CADAVER CHRONICLES MEMOIR SERIES

WHY WRITE A MEMOIR ABOUT MY RELATIONSHIP TO DEAD BODIES?

Excerpt from Cadaver Chronicles Episode #2 by K. Willberg. 

I'm remembering my love of anatomy related to dancing.

I teach a drawing class in a cadaver lab. This dream job inspired me to make Cadaver Chronicles, a philosophical, occasionally explicit, and sometimes poignant and funny graphic memoir about childhood, anatomy, death, dying, healthcare, art, food, and relationships.
 
For artists, healthcare workers, scientists, and scholars, the study of actual human bodies affects how we perceive the dead and gives us context for reflection on the deaths of others and ourselves. For me, every living creature has an anatomical identity. For many, anatomy is not only an area of scientific knowledge and technical specificity, it’s a lifestyle!

I've already written and drafted roughly 200 pages illustrated with comics as well as 20 years of drawings from my sketchbooks. What kind of sketchbook drawing? My sketches from the cadaver lab where I teach, figure drawings where I anatomized the live models (just for fun!), animal sketches including an anatomized kitten, comparative anatomy sketches where I turn animal skeletons into people, general sketches of bodies, some bones, and even some dancers. 

EPISODE #1

 Here's the cover of this 24 page episode. I drew it from a selfie and anatomized my face. That's my spouse, cartoonist R. Sikoryak in the background. He's been tolerating my fascination with bodies for 30 years!

This first episode starts with the book's prologue about how I was terrified of death as a child. So much so that driving by a cemetery with a friend when I was 10 terrified me. 

How could I remember that? By gazing at my sketches and following a chain of flashbacks from my trip to the Paris Catacombs at 50, through a series of events taking me back to the cemetery. 

Then Episode #1 gets into Chapter 1 of the book.

Highlights include my father getting me very interested in animals and anatomy. So much so that one day, he brought me a bullfrog from the biology department on the campus where he was a professor. We dissected it in the basement together.

Dad was so encouraging that he was totally supportive when a friend and I started hanging out a a local veterinary clinic. 

Obviously, a childhood of catching wildlife, dissecting frogs, and assisting in the medical and surgical treatment of animals began to soften and moderate my fear of death.

Here are a few pages and excerpted panels.

Interested in browsing a copy? If you live in New York or New Jersey, I'll be selling them this Saturday and Sunday, March 16-17th at MoCCA Fest  in Manhattan, sponsored by the Society of Illustrators.

A description and samples of Episode #2 will be posted next!

CADAVER DIARIES

WARNING! IF SKETCHED IMAGES OF DEAD AND DISSECTED HUMAN BODIES ARE DISTURBING TO YOU THEN DON'T READ THIS POST!!! I MEAN IT. - KW

ANATOMY AND CADAVERS

As you probably already know, a detailed study of human anatomy doesn't necessarily require us to partake in the dissection of cadavers. With in-depth reading materials, exceptional illustrations, incredible anatomy apps that can show you layers of anatomical structures rendered three  dimensionally, and a willing living human body at hand to practice palpation upon, you can meet educational requirements for many fitness, health science, and artistic professions.

Even so, I've had the fortune of studying anatomy in and out of cadaver labs for almost 40 years. (Wow!) My latest affiliation with an anatomy lab was last year as a co-teacher with artist Laura Ferguson in her Art And Anatomy drawing classes at NYU. She has been teaching this class for years and it is an amazing experience. For more about the class, visit the Art And Anatomy website. 

(For more about my adventures teaching graphic medicine seminars through in The Master Scholars Program in Humanistic Medicine at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, visit this blogpost.)

ANATOMY AND DEATH

Conversations last fall with Laura and with NYU faculty about anatomic, artistic, and healthcare education gave me a lot of time to think about my relationships to bodies, anatomy, art, and death over the last 40 years. I spent very fulfilling quiet time in the lab sketching and examining bodies, watching students draw, and thinking about the professional and personal growth that repeated exposure to death and dying has provoked over the course of my lifetime. 

In January started looking at my last 16 years of figure drawings and cadaver sketches. I thought about my work as a massage therapist with seriously ill and dying patients and friends. I thought about the death of my father. I thought about my new relationship to the cadavers in the lab: I was there as an artist instead of health sciences student or teacher. Wow! What a change in perspective.

Of course the inevitable happened - I made a graphic memoir about my life with cadavers, illustrated exclusively from my sketchbooks. 

ANATOMY AND LIFE

I really got into drawing faces in the lab. I started to like some of the cadavers more than others. Obviously they had no say in my perception of our relationship, but I started to think of these bodies as my friends!

Working with cadavers is a life-changing experience. My work with dead human bodies definitely influenced my massage treatments of living human bodies. It helped me process the death of my father. It changed the way I see bodies. If you're curious about any of this, then this book may be for you! If you want to know what it's like to dissect a cadaver, this book may be for you! If you are curious about different ways people emotionally cope with dissecting human bodies, this book may be for you! This book is definitely NOT for you if sketches of dissected human bodies and faces are too disturbing.

DON'T WORRY!

The identities of these living and dead bodies can't be determined through the sketches in the book. Tattoos and distinctive skin markings (other than my own) are not show. The facial features of live models are obscured and the faces of the dead models have been dissected. No one is identifiable.

If you'd like to order a copy of Cadaver Diaries, take this link to Birdcage Bottom Books.

THE B(R)E(A)ST OF THE SAN DIEGO COMIC CON 2017

The San Diego Comic Con had a lot to offer: comics, movies, games, more comics, cosplay, panels, and more! But now that I'm home, the visual memories I have are of the amazing amount of breast art there. OMG the breasts!

Stunning.

UNICORN DISSECTION

SOME DAYS I CAN'T HELP MYSELF
And why should I? 

Here is a view of the retroperitoneal organs of the Unicorns abdominal cavity. 

I have no idea if horses have a peritoneum and this unicorn definitely did not.

I was browsing through one of my favorite reference sites, Historical Anatomies On The Web, and found myself once again engrossed in the equine anatomical illustrations by Carlo Ruini from Anatomia del cavallo, infermita, et suoi rimedii. I LOVE THIS GUY! I know this sounds nutty, but the illustrations of cadaveric horses are so.... alive! According to Historical Anatomies... the woodcut images were rumored (not confirmed) to be drafted by someone from Titian's workshop. They are quite beautiful. I am referencing the 1618 edition.

Ruin's title page

Comparative anatomy is very interesting. Usually I compare humans to animals but this time I thought of the substantial internal differences one might find in the anatomy of horses and unicorns. Who am I to passively worship  beauty when I can manipulate it into something whimsical and grotesque? 

ANATOMICAL TRIANGLES - Love Stories

SOME DAY THIS WILL BE A MINICOMIC
Use this image to refer back to as you read the torrid stories below.

You can't imaging this image and the word "torrid" belonging together? Read on!

VISIT MY GUEST BLOG POST

An image from Salvage's Anatomie du Gladiator in the NYAM collection.

VISIT THIS BLOG TO VISIT THAT BLOG
Yes, it's a little ridiculous, but this blog post is here only to send you to my latest blog post for the New York Academy of Medicine's Books, Health, and History blog. Many Anatomy Lessons at the New York Academy of Medicine is my second blog post for NYAM. 

Interested in taking my Visualizing and Drawing Anatomy classes at NYAM? Classes start June 6 so there's still time to sign up!

SMORGASBORD OF UPCOMING EVENTS

FIRST THING FIRST

If you're looking for more information about the Visualizing and Drawing Anatomy class, there's a paragraph below with a link for more info. But I will be writing an in-depth blogpost for May 17th that will give more details.

NOW THE FUN BEGINS!
If I ever whine about being bored in your presence you have my permission to tell me to shut up  and remind me of this spring. The fun doesn't stop until June 28th!

Me at TCAF in 2014 presenting some anatomy about muscle strain.

The fun never stops!

GUEST PRESENTER AT TCAF

The Toronto Comic Arts Festival (TCAF) has invited me to participate in their Word Balloon Academy Professional Clinic on Friday May 13th at the Bloor Yorkville Marriott. I will be available to answer questions about injury prevention and good drawing habits and will have copies of my mini comics (No) Pain! and First Aid for Drawing Injuries for sale. I will also present a self care workshop on back pain prevention on Saturday May 14th in the early afternoon, AND will be reading from some of my less educational comics for a Carousel Slide Show on Sunday the 15th late afternoon, details TBA May 11ish. TCAF is still working on their schedule. Can’t make it to Toronto but still want to buy a copy of one of my mini comics? Click on the title and you will be takes to Birdcage Bottom Book "shop" page.

Just when you thought there was nothing left to injure!

NO BACK PAIN! ANOTHER GUIDE TO INJURY PREVENTION FOR CARTOONISTS

Yes, there is a third volume of injury prevention and self care in the works! No Back Pain! Another Guide to Injury Prevention for Cartoonists focuses on... you guessed it - back pain! This mini comic explains the anatomy behind three common causes of back pain: muscle spasm, muscle tear, and disk herniation. It also gives some guidelines for self care and injury prevention, and presents breathing and conditioning exercises for relaxing and strengthening the core muscles of the trunk. (As usual, if you use this book instead of medical advice you are out of your mind.) No Back Pain! is still in-progress but I will have excerpted draft copies for preview at TCAF.

The past meets the present on June 7!

Visualizing and Drawing Anatomy Workshop at the New York Academy of Medicine

I am very excited to announce that I am partnering with the New York Academy of Medicine to offer an anatomy for artists four week workshop on Monday evenings June 6, 13, 20, and 27. As per usual I will be drawing the musculoskeletal system onto live models, but the most exciting part is that each class starts with an exploration of body parts and other systems in the Academy’s Drs. Barry and Bobbi Coller Rare Book Reading Room! For registration and  information you can visit the NYAM events page. And, as stated above, I will be posting an in-depth description and sneak peak at some of the images we will be working with at NYAM on May 17th.

PRETTY CONAN

PEER PRESSURE
Last weekend was The Lost Weekend. Lost to drawing that is! Because of a conversation between friends that I wasn't even in the room for, the Pretty Conan mini comic became a plan and is soon to be reality. I admit I didn't know who Barry Windsor-Smith was until Bob (R. Sikoryak) told me all about this talented artiste. Behold one of three Anatomy of Conan The Barbarian drawings anatomized from the comics by BWS.

Why anatomize Conan? Because it's fun to see how anatomy can fit inside a body drawing in any style. Plus I like the challenge of drawing anatomy in action which is how we usually appreciate it. Notice Conan's tibia vara in the right leg. That shinbone is pretty curvy! 

Yes, Conan gets migraines. You didn't know that? Says who? Me! That's who. They're triggered by many things including all the wine he likes to drink.

This drawing and two others will appear in a mini comic masterminded by Stephen Destephano. Or was it Greg Benton? Or Robbie Busch? Whatever. You can get it when you come to the Society of Illustrator's MoCCA Fest. Bob and I will be tabling. See you there!

VIRTUAL MEMORIES INTERVIEW

TALK, TALK, TALK
A few weeks ago I had a chat that happened to be an interview with Gil Roth for his Virtual Memories Show. 

Curious about the origins of my Pathology Laffs series? How about some opinions on how people learn, or strategies for making science funny? Maybe you're curious about my past dance career. Follow this link to Virtual Memories, click on my interview, and brace yourself for an hour of fun! (The first 12 minutes are an interview with writer Paul Di Filippo) My Interview (#154) starts at minute 12:45 on the download.

I thought it might be fun to post some images and links to accompany my conversation with Gil. Here's your program!

MINUTE 12:45 MY BIO AND INTRODUCTION

Dura Mater (Dance and Anatomy Projects before 2010)

Marymount Manhattan Dance Department

The Cinematologist

Integrative Medicine Service at MSKCC

MINUTE 14:20 CARTOONISTS AND DRAWING INJURIES

Me from our last visit to the Center for Cartoon Studies

First Aid, part 2 of my self care series.

MINUTE 18:20 THE PHYSICAL STRESSES EFFECTING CARTOONISTS

From (No) Pain!

MINUTE 21:20 THE CHALLENGES OF TEACHING GOOD HABITS

It's much easier to teach people interested in what you have to say. 

The trick is to find a way to get disinterested people interested!

MINUTE 23:35 MY HISTORY WITH COMICS AND SCI FI

Welcome to my 10-year-old-world!

Andre Norton, Dark Piper

My Sci Fi tastes have matured, I guess.

Love these guys! (James SA Corey)

MINUTE 26:00 GROWING UP IN A WORLD OF NERDS

Dragon etching from Junior High.

MINUTE 30:30 HOW PATHOLOGY LAFFS AND LOUISE THE LOUSE CAME INTO BEING

The gag cartoon that started it all.

The earliest Carousel Cartoon Slideshow poster I could find. 

My illustration is the cancerous mice, bottom right.

MINUTE 35:00 DANCE, PERFORMING, DANCING COMPARED TO DRAWING

This pic got me a page in Dance Magazine.

For more about past dance projects see DuraMater.org.

MINUTE 41:00 NEEDLEWORK, MEDICAL IMAGERY, AND COMICS

Two in-progress pieces I will be submitting to 4Panel.

The bottom images are from a SciArt Center workshop.

Catherine's Knee, photo by Tom Henning.

MINUTE 52:37 TEACHING ANATOMY: BACKGROUND, VISUALIZING ANATOMY, SPECULATIVE ANATOMY

Joan Reilly created some incredible anatomy images based on class homework.

Drawing on a body helps us visualize structures under the skin.

MINUTE 59:30 MORE ABOUT SELF-CARE FOR ARTISTS

WOW! YOU MADE IT! TAKE A BREAK.