photos and prior knowledge. Color Atlas of Anatomy by Rohen/Yokochi is a good reference since they have some photo references of 'fresh' anatomy so the colors are 'alive' still.

More to come!
D

[Coma]

I'd rather not say.

[redehlert]

Well....I've gone from frustrated to happy with progress to frustrated again.
I've learned a bit about painting from myself and realized that I got into the details too quickly, like a jackass.
At any rate....here's my latest post. I'm still refining details and adding volume and space, but now I'm starting to integrate a background texture so it isn't just on the blue...know what i mean?

Well....hit me, please....I need input!

Cheers,
D

http://www.redehlert.com/conceptart/carina_exposed_5.jpg

[I.was.ink]

Ahhh...yes, Now it looks painterly. I like it a lot. Of course a medic would know what all of these things are, but just as a small suggestion. Why don't you put a little glow around the part that you want concentrated on. Just make another layer, and maybe add a small glow around the opening. Just something to try out. But the piece looks finished to me!

although one thing, I would probably do, would to mess with the contrast levels in photshop.Good Job:thumbsup:

[redehlert]

hey...thanks iwasink!

how about this version? i tend to like to desaturate color in the areas of less focus....do you think this would also convey the 'glow' you mentioned in hopes of drawing attention to the carina a bit better?

lemme know what you think.

i'll definitely mess with the contrast levels...thanks for the tip!

cheers!
d

http://www.redehlert.com/conceptart/carina_exposed_6.jpg

[cucaracha]

imho -
too grey, i think the earlier version is better.
the backround looks too dirty

:) but good job

[I.was.ink]

i agree with cucaracha. Go back to the first version. What i meant with the glow was to add a little neon like glow around the opening itself. But now that i think of it. It might make it less realistic, but pretty helpful, i guess. like the glow of a light saber, in like a red, aqua, or blue color!

[redehlert]

cucaracha and iwasink - thanks for the info and comments!

ya know what...i think i may try your glow idea....it seems it's time to throw in a bit of star wars into med illus, don't you think?

will post when i can, for now - cheers!

d

[gallon]

I'd drop that painterly background. I don't think it goes well with the purpose of the picture, being accurate and illustrative and describing a problem/situation/location.
Personally I don't mind but I do think employers just might.

I like the background colour on the saturated one, the other is too "vivid and blue" and takes away focus from the ...the intestine stuff :). ANd I like the red stuff in the first...the grey one looks unhealthy:
Yeah, Mark really shoulda stopped smoking before all of his .. Ca. (cough) turned grey.

So I think you should combine the two coloursets...the greyish background and the redish foreground.

[jester]

Hmm, I like the greyer one better. It's probably because in Germany colorful images are considered being for children, the less saturated illustrations as "more serious". For example, der standard looks of Windows XP are called "sweet and chewing gum colors" and everyone I know switches them off.

Jester

[343guiltyspark]

hi i was wondering if u had artwork of a persons bone structure from the back, could you post it if u do:D

[redehlert]

Sorry, 343guiltyspark - don't have any handy....there are plenty of good anatomy books that do though!

Good luck!

D

[redehlert]

Thanks to Everyone for your comments and ideas. Believe me, it's been a boon to the development of the imagery. I'm glad the material didn't make you shy away...hell...it's just a concept drawing from life, ya know?
So anyway, I have dropped the painterly background and even the background color to return to my focus of the main stem bronchi and the carinal relationship to anatomy anterior and posterior to it. The new color helps the cool tones of the aforementioned anatomy to pop a bit better. One comment - I can needle a piece to death...I just had to stop, know that I've grown, and am ready to continue with life.

The second image is a tryptich for where I work in a marketing campaign of various services. In this I have my original plastic lead on film illustration, a grayscale version of my color work, and then the color work. Shows versatility in style and what can be rendered for the client based on need, time and budget.

Thoughts are ALWAYS welcome.

Cheers!
D

http://www.redehlert.com/conceptart/carina_exposed_7.jpg

http://www.redehlert.com/conceptart/crna_hrt_tryptich_sm.jpg