Introduction

The picture I choose to replicate is a colored image of the human cervical cord. I do not know exactly where this image originally came from, but it looks like a scanned picture of a hand-drawn diagram out of a book or journal. This image looks like an older replica of the brain that was used in an anatomy book or for learning purposes. The image looks like it is zoomed in to get the details of the cervical cord. In looking at the image, I can see a lot of the creases and line detail, however, because this is a printed image, I can also see a lot of white space throughout the image that may not be there.

I decided to draw my replications because of my lack of artistic skills. I use plain white printer paper and tissue paper. I also use mechanical pencils, my preference, and gel pens. Because I am hand drawing, I cannot get the extreme zoomed-in detail. The best way to replicate this image would most likely to sketch it out on the computer. Due to the lack of resources and time, I will use a pencil and paper. All in all, I hope my replications look similar to the actual image. I know I cannot get every detail, but I hope I grasp the general essence of the original image. While replicating this image, I will record my drawing with my cell phone. This will add another layer to my field notes and track my progress throughout my multiple attempts.

Field Note 1

My first replication began on Friday, February 14, 2020, at 4:27 pm. It took me an hour and thirteen minutes to complete. I worked on the replication continuously with occasional water breaks and times to stop and think about the next move. I created the replication by myself in my dorm room at my desk next to the window. I had the original image next to me and tried to recreate it on a separate paper. I did look at the original image for reference.

I used white printer paper, slightly bent, that I got from my printer. I sketched with a mechanical pencil and then went over the outline and colored in the pencil with gel pens. The color of gel pens I used to closest match the image was black, gold, red, shimmery grey, orangish-brown, and an electric blue (the pens do not have official colors, so these are my description of them). I also used a fine point black sharpie to put the labels on the diagram.

While creating the replication, I was severely sick. I had a fever earlier in the morning as well as a headache, muscle aches, runny and stuffy nose, and nausea. Throughout the whole replication, I had a tissue shoved up my left nostril. Because of my sickness, I could not smell anything. Since I cannot smell, I also cannot taste anything. I was able to hear a little bit. During my sickness, my ears would pop as if I was going to different altitudes. At this time, I could faintly hear Radio Free Sid (every Friday between 4 and 7 pm Sid Richardson college plays music from their speakers on 7th floors) was on in the background. I live on Sid 7th, and Radio Free Sid is usually super loud, but because I am sick, it was only faintly in the background. The music playing was great. There were songs I have on my playlist, so it put me in a slightly pleasant mood. I have a great view from my dorm window. I was able to look out the window and see the medical center and everyone leaving from work. However, my sickness was also surrounding me. I had a tissue box, bottled water, orange juice, etc. While I was recreating the picture, I felt the desk under my hand and sometimes the paper. I would occasionally look at my hands and see the different colors on them from smearing the image.

I have no prior knowledge of the human cervical cord (brain) or art. I am not a science person. I took anatomy in high school, and I should know the parts of the brain, but I did not try very hard to memorize it. That is why I read the description first and labeled the parts of the brain. I also do not know about art. I do not like art, other than coloring. I would have liked to do a fancy replica using unconventional or interesting materials, but I do not have the artistic capabilities to do that.

After looking at my finished product, I am proud of it. Since I used the whole sheet of paper for the brain, I overdrew some sections. I think I did pretty good with the details. I tried to make it identical without obsessing over the minor details. I also think I did well with the color matching. I did not have the same colors as the original picture, so I had to mix colors to get the different tones of brown, red, and blue. For someone who is not artistic, and their first try, I think I did a great job. The only thing I would change is the scaling. The middle and the top is too big, and it was hard to fit the details into it.

To film the replication, I used my phone. I put my phone on the second row of my bookshelf, sitting on my desk. I laid it flat with the camera section hanging over to get a bird’s eye view. To make sure my phone would not fall, I put one of my desk decorations on the other end of the phone to balance out the weight. I would look up at the camera while I was drawing to make sure I was centered and that the camera was capturing what I was doing.

While I replicated this image, a few questions popped into my mind. Why did the creators use the colors they used to label the parts of the brain? The colors of the brain ultimately should not matter. I would want to know the deeper meaning of the colors. I also found it hard to see where the labels were pointing to in the picture, so I was wondering why the creator labeled every single thing in the picture? The creator named five different parts of the nucleus. I want to know is this for positioning purposes, or does each part of the nucleus have a different function, so they have to be named? I also want to know what position is the image created from? I am recreating the image and giving the audience a bird’s eye view from the camera. I do not know where I am looking at the brain and cervical cord.

Field Note 2

The second replication began Saturday, February 15, 2020, at 12:48 PM. It took me 26 minutes and 49 seconds. This is a big difference from the previous replication. I again worked continuously with occasional water breaks and adjusting the camera and the paper. I worked in my dorm room at the same desk next to the same window. I had the original picture under a single tissue paper and traced it on the tissue paper.

I used the tissue paper I got from Dr. Li’s office. I also used the same mechanical pencil from the previous replication. I also used gift wrap tape to hold the tissue paper and the original paper down. I did not use the gel pens because of the lack of clarity of the original paper through the tissue paper and because of time constraints. If I attempted to color in the brain and highlight the brain with the colors, it would have taken way longer.

I was still sick. However, I did feel slightly better. I still was unable to smell anything because of my stuffed and runny nose. I was able to taste the orange juice that I chugged right before starting the replication. The sight part was complicated. I did not mention in the first field notes that I was wearing my glasses. I wore my glasses for the second replication as well. Because the thin layer of tissue paper was on top of the original picture, it was harder for me to see the details. In the beginning, I also had trouble with the lighting. I opened my blinds to have a little bit of natural light, and I had my lamp on. As you will see in the video, I messed with the lamp, in the beginning, to try to find the right lighting. I ended up removing the artificial lighting altogether and opening my blinds all the way to get the natural lighting. The natural lighting made it easier for me to see more details in the brain. This time I felt the tissue paper under my hands. As you see in the video, my body was more in the video. I used my hands a lot more to make the details visible by making the tissue paper as close as possible to the original paper. I also felt the tears in the paper. I am a hard writer and drawer. In the beginning, I tore the paper a couple of times. I also had cold air blowing on me via a fan. I felt really hot because I am still sick. Along with the cold air, the fan provides a buzzing sound. I also had music playing on my computer. The fan mainly toned it out.

The prior knowledge of this image helped me a lot. With the thin layer of tissue paper and my bad eyesight, it was hard to see the brain. I relied heavily on my memory of the picture to recreate the image. I also relied on the colors of the image. The lighter colors were easier to see, so I was able to put more details into those sections. I saw a video of someone tracing a picture on tissue paper, and it fairly easy. I misjudged the difficulty of this artistic feature. I found tissue paper art to be more difficult to replicate the brain.

Looking at the finished project, I am very disappointed. I was unable to add details. I was able to do the general outline of the brain, but the inner part of the brain was difficult. The colors and shapes started to blend. The tissue paper replication looks like what we generally imagine the brain to look like. My first replication has more details and looks more like an actual brain. I will not underestimate drawing on tissue paper and the details of the brain.

I used the same video technique as the first replication process. I used my phone from a bird’s eye view. This video will look slightly different because my body will be in the frame more. I could not see the paper underneath the tissue paper. I had to lean in close to the paper and smooth out the paper to try to replicate the details.

Some questions that arose from doing this replication is when was the original picture created? This picture of the brain has a lot of details, especially towards the inside of the brain. I want to know if the creator saw all these details in the brain or did, they assume the structure and function? To follow up on a previous question from field note 1, are the colors used in this figure similar to colors in the brain? I have never looked at a real human brain, so I do not know. The tan and the red helped me replicate the image easier compared to the black and the blue of the image. I also want to know is this figure modeled after the brain or assumptions and connections based on the brain? Because I could not directly see through the tissue paper, I had to make inferences about the shapes inside of the brain. For example, the system of the intermediate nucleus (K) looks like a fetus in utero. That is how I tried to replicate it onto the tissue paper because I could not see the exact details. I also did that for the commissural bundle (O), which looks like a running shoe or what Hermes shoe would look like.

Field Note 3

I began my final replication Saturday, February 15, 2020, at 8:58 PM. It took me 19 minutes and 3 seconds. I worked on the replication continuously. I worked at the same desk next to the same window. This replication was different from the other two because I only looked at the original copy of the figure while drawing. I tried to simulate the example in class when we drew our hands without looking at it. I wanted to see if I had retained muscle memory from the replications.

I once again used white printer paper, a mechanical pencil, a black sharpie, and gel colored pencils. I only used the red and blue gel pens to show the specific details of the brain and to distinguish it from the rest of the drawing. I looked at my replication while I outlined it with a sharpie. I did not look at my picture when I used the gel pens. The sharpie covered up some of the mistakes with the colored pens.

I still felt under the weather. I could smell slightly, but there was not a specific scent in the air. Towards the end, I was able to smell the sharpie. I could not smell during the other replications. When I started the replication, I had a blue Halls cough drop in my mouth. It dissolved about half through the scent. This helped me regain my sense of smell. The blinds to my window were open, but it was dark outside. It did not provide much light. I had my desk lamp on, and it was shining directly on the paper. It was very bright. This time I wore my contacts. I did not need to lean in to see the details. My contacts have a stronger prescription than my glasses. When I sketched my replication, I had no music or inside noise. Since it was silent, I was able to hear things outside, like the cars driving by. I could only feel the desk underneath my hand. Since I was looking at something else while my hand was doing something else, my brain had a hard time focusing on my senses like touch.

This replication I relied heavily on my prior knowledge of the image. My memory and hands had to recreate the brain without looking at what I was doing. I remembered the general outline and specific parts of the brain because of my recognition pattern. I had to associate the different parts of the brain to things I was familiar with, like the Hermes shoe and the fetus in utero. I was not familiar with the tiny details because my hands did not get to practice drawing them during the second replication. My third replication also lacked the tiny details. It also lacked major details. When I labeled the drawing, I put question marks next to the labels of things that were supposed to be there, but I did not add.

Since I knew this was going to be my last replication, my brain was memorizing the picture way before I drew for the last time. When we did this practice during class, I could not draw my hand at all because I never studied my hand. I think I did a decent job of drawing the brain without looking at my picture. It is a big improvement from when I had to draw my hand without looking. It might be a slight improvement from drawing on tissue paper.

I did the same documenting process as the other replications. I used my phone to record off the second shelf. This recording time was much shorter than the other replications. One reason is that I got much faster at drawing the outline and the major section of the brains. The second reason is that I am increasingly leaving out details like color and small details in the brain.

Some questions I had while recreating the brain is, did my memorization of the image or my general knowledge of the brain contribute to me being able to recreate the image? Or did both contribute? This would play into the prior knowledge portion of my field notes. I also want to know how valuable are the eyes. During the section of the eyes, Greek Gods valued eyesight as the most important sense, but during the replication, it seemed pretty useless. If anything, my sense of touch combined with my memory seemed useful. This goes back to the beginning of the semester and the discussion about cognition and memory being a sense. Is there a sixth sense?

Conclusion

This project surprised me. I did not think I would like it or learn anything from it. I think different parts of my body took control during different replication processes. The first replication process was my best one because it was closest to the actual image. I also think I enjoyed recreating the most. During this replication process majority of my senses were compromised, but I was able to focus enough to recreate a beautiful image. During this time, I did not sneeze or cough one time. Focusing on the image soothed the symptoms of my sickness. I honestly believe just my brain and hands were working. This leads me to question my brain and my cognition as another thing to interrupt the environment.

My second replication pushed the lack of senses. Not only was I still sick, but I also could not see. I once again relied on my hands and my brain. The frustration of not being able to see came from the glorification of the eyesight.

My third replication only solidified to me the importance of touch and the lack of importance of eyesight. My hands and memory did most of the work. I was able to look at the model, but in my opinion, that did not help much.

I believe Connor’s “The menagerie of the senses” resonated with me the most during this assignment. He believes we care for and regulate the senses. This causes our physical senses (touch) to be connected to the feelings inside (memory and knowledge). I believe this connection could be considered another sense. The way my hands and my brain worked together to recreate the three images is something I have never done before, and if I train and work on this connection, then it can develop into something much more.