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Medical Things to Draw

One medical thing to draw per press: an instrument, a bone, something from the ward or the first-aid box.

Medical Things to Draw

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  1. A stethoscope coiled on a deskTwo earpieces, a Y of tubing and a round chestpiece. The first one, made in France in 1816, was a plain wooden tube.

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Instruments 15

  • A blood-pressure cuff with its bulb and dial A wide band to wrap an arm, a rubber bulb to pump it up and a round gauge, joined by tubes that loop.
  • A digital thermometer with a number on its screen A slim stick with a small window near the fat end and one button. Write any number you like in the window.
  • A doctor's bag standing open The traditional bag is leather and opens at the top, with a handle split in two. Show one tool poking out.
  • A glass thermometer lying on a cloth A thin tube with a bulb at one end and a ladder of tick marks. Stop the line inside it partway along.
  • A head mirror on its band A round mirror, a small hole at its center, fixed to a headband. It curves inward like a shallow dish.
  • A jar of tongue depressors Flat wooden sticks with rounded ends. Crafters know the same stick as a craft stick. Stand ten in a glass jar.
  • A kidney dish holding two rolls of gauze A shallow, kidney-shaped basin with sloping walls. Draw a bean, then a second bean inside it.
  • A pulse oximeter clipped on a fingertip A small clip like a clothespin with a screen on top. It works by shining light through the fingertip.
  • A reflex hammer with a triangular head The best-known kind in the USA has a triangle of rubber on a flat metal handle. It is drawn like a small tomahawk.
  • A stethoscope coiled on a desk Two earpieces, a Y of tubing and a round chestpiece. The first one, made in France in 1816, was a plain wooden tube.
  • A stethoscope hung around a neck, seen from the front Draw the collar first. The tubing drapes like a scarf, the earpieces on one side and the chestpiece on the other.
  • A tuning fork, ringing A stem that splits into two prongs, formed from a U-shaped bar of metal. Add small curved lines for the hum.
  • A white coat on a hanger A knee-length coat with a collar, buttons down the front and deep pockets. Put a pen in the chest pocket.
  • An eye chart on a wall Eleven lines of block letters that shrink as they go down. The first line is one very large letter.
  • An otoscope from the side A handle and a head with a small cone at the front. The head holds a light and a lens for looking into the ear.

Anatomy 16

  • A brain from the side in three parts The big folded cerebrum on top, the smaller cerebellum tucked under the back and the brainstem running down.
  • A collarbone lying level A slender bone shaped like a stretched S, running from the breastbone out to the shoulder blade.
  • A fingerprint filling an oval The three basic patterns are the loop, the whorl and the arch. Pick one and fill the oval with lines that never cross.
  • A kidney, drawn as a bean Bean-shaped, with a dent on one side where its vessels go in and out. Draw two, mirror images of each other.
  • A knee joint from the front The thigh bone above, the shin bone below and the kneecap in front like a small shield. It is the body's largest joint.
  • A shoulder blade seen from behind A flat bone, roughly a triangle, lying on the back of the rib cage. Draw a raised ridge running across it.
  • A thigh bone on its own The longest bone in the body: a long shaft, a ball on a short neck at the top and two rounded knobs at the bottom.
  • An eye in section, like a ball cut in half The clear cornea bulges at the front, the lens sits behind the colored iris and the retina lines the back.
  • An outer ear, close up The curled rim is the helix and the soft bottom is the lobe. A small flap, the tragus, sits in front of the opening.
  • The bones of one foot from the side A foot has 26 bones. Draw the heel bone at the back, an arch rising in the middle and the toe bones in front.
  • The bones of one hand, palm down A hand has 27 bones: eight small ones in the wrist, five in the palm and fourteen in the fingers and thumb.
  • One finger as three bones in a row Each finger has three bones end to end; the thumb has two. Draw them as long beads, widest at the knuckles.
  • One vertebra seen from above A thick round body in front, a ring of bone behind it for the spinal cord, and bony points sticking out of the ring.
  • The rib cage from the front Twelve pairs of ribs curve around from the spine. The last two pairs float: they never reach the breastbone.
  • The spine from the side, drawn as its curves It is not straight. It curves forward at the neck, back at the chest and forward again at the lower back.
  • The three small bones of the ear Hammer, anvil and stirrup, joined in a chain. No bone in the body is as small or light as the stirrup.

Hospital and ambulance 15

  • A drip stand on wheels A tall pole on a base of small wheels with hooks at the top. Hang one bag and let a thin tube curl down from it.
  • A heartbeat line across a screen A flat line with a small bump, a tall sharp spike and another bump. Repeat the same shape across the screen.
  • A hospital bed with the head end raised A bed on wheels with rails at the sides. The head and foot sections tilt, so bend the mattress in the middle.
  • A hospital wristband with a name on it A narrow strip closed around a wrist, with a printed label. Write your own name or an invented one.
  • A pair of crutches leaning on a wall Each is a tall narrow A with a pad at the top to sit under the arm, a grip lower down and a rubber tip.
  • A scanner with a bed sliding into its ring An MRI scanner is a long tube. Draw a thick ring like a doughnut and a narrow bed that slides into the hole.
  • A stretcher on wheels A narrow padded bed on a folding frame. Draw the legs as two X shapes with a small wheel at each foot.
  • A surgical mask, front and side A rectangle with pleats that open so it can curve over the nose and chin. Add a loop or a tie at each side.
  • A walking frame Four legs, a rail across the front and two handgrips. The common kind has a wheel on each front leg.
  • A wheelchair, side on Two large wheels at the back, two small caster wheels at the front, a seat between them and footrests.
  • An ambulance, side on A van with a boxy back, a bar of lights on the roof and a wide stripe along the side. Add the rear step.
  • An arm in a cast, covered in doodles A stiff sleeve from the knuckles to below the elbow. Fill it with small drawings and signed names.
  • An operating-room lamp A wide round lamp on a jointed arm from the ceiling, with many small lights set in its face.
  • An X-ray of a hand on a light box Draw the bones pale on black. The first medical X-ray, taken in 1895, showed a hand wearing a ring.
  • The front of an ambulance with its name in mirror writing Many spell the word in reverse on the front, so a driver ahead reads it the right way in the rear-view mirror.

First aid and pharmacy 14

  • A blister pack with two domes pushed flat A flat card with rows of small domes. Flatten two of them and tear the foil behind each.
  • A capsule made of two halves Two rounded shells, one pushed a little way into the other. Give each half its own color.
  • A hot-water bottle A bottle you fill with hot water and close with a stopper. Draw it flat, with round shoulders and a short neck.
  • A mortar and pestle A thick bowl and a club for crushing and grinding. It stands for the pharmacy, where medicines were once ground.
  • A pill organizer for one week A row of seven small boxes, each with its own lid and a letter for the day. Leave two lids open.
  • A roll of bandage, partly unrolled A short cylinder with a spiral on its end and a tail of cloth running off across the table.
  • A show globe in a pharmacy window A glass vessel of colored liquid, a sign of the pharmacy from the 1600s until the early 1900s. Hang it on chains.
  • A triangular bandage tied as a sling A big triangle of cloth holds the forearm level against the body, its two ends tied in a knot at the neck.
  • An adhesive bandage A strip with rounded ends and a small soft pad in the middle. Dot the strip with tiny air holes.
  • An old drug jar with a waist The albarello, a painted pottery jar for ointments and remedies. Its sides curve inward and a tied cover seals the top.
  • An open first-aid kit A box with a hinged lid, packed in rows: rolls, pads, scissors, tape. The usual sign is a white cross on green.
  • The bowl and snake of the pharmacy A cup on a stem with a snake twined around it: the Bowl of Hygieia, a symbol of pharmacy.
  • The staff with one snake One snake wound around a staff: the Rod of Asclepius, the main symbol of medicine. Two snakes is another staff.
  • Tweezers beside a magnifying glass Tweezers are two thin arms joined at one end, for picking up small things. Draw what the lens enlarges.

How it works

A crutch is a tall narrow A, a collarbone a stretched S, a capsule two rounded shells. These medical things to draw are broken down the same way, from a reflex hammer to the bones of a hand.

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Draw the solid shape before the detail

Medical tools are plain solids. A thermometer is a tube, a kidney dish is a bean inside a bean, a wheelchair is two large circles and two small ones. Block those in lightly, then add the tubing, the tick marks and the screws. Bones work the same way: a thigh bone is a long shaft with a ball at the top and two knobs at the bottom.

Questions and answers

What are easy medical things to draw?

An adhesive bandage, a capsule in two colors, a reflex hammer, a thermometer or a heartbeat line across a screen. Each is one or two plain shapes. Easy, under More filters, holds 23.

How do you draw a stethoscope?

Start with the round chestpiece. Run one tube up from it, split the tube into a Y and end each arm in a small earpiece. Let the tubing curve; it never hangs in a straight line.

What is the medical symbol with a snake?

The Rod of Asclepius: one snake wound around a staff. It is the main symbol of medicine. The winged staff with two snakes is the caduceus, a different symbol that is sometimes used in its place.

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