The Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery at the Texas Heart Institute treats patients with cardiothoracic complications including aortic aneurysms and aortic dissections. It was here where I functioned as a surgical illustrator under the mentorship of certified medical illustrator Scott Weldon.

I initially warmed up and strengthened my drawing skills with a pencil and paper exercise of a clay figure. Through this, my mentor was able to asses my skills and offer me advice to improve.

Using a Wacom tablet, I completed my first illustration in Photoshop. This exercise focused on capturing light and form while maintaining an airbrushed look.

Once I felt confident in the digital illustration process, I began my first medical illustration of an aorta. I studied a variety of references to understand basic aortic anatomy.

I then drew an aorta that reflected an average of the anatomy shown in the references.

I brought my sketch into Photoshop for a multistep layering process.

Part of a medical illustrator’s job is to communicate through visuals. I went on to create a labeled version, and an anatomically correct version of the aorta.  Normally, the ascending aorta curves around like the image on the right, however, for viewing purposes and extra clarity the aorta is often shown with a turned arch. I decided to illustrate two separate versions in order to communicate the actual anatomy of the aorta while also being able to point out the different parts.

I then was assigned to illustrate a specific patient surgery to be used for publication by The Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery. Before beginning any drawing, I had to study and understand the specifics of the procedure that took place. To do this, I used a variety of models, the patient’s CT scan and operative report. I even scrubbed into similar surgeries to observe.

From there, I began to sketch the pre-operative view of the patient’s aorta, pulmonary trunk and heart. Everything down to the exact diameters of the patients arteries came into account. It was very important that everything was portrayed accurately.

Using the same layering technique, I fully rendered each anatomical structure separately. This allows certain pieces to be stripped away in order to reveal the main parts of the story.