I didn't catch the beginning of this conversation about Medical Illustration
but can add ... about 15 years ago I taught a number of units on the high
school level. I used basic skills and drawing techniques using graphite,
water color, guache, and pen and ink on a variety of papers. I had a small
personal book collection that I used to demonstrate the historical evolution
of uses of the images. I began with the painting "Dr. Gross' Clinic" and
then brought out a medical textbook from 1901 where uses of gravure (line
drawings), early xray images, clumsey water color, and photograph images
showed a variety of problems. Then I went on to show some of the CIBA
Pharmaceutical books where Dr. Frank Netta used mostly water color to
demonstrate examples of biology and medical practice in the '50's and '60's.
I moved on to the photographs by Nillson in the late '60's of birth first
shown in Life Magazine. Then I showed some of my own photographs of an
operation. I used some Sci-fi movies from the '70's where a group of
scientists were miniaturized in their rocket so that they could travel inside
the body of a man to operate (ala Gulliver's Travels). I did use some of da
Vinci's drawings and some from Michaelangelo as well. I further studied my
work by visiting John's Hopkins University Medical Illustration Department to
see first hand the drawings of Boedel who invented the clay coated paper used
with graphite shavings to get a true photograhic image. There were only 5
undergraduate programs in the country and they were mostly in the East
because that is where the publishing houses are located. I enjoyed working
with this and would love to know what you are doing with Medical
Illustrations. JNO New York
