This article was taken from the September 2012 issue of Wired magazine. Be the first to read Wired's articles in print before they're posted online, and get your hands on loads of additional content by subscribing online.
This fluorescent close-up of caffeine was taken in July 2011 by microscopist David McCarthy at the University College London School of Pharmacy, and is one of the
Wellcome Image award winners 2012. It shows a caffeine crystal about 40 micrometres across. Multimedia artist Annie Cavanagh painted in the original greyscale image using Photoshop. "I chose stimulating colours because of the nature of caffeine," she says. "This image took me a day-and-a-half to complete."
When she started working at UCL, she was fascinated by the sharp, hyper-realistic microscope imagery.
Because there are no accepted colours for these micro-scale objects, "it opened up an unlimited range of artistic possibilities," she says. To tint such pictures, she first removes the monochrome background. "Then I paint the image like a watercolour, blending and shading layers of colours." she says.
Little wonder then, that this image created such a buzz.
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This article was originally published by WIRED UK
