Posts Tagged ‘Skeleton’

Megaloceros Giganteus #2

I had one mission in mind when I went to the Leeds City museum, and that was to have another go at drawing the Megaloceros. My orginal sketch from February 2009 is here

It’s interesting rereading the commentary from where I drew it first time round. Where last time I was concerned about proportions, this time  I was far more concerned about the light. The lighting in the room is extremely unnatural – not that you expect to see giant skeletal Megalocerous running around in daylight of course.

The museum lights do throw shadows, which in turn effect the shape of the skull which I found distracting when trying to define the shape. I do feel, I have done far more justice to his jaw this time around, though I do feel I have cheated him on his teeth.

Also of note, where I mentioned in my drawing of the cranial nerves about the cheap pad I used that was extremely smudgy. I actually deliberately used this pad for this drawing, to use that “smudginess” to my advantage.

Related Posts:

• Megaloceros giganteus
• Speed Sketch #5
• Posterior View of the Cranial Nerves

Lateral View (Third Right Digit)

Firstly, I knew in my last post, that I mentioned that I would be moving on to the eyes. However, I noticed that it is coming up to a year since I started this blog, and I thought I would spend the next few drawings, redoing some of the subjects I did last year, so I can see if i have made any improvement.

First up, is last year I did a skectch of the tendons on a finger.

Click here for the orignal (short!) post

A few things, firstly I have long given up on colour pencils – dont like them, also I can see in the lines in the original drawing , where I haven’t been confident  which results in that squiggly edge. Shading has been done for shading sake. There is not much thought gone into actual shape.

That’s not to say my latest drawing isn’t error free. I made a school boy error from the Vincula Brevia upwards. It took us a while to figure it, but what I did, was instead of drawing what was there, I drew what I knew.

The angle of the original, had been taken looking down.  You can probabnly see where I have drawn the nail with it curving at one perspective before changing it to try and correct the perspective.

Due to the size I was working on, I didn’t have enough room to really correct it properly, as you can see the middle phalanx bone is somewhat darker than the rest of them. Finally, all distal phalanx bones are not created equal, I wanted to draw it more to what I thought it should look like, than what it was.

One thing I am pleased with, is before starting I decided on what pencils I was going to use for certain areas straight from the start.

Tendons Dark  - 2B, HB

Tendons Light – H, 2H

Bone – 2B, 4B

Edging – B

which I’m pleased I did, as I didn’t end up with the situation I had when drawing the Ossicles.

To end, where  I mentioned in my last post about the black smudgy paper I used, this also left a big black smudgy mess on my scanner.

Related Posts:

• Finger Tendons
• Drawing Skeletons – Curves
• Drawing Skeletons – Surfaces

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

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

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.

Related Posts:

• Drawing Skeletons – Types of Bones
• Drawing Skeletons – Curves
• Ulna Radial Notch