Archive for November, 2009

Ossicles – Incus

Lateral View of the Incus

AKA the Anvil. Unlike the Yves Tanguy Stapes and the Jaws like Malleus who have been quite camera shy, finding images of the incus has not been a problem at all.

In fact I have decided, it is the Lindsay Lohan of the Middle ear.  My drawing is a composite from diagrams from my anatomy booka and the photographs I came across on the web.

One of the nice things about the photos, I was able to get a lot clearer idea of the surface. One of the sites I came across was the Otolaryngology Houston Texas website which has some great pictures (ironically there are pictures of the stapes and malleus there as well, but did not come across this site when I was searching for those terms)

Just a note on doing the composite drawings,  is I am aware of getting something horribly wrong which is where being able to refer to diagrams in my anatomy books help. But I have noticed that a lot of anatomy illustrations will tend to stress a certain part of the picture to fit the context of the article or topic they are discussing. It is subtle but I think it is something you need to be aware of.

I dis start this drawing with a 3B just to see what difference that would make, but quickly abandoned the pencil – it seems superfluos and doesn’t really add anything, so I was back to the usual set of 6B, 2B, B and 4H.  I was also using the 135gsm paper again which I am getting more used to blending on.   With the extending blending properties of the heavier paper, I have come across a negative;  it is more vital to keep finger grease off the drawing and along the short process if you zoom in , you may see how I found that out.

Related Posts:

• The Ossicles
• Ossicles – Malleus
• Ossicles – Stapes

Drawing Skeletons – Types of Bones

The Patella - Knee Cap

Fourth entry  in my observation posts about drawing skeletons and this time, taking  a look at the different types of bones in the human body. There are five classification of bones used and they are;

Long Bones

Exactly as you would imagine, these are the bones such as the Femur and and Tibia* but also include smaller bones such as the phalanges.  It looks like the official explanation is, a bone having a body longer that it is wide. So think more shape  than size.

Short Bones

Defined as being approximately wide as they are tall and have the primary function of providing support and strength. Examples of short bones are the Carpals and Tarsals which you would find in the hand and foot respectively.

Flat Bones

These are the bones which act as armored plates to protect vital organs, such as the cranium bones or provide a large surface for muscle attachment.

Irregular Bones

The “Get out Of Jail”card, for bones that can not be described in any of the other categories such as the Verterbrae and thorax

Sesamoid Bones

These are bones that are found where a tendon passes over a joint such as the Patella which is pictured  and is also known as the Knee Cap. They  provide protection for the tendon and also aide in the mechanics of movement.

The drawing was done with a 6B, 4B, 2B and a 4H , the 4B was used as an attempt to get a more lighter covering than the 6B across the surface.  on the subject of shading I would recommend reading the tutorials over at Dueys Drawing . He raises several good points and considerations ,and another interesting thing about his site is you can see his work in 2004 and compare it to his work now – well worth checking out.

* will update with better image soon

Related Posts:

• Drawing Skeletons – Mechanics
• Drawing Skeletons – Curves
• Drawing Skeletons – Surfaces

Blind Sketch #6

Blind sketch #6

Noooo! the right arm fell of my Manikin as I went to draw it this morning. It has served us well and may it rest in peace.

One thing I would like to use this space to say, is I have been reading quite a few drawing blogs recently. Both people who are learning to draw and people giving out instruction. There seems to be an awful lot made of this blind sketching and as it reads, a lot of it seems pseudo science.

Reason I do it , as with any other warm up excercise is to loosen up the hand a bit before diving into a drawing and the other thing is trying to improve hand eye co-ordination and that’s it.

Some of these posts that go on 400 words about right hand side of the brain malarkey etc , just seems to be nonsense and making something more complex than It actually is.  The sad thing is, I have read blog posts from people drawing that they are worried they are not engaging there right brains enough, I kid thee not.

Blind Sketching  = Loosen up hand , improve eye hand co-ordination – thats it.

My two pence.

Related Posts:

• Blind Sketch #7
• Blind Sketch #5
• Blind Sketch #4

Ossicles – Malleus

The Malleus

Following on from the Stapes, here is the Malleus which is the latin for Hammer.

I wasn’t going to draw it from this angle, but was watching Jaws the other night and – well …

Again had the same problems as drawing the stapes, I can’t work out quite what is happening below the manubrium. My main source for this picture was one of the 19th century Grays Anatomy illustrations from wikipedia.

I am not to keen on using these as sources, as they are more technical illustration than drawing, which the artist would of probably spent six months drawing doric columns before being allowed to study anatomy and then only under strict conditions and with a defined set of rules and guidelines.

Fair credit to them, I would not have the patience to put in half the detail they put into those illustrations.

Related Posts:

• The Ossicles
• Ossicles – Incus
• Ossicles – Stapes

Drawing Skeletons – Surfaces

Bone Surface

This is my third observation post about drawing skeletons , this may well be a two part’er as I was reading a very interesting article about the surface of bones, but there is a formatting error in it, which could essentially split the topic. So watch this space!

Bone is continuously growing or being reshaped right up to the point of which we die. A lot of these changes happen on the surface and their is constant deposition and resorption occuring(building up and hollowing out respectively)

There are also blood vesels, nerves, ligaments etc running along side of the bone who leave their marks, in the forms of canals and grooves. Another point as well, is the forces the bone is experiencing will also leave it marks on the surface.

On top of that, evidence of past fractures and breaks will be present along with any signs of malnutrition,  scurvy and a host of other things.

The drawing itself was done with what I’m beginning to narrowly whittle down from trial and error; a 6B, 2B, B and a 4H set .

Following on from my comments on my scalp post about paper, I happened to have an A5 220gsm Catridge Pad lying around, and whilst not keen on the size, there is a huge noticeable difference in being able to blend the pencil. I may in my new found appreciation, been a bit over enthusiastic in the tones here, but  I think an A4 pad is on the shopping list along with a Mechanical 2B pencil, so I can work finer detail.

Related Posts:

• Drawing Skeletons – Mechanics
• Drawing Skeletons – Curves
• Drawing Skeletons – Types of Bones