Below is a list of reverse image search engines — not just typing in a term, and coming up with results, but linking or uploading an image and finding similar (or other instances) of the same images online.  The value of these tools for visual artists lay in finding similar reference images quickly, (either for subject matter or palette choice), as well as checking out if your work is being used online un-beknownst to you.  Here’s what I’ve found:

TinEye works to find the exact image, and seems to be the best out there for doing so.

Idee has 3 searching options on their landing page: color based, combination (image recognition + text tags), or straight-up image matching from an upload/URL.  The last option wasn’t working well for me, but other examples online gave pretty good results.

GazoPa trumps Idee in composition/subject matter results, returning images in percentage of how much it matches the original

RevIMG has a clumsy design and doesn’t return a lot of hits at once

Google Image — once, through searching, you find an image that you’d like to find more of, you can click on the “Find similar images” link below the target hit.  It doesn’t do a bad job, but again, you have to first search for the right image, not upload or link to an exact one.  This would be nice for browsing.

SnapTell, very adeptly named, this one is for mobile devices, and the idea is that you Snap a picture, and your device Tells you what it is/where to buy it online.

Did I miss any?

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I finished a fallopian tube fimbriae painting.  This one began as a typical anatomical study, but I let composition and such get the better of me, so that it became more abstract and less purely anatomical than others.  In the medical illustration world, it would be more of an editorial piece than anything.  Far too much fun to do!

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Recently finished is a small study of the internal heart wall – specifically the trabeculae carneae formations that run rampid in both ventricles.  Their function?  Opinions seem to vary, but they probably aid in contraction and the prevention of too much suction, besides offering a lovely visual surprise when you first dissect a real heart.

For anyone interested in other unique views of the heart, a priceless collection of videos is available via a University of Minnesota project: http://www.vhlab.umn.edu/atlas/index.shtml Not only can you look at internal structures from a myriad of angles, but you can also choose from a range of different hearts, which really underscores how common variations in structrues can be.

Available for purchase on etsy.

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Below is an editorial project for a selected journal cover – the article this image relates to was about Still’s heart murmer, fairly common in school age children.  It’s a fascinating benign murmer that was likened to the sound of an Aeolian harp – this if this harmless murmer is heard in children, they can be told they have a musical heart.  This author’s theory was that the blood flowing through the chordae tendinae of the right ventricle produced the characteristic pitch and humming sound.

And for all you curious ones out there, here’s an actual recording of one:http://www2.umdnj.edu/~shindler/still.html

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This has been done for awhile, but I’ve only recently scanned it and comped it together in Photoshop.  Occasionally I feel like breaking away from the whole medical subject area, or anything representational.  I’m really interested in relationships between music and visual arts and love the concept of Kandinsky’s art and the series of nocturnes by Whistler.  This painting ranks among my favorites: Nocturne in Black and Gold: The Falling Rocket.  There are more and less successful ways to do abstract paintings, and Whistler nails it in this one.

Moving on, below is a painting I’m calling “Aria”.  Fun with colors, composition, shapes, and movement!

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