[Liser Studios]

hello,
i've been working on my anatomy... learning the bone structure and all that. i'm starting out with the skull... here's some drawings i've done over the last few days. does anyone see anything wrong that i need to fix? I'm hoping I'm understanding the structure better than before (well, i didn't understand at all before, so i had to have gotten a little better at least.)

[IMG]http://home.domaindlx.com/liserstudios/anatomy_skull.jpg{/IMG]

{IMG]http://home.domaindlx.com/liserstudios/anatomy_skull3.jpg[/IMG]

[horstenpeter]

I don't see any errors, but then again I am by no means an authority on anatomy. Just keep going, anatomy helps so much.....

[Radiater]

Well, you sort of have the basic proportions of the skull. But, to be brutally honest, there's so little detail in your pictures, that critiquing your anatomy is not really possible.

Some general things about your skull:

The Maxilla does not extend down far enough.
The Superciliary ridges are usually much more prominent.
The Zygomatic arch is thinner. As well, the angle where it turns upward to join the frontal bone is more acute (closer to a right angle).
You've illustrated the suture of the zygomatic bone to the temporal bone - but no others. What makes the skull interesting is the many suture lines it has.
The vomer is missing in the nasal passages.

If you really want to draw skull anatomy, then you need to get a textbook, or a skull to draw from.

[Liser Studios]

thanks for the C&C
i'll read my book (atlas of human anatomy for the artist) more in depth, instead of just copying the basic drawings. at least i have the basic proportions... now i can start learning the little details, i suppose.
for instance, i don't remember what the superciliary arch is or the vomer in the nasal bone. i'll look in depth more tomorrow (i study it each day in my hour long study hall) so expect more skulls up by about wed. or so, i think.

[spooge demon]

"...never look at forms in extent but in depth. Never consider a surface except as the end of a volume, and the more or less broad point which it directs towards you."

Rodin.

What he means is don't look at just the shapes, but what is going on in the interior of the shapes. Silhouette can carry a huge amount of info, yes, but it is not a good way to progress with seeing and drawing. later, ok.

Are you learning to draw or are you learning the forms of the skull? They are almost the same thing. Learn the form so you can draw them from any angle from your head, then you have learned them. Start with the most basic conception of the skull, a sphere with a boxier form crashed into the front of it, and place the secondary forms on that. But draw the basic forms precisely, not loosely. Keep your mind in the 3-d realm, not in shapes. In the end, your mind must go back and forth many times a second between seeing the shape and thinking about the form.

sculpting is one of the best ways to learn the form. Also, if you can dig up plaster life casts, that is better than a model, as local value and color variations do not confuse you, it does not move, get tired, etc.

I am sorry if this does not make sense right now. I have tried to write as clearly as I can, but it is hard to say with words. It will make more sense as time goes on.

Radiater, aren't you in the medical profession, I seem to remember?

[Liser Studios]

hey spooge, thanks for your reply. and i do understand. it's easier to see something right in front of you on a 3d plane instead of a drawing on a 2d plane.

i'm trying to learn the actual form of the skulls. None of these pics are from direct references... I try to do just a random angle, and use various references to look at where everything is placed, and how it works, and i try to think in my head how it would look at the angle i'm drawing it at.

i'm going to ask my art teacher if I can sculpt, even though it's not for actual projects in the class. I'm not counting on it though. The materials come out of his pocket, we don't get along very well, and he has classes that are just sculpting; BUT as of today he's letting me use his life sized skeleton for study. Which seems to be a lot better than trying to just look at other people's drawings, I think.
thanks for your reply. i'm gonna ask my teacher tomorrow about sculpting

[Radiater]

Hey Liser,

I'm glad to hear that you will now have access to a skeleton. Having a skeleton in front of you for reference can give you the benefits normally found in life drawing. You can do really quick drawings - where you concentrate on getting the form. Or, you can do longer detailed studies where you go in depth into the details of the subject. , Like Spooge pointed out, the end result is that you "learn the forms so you can draw them from any angle from your head."

A good understanding of skeletal anatomy will help when it comes time to draw the rest of the human form (ie. what is the muscle and skin built on).

Anyway, the Superciliary arch is a prominent area on the forehead where your eyebrow would sit. The Vomer is the piece of bone that devides the nasal pasagage in half. My apologies for getting technical.

Radiater.

Spooge - I had to read your post a couple of times to truely understand what you're saying, but it makes enormous sense. I know I often find myself bogged down by detail before I've got the shape down. I'll have to try and keep it in mind for the future. Thanks.

And yes, I'm a Medical Radiographer (aka. an x-ray tech.) Bones and skeletal anatomy are a big part of what I do for a living.

[ January 29, 2002: Message edited by: Radiater ]