Banner image of Self Portrait Brain

Client

Shelley Wall

Year

2022

Media

Adobe Photoshop

Audience

Lay Public

About

This was an editorial piece showing an anatomically accurate 3/4 view of the brain as a self-portrait.

Final illustrations

Final self-portrait with brain illustration including shading on brain and head
Final self-portrait with brain illustration including shading on brain and linework for head
Final illustration of solo brain


Process

Reference & Line Work

To ensure anatomical accuracy, I used a 3D maquette obtained from Colin27 which I visualized through 3DSlicer. Using this as reference, I created the line work for the brain in situ within my head.

Brain Rendering Progress

Screenshot from 3D slicer of Colin27 brain reference
Final linework of self=portrait and brain


Brain Rendering

The brain was rendered out using a variety of layers for shading. Two light sources were used to illuminate the brain using warm tones from the caudal end and cool tones at the ventral side.

3D Slicer Reference of Colin27 and Line art

Brain rendering progress 1 - base color and global shading
Brain rendering progress 2 - gyri basic shading
Brain rendering progress 3 - deeper shadows and refinements
Brain rendering progress 4 - Subtle lighting
Brain rendering progress 5 - highlights
Brain rendering progress 6 - Refinements of deep shadows


Face Rendering

The face was rendered out in greyscale to ensure the attention was kept on the brain. This went through a few layers for shading as well.

Face Rendering Progress

Self-portrait rendering progress 1 - base colors
Self-portrait rendering progress 2 - subtle lighting
Self-portrait rendering progress 3 - fill lights
Self-portrait rendering progress 4 - highlights


References

  1. Holmes CJ, Hoge R, Collins L, Woods R, Toga AW, Evans AC. “Enhancement of MR images using registration for signal averaging.” J Comput Assist Tomogr. 1998 Mar-Apr;22(2):324–33. http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/00004728-199803000-00032