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
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Posted by Chance Date: Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Categories: Human Anatomy, Notes
Tags: Anatomy, Drawing Skeletons, Flat Bones, Irregular Bones, Knee, Long Bones, Patella, Sesamoid Bones, Short Bones, Skeleton, Types of Bones
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.
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Posted by Chance Date: Monday, November 16, 2009
Categories: Human Anatomy, Notes
Tags: Bones, Drawing Skeletons, Paper, Skeleton, Surface
Drawing Skeletons – Mechanics
Knee Joint
The second of my observation posts on drawing skeletons. Firstly I would like to apologies for the use of blue around this image, in hindsight it really was the wrong choice.
What we have here is the knee Joint where the femur meets the fibula and tibia. What I want to point out here is that the human body is a fine piece of machinery and the skeleton not only provides the framework , but also gives strength and protection for this marvel.
If you look at the curve in the femur at the end and picture what happens when the knee bends, Im sure you will agree it is a fine piece of design. Now also consider the stresses and forces it has to put up with.
Bones aren’t there for the sake of it, and I think when drawing skeletons It is important to understand what motions are involved , what stresses and forces are involved, whats its relation to other nearby bones and understand especially the limitations.
The drawing itself I did with the king of pencils (or pauper of pencils-depending on your view) the HB. I adapted this image from a picture showing the tendons on the knee, as such the shape has suffered slightly, but I hope it is clear enough the point between the femur and tibia.
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Posted by Chance Date: Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Categories: Human Anatomy, Notes
Tags: Anatomy, Bones, Drawing Skeletons, Femur, Fibula, HB, Knee, Leg, Mechanics, One Pencil, Skeleton, Tibia
Drawing Skeletons – Curves
Fifth Metarcarpal Left hand
I noticed a lot of the traffic for my site comes from the search terms “how to draw skeletons” and variants around that.
To hopefully make this site a bit more useful, I thought I would start to put up some posts on a few observations I have made along the way about drawing anatomy.
To the left is the fifth metarcarpal left. Or to you and me, the lower part of your small finger on your left hand. There is an earlier sketch I did on the bones of the hand here , which has the position of the metarcparl marked.
One of the things I have noticed about bones, is they always have gracious curves. I decided to draw this bone, by simply flicking onto a random page in my anatomy book and I would put money on it that I could prove my point about curves with any of the bones in the human body.
Also, important to note is symmetry here as well never is the curve on one side, the same as the other, there are always subtle or not so subtle differences.
I think there is a temptation when drawing bones, to go the cartoon root and draw , two parallel lines with 3/4 of an 8 shape at either end. So a point to bear in mind is to think of the sides in curves.
The sketch to the left was done with a 4b, 2B and a @H to give it the texture.
To also justify my “gracious curves” statement, take a look at the hyperbola and Neiles parabola here , both of which I would call damn ugly curves ;- )
