For years in my career as a medical illustrator I noticed when researching assignments that it was hard find illustrations that show the origins and insertions of the muscles. In most anatomy books they are drawn in situ--all of them are shown together so that the origins and insertions are hidden. The origins and insertions are usually shown as marked areas on the bones in separate illustrations, or even in another chapter or section of the book. It seemed to me that this information was important and should be presented in a way that would be easier to learn. If anatomy students knew where a muscle begins and where it ends, and the direction in which fibers shorten when contracted, they could understand the action of the muscle and easily visualize what would happen if the muscle shortened. I got started on Bones and Muscles when a friend who was studying to become a massage therapist needed to learn the muscles and their origins and insertions. I did some quick sketches for her of the bones involved and drew the muscles on tracing paper that she could put them over the bones. It occurred to me that I could do this as a book. I had started medical illustrating 32 years ago when I was in my twenties when my ophthalmologist asked me to do some drawings for him. He was so happy with my drawings that he introduced me to his colleague, Richard Troutman, the world-renowned corneal surgeon who introduced microsurgery to the United States, changing all ophthalmic surgery forever. I had the privilege of illustrating his three books. Because I did the illustrations for Troutman I soon became recognized as an illustrator of ophthalmic surgery. Other ophthalmic surgeons, and then ophthalmic plastic surgeons, asked me to illustrate their books. I worked for 25 years in the field, doing over 20 major texts, not only in ophthalmic and ophthalmic plastic surgery but also in plastic and reconstructive surgery of the whole body and dermatological surgery, working with some of the finest surgeons in the country. I had recently been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and was depressed about my physical deterioration. Drawing has always been my escape. I am a painter as well as a medical illustrator. Starting on my book was a good way to get involved with something outside myself, something that I could handle, that would keep me busy. I had no idea of what would become of it. That was over six years ago. Bones and Muscles was to be my first text, both written and drawn on my own. I was daunted by enormity of the project Id taken on, but I had to start somewhere, so I began by drawing the bones on paper. I then experimented with doing the muscles on acetate overlays and found that this technique worked. I didnt have to redraw the bones with each muscle and I could show each muscle separately. Two and a half years ago tragedy struck again. My husband had a stroke and even though I was disabled myself, I had to become his caretaker. Again, I needed something to distract me, to get outside of myself. I worked on the book whenever I had a chance, losing myself in the intricacy of the drawings and the enormous amount of research I felt this project required. After I finished the book I tried to find a publisher, assuming that task would be easy since all my previous work was published. They all responded that the project was gorgeous, but just too expensive to publish. It seemed that in the years since Id illustrated my last book, the medical textbook business, like the rest of the publishing business, was now focussing only on the bottom line, not on what was actually needed by students. If it was too expensive to print, it didnt get published, no matter how worthy the project. A web savvy friend suggested I publish Bones and Muscles as an ebook to circumvent the expense problem. The illustrations could be downloaded and printed out as needed, rather than an entire book having to be printed on paper. Voila! An elegant, high-tech solution to what seemed an insoluble problem. My problem now became how to actually transfer the book to the web. Im not of the generation that grew up with computers and could pick up new software easily. However, I was lucky to find Laurie Burke, who taught me how to do the layout work on the computer. I decided to do the work myself so that I could learn a new skill. Another friend, Marilyn Hagberg, fellow artist and journalist, offered to edit the text for me, a monumental task. She taught me much about grammar and punctuation that I had long forgotten. She also cleaned up the text, and made sure what it was I was trying to say was understandable. I found I liked about the idea of self-publishing the book as an ebook because it it would be accessible to many more people. spend hours poring over it in the library. They could study the muscles in their own time, one page at a time, without lugging around a big book. I believe this is the first ebook of its kind to appear on the web. Im sure it wont be the last. I hope students find it as helpful to study as I found it to draw and write. Virginia Cantarella is a medical illustrator and fine artist who is known for the beauty and precision of her drawings and paintings. Educated as a fine artist at the Boston Museum School, she has been a medical illustrator since the early 60s, illustrating over 20 medical textbooks. Cantarella started medical illustrating 32 years ago in her twenties, when her ophthalmologist asked her to do some drawings for him. He was so impressed with her drawings that he introduced her to his colleague, Richard Troutman, the world-renowned corneal surgeon who introduced microsurgery to the United States, changing all ophthalmic surgery forever. She illustrated three of his books, soon becoming recognized as an illustrator of ophthalmic surgery. Other ophthalmic surgeons, and then ophthalmic plastic surgeons, asked her to illustrate their books. During 25 years in the field, she illustrated over 20 major texts, not only in ophthalmic and ophthalmic plastic surgery but also in plastic and reconstructive surgery of the whole body and dermatological surgery, working with some of the finest surgeons in the country. ( See below for a list of her works.) She taught medical illustration as an Adjunct Associate Professor at Long Island University for four years and assisted in teaching courses in microsurgery of the eye at Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. and the American Academy of Ophthalmology. An accomplished painter as well as medical illustrator, Cantarellas paintings have been exhibited in many group shows. She has had one person shows at the Brownstone Gallery, the Bellanthi Gallery and Gallery 84 in New York City, at Long Island University, and at the Renssalaerville Institute of Arts and Sciences and Hudsons ArtSpace in upstate New York. She was one of 15 chosen artists, out of 200 applicants, selected for the Multiple Sclerosis Societys exhibit, The Creative Will which opened at NYUs Grey Gallery and then toured the United States for two years. Ms. Cantarella has suffered from multiple sclerosis for many years but that has not slowed her prodigious output as both a painter and medical illustrator. After raising her two children in Brooklyn, Ms. Cantarella moved to upstate New York and now lives in South Westerlo, New York with her husband Herman Shonbrun. She retired from medical illustrating in 1997, and is now devoting herself full time to her fine art. She is a member of the Graphic Artists Guild and the Association of Medical Illustrators. Medical Texts (partial list): Aesthetic Plastic Surgery; Drs. Thomas Rees, M.D. and Greg La Trenta, M.D.; Revision, 2 vols; about 800 illustrations; WB Saunders. hinoplasty, Problems and Controversies; Thomas Rees, M.D.; contributed 100 illustrations, WB Saunders. Ophthalmic Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery; Drs. Byron Smith, Frank Nesi, Robert Della Rocca and Richard Lisman, 2 vols; about 900 illustrations; Mosby/Yearbook. Surgery of the Eyelids and Orbit, an Anatomical Approach; Drs. Robert Della Rocca and Brad Lemke; 200 illustrations; Appleton & Lange. Microsurgery of the Anterior Segment of the Eye; Richard Troutman, M.D.; 3 vols.; about 1200 illustrations; CV Mosby. Fundamentals of Cutaneous Surgery; Richard Bennett, M.D.; 500 illustrations; Mosby/Yearbook. Liposuction and Aesthetic Surgery; Gerald Pitman, M.D.; 400 illustrations; Quality Publishing. Atlas of Contemporary Ophthalmic Surgery; Henry Clayman M.D.;1500 illustrations; CV Mosby, Intraocular Lens Implants; Henry Clayman, M.D.; 300 illustrations; CV Mosby. Ophthalmic Plastic Surgery for the General Ophthalmologist; Murray Meltzer M.D.; 100 illustrations; Williams & Wilkins. Strabismus Surgery; Renée Richards M.D.; 200 illustrations, Williams & Wilkins.
Address: Wolf Fly Press, PO Box 719, Greenville NY 12083
Website: http://www.bones-and-muscles.com/