Artistic and scientific anatomical models from Anatomy Tools
Yesterday, I blogged about the photos I'd caught of some beautifully detailed artist's anatomical models on sale in the dealer's room at the Game Developers' Conference in San Francisco. I ended up going back later in the day to buy one of the models (they brought their "slightly irregular" stock to the show and are selling it at half off), and I got to talking with the staff about their wares.
It turns out that they're on something of a holy mission to introduce high quality, affordable artistically rendered anatomical models to the fields of science, art and medicine, replacing the standard, multi-thousand-dollar, low-quality anatomical models with sub-$500 versions that are much better rendered and easier to grasp.
But these are more than teaching aids or artist's reference -- they're absolutely drop-dead gorgeous sculptures, created by a Bay Area artist called Andrew Cawrse. The more I look at the model sitting here on my desk, the more enthralled I am with it, and the more clever grace-notes I spot in the various cutaways that make clear a thousand myriad elements of anatomy (and I had to laugh to discover that the cross-sectioned penis is attached by a magnet, so it can be removed by customers who aren't allowed to show penises in their workplaces).
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Dr. Manhattan!
Is the junk magnetic on both sides? I mean can you give your fridge a cut-away penis?
Don't peel me, bro!
#1: Oh, good; I'm not the only one who immediately reacted to the blue figure that way.
I agree about the sculptural quality; I could definitely see displaying one of these in my library just as a piece of science art.
(If you haven't yet seen the exhibit of plasticised and creatively dissected human corpses that periodically makes the rounds of science museums, it's worth catching unless the idea freaks you out completely. It's completely over the top, and the inventor of the process is far too caught up in the artistic aspect, and he tends to exhibit so many pieces that the impact gets lost about halfway through the show -- but it's the best view most of us will ever get of how real bodies are put together, and the sculptural quality seems to come pretty directly from the engineering requirements of making it all work halfway decently.)
The monotone might make them a bit more difficult to teach from but the beauty would (over) compensate I'm sure.
(ps I teach anatomy.. and I really wish I'd been able to snag one as well, even if it meant sharing it with my students.)
Are they still on the original limited edition of 2000 they announced and I bought in late 2004?
http://www.digitalartform.com/archives/2005/01/ecorche_figure.html
Or is mine from the extra special first batch? Wooooo.
:/
I want to know what lens Cory used on those things. Especially the khaki one. They look huge.
Fntastic work, Andrew.
Cheers mate.
Xuxu
I bought one for myself and later brought it into work for a new job. Turns out, so did everyone else I work with. These sculpts are everywhere! Pretty much the 'go to' ref for digital artists.
Love to get a layered, cut-away life sized human head someday.