Malaria
Malaria is caused by the blood-borne parasite plasmodium. The parasite infects red blood cells and invades the liver, where it infects hepatocytes and may lay dormant. Illustrations for malaria communicate both the mosquito and human stages of the lifecycle of plasmodium parasites. In this illustration I combined these stages using two different micro-anatomical environments.
Process
Development of this illustration involved extensive research of both visuals and text publications.
Several iterations of the layout sketch were done to test different approaches to composition and narrative flow.
The final grayscale sketch was done in pencil, scanned, and colourized in Photoshop. Labels and body text were done in Illustrator.
References
"Microscopic Anatomy: An atlas of light and electron Microscopy" - Pietro Motta 1990 Piccin Nuova Libraries (Plates 7.18, pg 154; 7.19, 155; 8.16, 201; 8.17, pg202; 8.18, 203)
"The Body Victorious" - Lennart Nilsson 1985, Delacorte Press / New York pg 176
"The Incredible Machine" - various authors, 1986 National Geographic Society, pg 84 Jean A Miller
"Elias–Pauly's Histology and Human Microanatomy" - Peter S. Amenta 1987 Picci Nuova Libraria, fig.s 12-74 – 12-79, pg. 313 & 315; 12-106, 328
"Human Microscopic Anatomy" - R.V. Krstic 1991 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg pgs 225, 227, 229, 237
"Clinical Haematology" - A.V. Hoffbrand and J.E. Pettit 1988 Gower Medical Publishing, Dist. by Sandoz. Fig.s 16.1 – 16.6, pg.s 272-275