After anatomic illustration, surgical illustration may very well be the second oldest form of medical illustration, but is also inextricably linked to human anatomy. Surgeons know the anatomy of the region of the body related to their specialty even better than tenured university anatomists, considering the multitude of times they dissect their anatomic area, coupled with the number of anatomic variations encountered during a long career. Do you want to understand the anatomy of the skull base? Ask a skull base surgeon with 20 years experience rather than a published anatomist. The art of surgery is ever evolving as new understanding is gained and technology advances. As in centuries before, medical illustrators are there to help disseminate new knowledge.