Instagram story viewer> @mostlybeastlyart> Posts

David

@mostlybeastlyart

523

followers

1259

following

I am a board-certified medical illustrator, artist, and visual communicator based in the Kansas City, Missouri area.

POSTS STORIES REELS

MINUTE BREAKDOWN: Let's Tackle Texture!

One of my favorite tricks for rendering realistic skin textures in Photoshop is also one of the simplest!

With a few brushes, blending modes, emboss filters, and a little Gaussian blur, you can create an incredible variety of convincing surface textures in just minutes.

From acne and scarring to vascular birthmarks and dermatological conditions, the same basic technique can produce dramatically different results, all without having to repaint the underlying portrait.

A few simple tools. Endless possibilities!

We'll be exploring this technique in much greater depth in Skin Deep!

#MinuteBreakdown #SkinDeep #MostlyBeastly #MedicalIllustration #DigitalPainting #PhotoshopTutorial #SkinTexture #Dermatology #ScientificIllustration #DigitalArtTutorial by @mostlybeastlyart

Throwback Thursday: Surgical Approach to the Base of Skull

A look back at a series of illustrations from 2017 exploring a complex surgical approach to the base of the skull.

This was one of those projects where the working sketches were every bit as important as the final artwork. The anatomy is incredibly dense, with bone, dura, cranial nerves, vessels, the inner ear, and other critical structures packed into a very small space.

The sketches evolved through several rounds as I worked out exactly what needed to be removed, retracted, preserved, or emphasized in order to make the surgical anatomy understandable.

Swipe through to see some of that progression from early working sketches to the finished illustrations.

Projects like this are a good reminder that a large part of medical illustration happens long before the final rendering begins.

#ThrowbackThursday #MedicalIllustration #SurgicalIllustration #Neurosurgery #SkullBaseSurgery #Anatomy #ScientificIllustration by @mostlybeastlyart

QUICK & EASY SKIN TEXTURES
One Simple Technique, Endless Possibilities

One of my favorite tricks for rendering realistic skin textures is also one of the simplest!

By taking advantage of a few "Legacy" Photoshop brushes, blending modes, emboss filters, and a little Gaussian blur, you can create an incredible variety of convincing surface textures.

From subtle irregularities and variations in skin texture to more pronounced scarring, injuries, and dermatological conditions, the same basic technique can produce dramatically different results.

Every example shown here was created in just minutes using variations of this process, applied to the exact same base portrait.

It's a quick, flexible approach that can add a tremendous amount of realism without requiring hours of painstaking detail work.

I'll be putting together a Minute Breakdown demonstrating this technique soon, and we'll explore it in much greater depth in Skin Deep!

#SkinDeep #MostlyBeastly #MedicalIllustration #DigitalPainting #DigitalArtTutorial #SkinTexture #Dermatology #ScientificIllustration #PhotoshopTutorial #MedicalArt by @mostlybeastlyart

Throwback Thursday: Posterior Pharynx Dissection

From 2007 - a detailed carbon dust study of the posterior pharynx and some of the deep anatomical relationships that are normally pretty difficult to visualize.

This is one of those pieces that reminds me how much I enjoy the problem-solving side of medical illustration. Complex anatomy can become overwhelming very quickly, and a big part of the job is deciding what to emphasize, what to simplify, and how to create enough separation between structures that the viewer can actually understand what they’re looking at.

And sometimes it’s just fun to get lost in the details.

#ThrowbackThursday #MedicalIllustration #AnatomicalIllustration #Anatomy #ScientificIllustration #MedicalArt by @mostlybeastlyart

Throwback Thursday: Of Mice & Men

A couple of surgical anatomy illustrations from 2017 - one showing experimental facial nerve repair in a rat model, and another depicting the relevant human anatomy for a temporoparietal fascia flap in plastic surgery.

The rat illustration focuses on the branches of the facial nerve and a technique for repairing an injured buccal branch.

The human illustration maps the anatomy involved in raising a temporoparietal fascia flap, including the facial nerve, superficial temporal vessels, fascial layers, and surrounding structures that need to be understood and protected during surgery.

Two very different illustrations, but both built around the same challenge - making complex facial anatomy clear enough to guide understanding of a surgical procedure.

#ThrowbackThursday #MedicalIllustration #SurgicalIllustration #PlasticSurgery #FacialNerve #Anatomy #ScientificIllustration by @mostlybeastlyart

WORLD HEART DAY 2026 ❤️

I’ve illustrated many, many hearts over the years - these are just a few of my favorites.

From anatomy and disease progression to complex cardiac procedures, the heart has been a recurring subject throughout my career as a medical illustrator. I’ve spent countless hours studying them, drawing them, painting them, sculpting them, and trying to understand how they work.

These days, World Heart Day has a much more personal significance for me. I’ve survived multiple heart attacks, and I currently have two coronary artery stents helping keep this particular heart of mine going.

It’s strange how something you’ve studied and illustrated professionally for decades can suddenly become intensely personal.

So today, here are a few hearts from across the years - and a reminder to take care of yours. ❤️

#WorldHeartDay #WorldHeartDay2026 #HeartHealth #MedicalIllustration #MedicalArt #ScientificIllustration #Cardiology #CardiacSurgery #Anatomy #MedicalArtist #CMI by @mostlybeastlyart

MINUTE BREAKDOWN: Focus

Another quick painting tip pulled from some of the techniques I’ll be exploring much more deeply in Skin Deep.

This time: controlling where your viewer looks.

Photographers use depth of field to keep their subject sharp while other elements fall out of focus. As artists, we can fake that same effect - selectively blurring parts of an image to create depth and guide the viewer’s eye exactly where we want it to go.

It’s a simple finishing technique, but it can completely change how an image reads.

Sometimes knowing what to blur is just as important as knowing what to sharpen.

More Minute Breakdowns coming soon!

#MinuteBreakdown #DigitalPainting #DigitalArt #PortraitPainting #DigitalPortrait #ArtTutorial #ArtTips #DepthOfField #VisualStorytelling #MedicalIllustration #MedicalArtist #SkinDeep by @mostlybeastlyart

WORLD GORILLA DAY 🦍

I’ve been fascinated by gorillas for about as long as I can remember.

The first image in this collection is a pencil drawing I made when I was 13 years old and thoroughly gorilla-obsessed. More than three decades later, they’re still finding their way into my work - through drawings, paintings, sculpture, anatomical studies, and most recently, the mountain gorilla portrait I created for Eyes of the Wild.

Today is World Gorilla Day, and there’s a special reason September 24 was chosen.

On September 24, 1967, Dian Fossey established the Karisoke Research Center in Rwanda’s Virunga Mountains and began the work that would transform our understanding of mountain gorillas. Fifty years later, in 2017, the first World Gorilla Day was created in recognition of that legacy and as a global call to protect gorillas and their habitats.

Fossey was one of my childhood heroes - and she still is. Her work helped the world see gorillas not as the frightening “brutes” they had so often been portrayed as, but as intelligent, social, deeply complex animals worthy of our fascination and our protection.

That mission continues today.

World Gorilla Day is a celebration, but it’s also a reminder that these extraordinary animals still depend on conservation, habitat protection, scientific research, and the people and communities working every day to ensure their survival.

So today I’m sharing a little more than 30 years of my own fascination with these gentle giants - from that 13-year-old kid with a pencil to the artist I am today.

Some subjects you never quite outgrow.

Happy World Gorilla Day!

Learn more about gorilla conservation and Dian Fossey’s continuing legacy through the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund.

#WorldGorillaDay #Gorilla #Gorillas #MountainGorilla #WildlifeArt #WildlifeArtist #ConservationArt #DianFossey #EyesOfTheWild #MostlyBeastly #GorillaDoctors #DianFosseyGorillaFund by @mostlybeastlyart

Throwback Thursday: Medical Device Illustration

From 2018 - a medical device illustration project depicting balloon angioplasty dissection.

This was a fun visual communication challenge because the illustration needed to show several things happening at once: the anatomy of the diseased vessel, the device itself, the expansion of the balloon, and the different stresses being placed on the arterial wall leading to arterial wall dissection.

The early sketch shows the thinking behind the final piece before all of that information was translated into a much more polished illustration.

I’ve always enjoyed this kind of work - taking something that happens inside the body, where no one can actually see it, and finding a clear way to make the process visible.

#ThrowbackThursday #MedicalIllustration #MedicalDevice #MedTech #ScientificIllustration #HealthcareDesign #VisualCommunication by @mostlybeastlyart

MINUTE BREAKDOWN: Make it GLOW!

Another quick painting tip pulled from some of the techniques I’ll be exploring much more deeply in Skin Deep.

This time: adding some GLOW.

A little dramatic backlight can completely change the mood of a portrait - and it doesn’t have to be complicated. With a few strategically placed highlights, some reflected color, and the right blending modes, you can create the illusion of bright light wrapping around your subject.

The trick is letting that light spill just enough to actually feel luminous.

A few simple adjustments can make a BIG difference.

More Minute Breakdowns coming soon!

#MinuteBreakdown #SkinDeepCourse #DigitalPainting #DigitalPortrait #PhotoshopTips #PortraitLighting #RimLight #MedicalIllustration #MostlyBeastly by @mostlybeastlyart

Little Violet.

From an old photograph I’ve always loved.

She was maybe three years old here, sitting at a desk in an old historic schoolhouse, listening intently while the guide talked about what school was like in the 1800s. Her feet didn’t even come close to touching the floor.

I drew this last year because there was something about that little moment I wanted to hold onto.

Still one of my favorite drawings. by @mostlybeastlyart

MINUTE BREAKDOWN: Make Some Noise

Another quick painting tip pulled from some of the techniques I’ll be exploring much more deeply in Skin Deep.

Digital painting can sometimes look a little too clean and polished. Adding a subtle layer of noise or grain can help break up those perfectly smooth transitions, add texture, and give the finished painting a more traditional-media feel.

The key is subtlety. You want to feel it more than you see it.

A little noise can make a BIG difference.

More Minute Breakdowns coming soon! by @mostlybeastlyart