Anatomy of the Larynx
Client:
Dr. Don Cerio, Lydia Gregg
Audience:
Medical Students
Media:
Graphite, Photoshop
This anatomical illustration highlights the adductor and abductor muscles of the larynx in oblique and superoposterior views. It was created to help medical students understand larynx muscle contractions (yellow arrows) and the correlating arytenoid cartilage movements (black arrows) that allow vocal ligaments to adduct and abduct.
The image to the left depicts a full view of the larynx, with an inferior skull and pharyngeal constrictors cut to show the location of the laryngeal structures. The mucosa is cut to see the cartilage beneath, and the muscles are ghosted to reveal arytenoids. The central image is a summary view of laryngeal musculature with shared labels used to connect and contextualize shared structures. The central top right figure utilizes an oblique view to depict adductor muscles, which are further clarified with insets shown superiorly. A superoposterior view in the bottom right figure highlights the movement of the abductor muscle and includes another superior inset.
Process
The larynx is typically depicted in pure frontal, side, or superior view. Since this made learning the anatomy difficult personally, I chose oblique views to offer the greatest teaching value. Once a thumbnail is chosen, the process begins with a rough sketch with indications of all of the anatomy covered in the piece. It is then refined for the final sketch, which serves as the structure for the final render. Color flats are created with the base colors of each structure, and the final is rendered using these base layers.