The image I chose to recreate focuses on the external carotid artery in John and Charles Bell’s Anatomy of the human body. Ghosh and Kumar state that the Bell brothers’ diagrams in this text “put an end to… the ongoing conflict between the anatomist (insisting for details) and the artist (striving for individual styles).” The audience was aimed at those studying the medical field, as it was one of the first types of drawings to conjoin text and images of the anatomical body to provide the learner with double the information in one piece of work. I chose this image because it simultaneously simplifies what I know to be a densely-filled-with-a-plethora-of-structures facial skull to highlight one structure, while still adhering to some of that complexity by depicting how much this single artery can branch and project to several regions of the facial skull. This was evident while I was tracing and drawing the many branches, seeing as they varied in thickness, length, and curvature. I used colored and lead pencils, dual-sided markers, tracing paper, sketchbook paper, and a tablet laptop to replicate this image. In previous years, whenever I have needed to trace images, it was worthwhile to use a projector in a study room and project it onto the wall, where I can trace it onto a blank piece of paper. Due to current isolation, I was unable to do as was planned, therefore, I had to trace directly from a tactile screen, which was proven difficult seeing as my hand would graze the screen, making the image constantly move around or minimize as I was tracing. Although, due to technological advances, we may expect the accuracy of a recreation of this image to be maximized, due to the technological troubles described above, the location and shape of the arteries may not be exact relative to the original image. Additionally, I found difficulty when tracing the image from the tracing paper onto the final paper, as it was difficult to make the ink bleed through. I found that using pencil and smudging the lead to create effects of depth were the best way to replicate the inaccessibility of tools as could be seen in the original image.
FIELD NOTE 1 OF 3:
Date: February 7, 2022
People Involved: Vallerie Vasquez (me)
Location: Martel College 221
Reconstruction conditions: It was really quiet, except for the Lo-Fi music I have playing in the background. It is pretty cold in my dorm room, which is why all I currently can feel is the warmth and softness of my blanket around me.
Time and duration of reconstruction: 20 minutes (12:54-1:14pm)
Equipment and tools used: Colored pencils, Tracing paper, Tactile Laptop
Subjective factors, e.g., how things smelled/looked/felt: I began with a lot of energy because I had just cleaned off my desk, therefore, I was just working in a clean, neat environment. I could smell the essential oils coming from my diffuser. The light was a warm yellow color, coming from the strands of light bulbs I have hanging around my dorm. I felt warm, despite how cold the air in my dorm room was due to the soft blanket I had wrapped around me.
Prior knowledge that you have: I am a neuroscience major and have been taking neuroscience classes for the past 3 years. In these classes I have seen several diagrams depicting the anatomical body, particularly focused on the skull area. However, most of these diagrams would always be “neurocentric”, meaning the structures mainly highlighted nerves and neurons. Therefore, it wasn’t until I saw this image that I ever really considered the blood vessels that are also at work in these areas around the skull and face.
Reflection on your practice: During this session of tracing, I realized I kept getting frustrated with how the image kept moving and resizing. I would have to keep readjusting the tracing paper and once I had, I would realize that what I was just drawing was out of place according to the image overall. I kept wishing there was some form of locking the screen, so as to where it would not register my hand or fingers as gestures or commands, letting the picture remain in place. This is when I realized I would have to run another round of tracing once I figured out how to do just that on the laptop.
Photos/video documenting process:
Questions that arise: How can I “lock” the screen on my laptop so it does not register any fingertips or parts of my hands as a gesture? How can I draw lightly enough so the tracing paper does not move around, seeing as it is lying on a very slippery screen?
FIELD NOTE 2 OF 3
Date: February 10, 2022
People Involved: Vallerie Vasquez (me)
Location: Pearland, TX
Reconstruction conditions: The room is a bit warm, but the fan is currently on. I had to turn it off once I started tracing again because the paper was constantly moving around. I can hear the constant “whoosh” from the fan. The light in the room is a bit dimmer than I am used to in my dorm room. I am sitting on the bed and feel very comfortable.
Time and duration of reconstruction: 30 minutes (10:30-11am)
Equipment and tools used: Colored Pencils, Tracing Paper, Tactile Laptop, iPhone Timelapse
Subjective factors, e.g., how things smelled/looked/felt: I current have COVID, therefore, I can not smell anything in the room. I feel pretty warm, but my feet and hands are pretty cold. I can feel the sheets I am currently sitting on and feel myself sinking into the mattress.
Prior knowledge that you have: I now figured out how to lock the screen on my laptop, therefore, no other fingertips or hand motions will trigger any movement of the image on the laptop itself. I figured out I could use a bundle of other colored pencils as a weight so I can avoid the paper from moving while I am drawing.
Reflection on your practice: The bundle of colored pencils didn’t seem to be enough weight to keep the paper completely from moving at all. I may have drawn a bit too harshly at times because the tracing paper did rip at some parts. However, since the image did not move as much during the process this time I realized I captured much more detail and in a more accurately representative way of the original image.
Photos/video documenting process: Timelapse of Tracing #2
Questions that arise: How can I successfully transfer the tracings from the paper onto the final paper? How can I best replicate the contrast and depth seen in the original image using the tools I have at my disposal? How can I replicate the way Bell highlights the arteries, particularly the root of the artery, in a similar way on the final paper?
FIELD NOTE 3 OF 3
Date: February 15, 2022
People Involved: Vallerie Vasquez (me)
Location: Martel College 221
Reconstruction conditions: The temperature in my dorm room is pretty chilly, but I am kept warm by the soft sweatpants I have on and the blanket I am sitting on. These are the only things I can really feel against my skin. The light in my room is bright, but my head towers over my desk, therefore, my view is mainly lighted by my monitor screen. My roommate is currently taking a nap on my bed, therefore, I feel as though I have to move as quietly and meticulously as possible right now.
Time and duration of reconstruction: 1 hour (2:14-3:14pm)
Equipment and tools used: Lead pencil, Sketchbook paper, Red Dual Tip Brush Marker, Tactile Laptop, iPhone Timelapse, Finger (to smudge)
Subjective factors, e.g., how things smelled/looked/felt: I previously had my diffuser on, so I can tell that the smell is still there but dissipating by the minute. I can feel the coolness of my dorm on my mousepad as it absorbs all the cold. I can feel the roughness of the paper as I use my finger to smudge the pencil lines.
Prior knowledge that you have: I knew that I could use my finger on the sketchbook paper to smudge lines, in order to emulate the “sketchy” look of Bell’s original image. I also knew I wanted to highlight the artery, but not just by using a different color, but also a different medium. I knew I was going to struggle with tracing over the image from the tracing paper onto the sketchbook paper.
Reflection on your practice: I decided to instead use pencil, rather than colored pencil, paint, pens, or markers for the body of the image because I felt as though that was the best tool to imitate Bell’s image. His image seems like a sketch, neat & precise, but without defined borders or any harsh lines (other than the arteries themselves). I really enjoyed how the smudging transformed my image from a trace to more of a seemingly “free-handed” image. I decided to involve some tracing during this final stage as well because transferring the image from the tracing paper onto the sketchbook paper proved to be difficult and left erroneous marks on the final result. I felt as though the most accurate picture would be acquired if I used my final sketchbook paper as the tracing paper again. I did find that my last two tracing sessions proved to have been very helpful and allowed this final trace and draw to be quick, yet efficient. I also found that I was subconsciously emulating the varying densities of the arteries in Bell’s image, but pivoting or angling the Dual Brush marker, where I would hold it perfectly vertically for thinner arterial branches and hold at a horizontal angle for thicker ones. Since I felt as though Bell’s image had no defined borders around the face, I decided to smudge these lines and lightly erase around the smudge, almost to create an “invisible border,” created from the erasure of lead.
Photos/video documenting process:
Questions that arise: Should I have used a brown colored pencil to emulate the colors seen in Bell’s image (Does it only seem brown, because the paper he used seems a bit more yellow than the standard white paper I used today?) Did I do an accurate job of placing the labeling markers exactly where Bell had intended them to be? Does my smudging technique emulate Bell’s shading (which seems to have been done using a dotting method)?
Final Result:
