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The human skeleton consists of two basic parts—the axial
skeleton and the appendicular skeleton. The axial skeleton is
the group of bones that forms the central axis of the body; its
primary function is to support and protect the internal organs.
The bones of the axial skeleton include the cranium, the bones
of the vertebral column (including the sacrum and coccyx),
and the rib cage.
The appendicular skeleton is the group of bones forming the
appendages of the body (upper and lower limbs), including
the shoulder girdle and pelvic girdle. The primary functions
of the appendicular skeleton are to support and move the axial
skeleton and to allow movement of the limbs. Appendicular
BASIC BONES OF THE SKELETON, ANTERIOR VIEW
BASIC BONES OF THE SKELETON, POSTERIOR VIEW
The Main Bones of the Human Figure
ULNA
ULNA
CRANIUM
HUMERUS
RADIUS
CERVICAL VERTEBRAE
When drawing the human figure, artists look for various surface landmarks. These can be soft surface forms, such as muscles,
BONY LANDMARKS OF THE SKELETON, ANTERIOR VIEW
BONY LANDMARKS OF THE SKELETON, POSTERIOR VIEW
Bony Landmarks
CRANIUM
RADIUS
tendons, ligaments, and fatty tissue, or hard surface forms,
which are places where evidence of the skeleton can be seen on
the surface of the body. Hard surface forms are also known as
bony landmarks—parts of bones (ridges, bumps, depressions)
that are positioned close to the skin, creating visual landmarks
on the surface form.
The drawings below provide a general guide to where the
main bony landmarks are, as seen from both the anterior
and posterior views. Whether you can see these skeletal
clues on a live model will depend on both the pose and
the model’s body type. On some figures, fatty tissue may
obscure much of the evidence of the bones, while on leaner
figures it will be easier to see bone definition at several
places on their bodies.
bones include the humerus, ulna, and radius of the upper
limbs; the femur, tibia, and fibula of the lower limbs; the bones
of the hands and feet; the scapula and clavicle; and the two
hip bones (os coxae) of the pelvis.
The two drawings opposite show the basic bones and their
locations, as seen from both anterior (front) and posterior
(back) views of the figure. Learning the placement of the
bones will help you identify the bony landmarks you may
see as a live model takes various poses.
HUMERUS
CERVICAL VERTEBRAE
CLAVICLE
CLAVICLE
SCAPULA
SCAPULA
STERNUM
HUMERUS
RIB CAGE
THORACIC
VERTEBRAE
HUMERUS
ULNA
LUMBAR VERTEBRAE
LUMBAR VERTEBRAE
RADIUS
PELVIS
CARPALS
ULNA
SACRUM
PELVIS
RADIUS
CARPALS
METACARPALS
PHALANGES
MANDIBLE
(LOWER JAW)
ACROMION
PROCESS (TIP OF
SHOULDER)
PHALANGES
FEMUR
LATERAL (OUTER)
EPICONDYLE OF
HUMERUS
ZYGOMATIC ARCH/BONE
(CHEEKBONES)
NASAL BONE
MANDIBLE (LOWER JAW)
CLAVICLE (COLLARBONE)
STERNUM (BREASTBONE)
THORACIC ARCH
(RIB CAGE ARCH)
MEDIAL (INNER)
EPICONDYLE OF
HUMERUS
LATERAL (OUTER)
EPICONDYLE OF
HUMERUS
ILIAC
CREST
OF PELVIS
MEDIAL (INNER)
EPICONDYLE OF
HUMERUS
ASIS
STYLOID
PROCESS OF
RADIUS
ACROMION PROCESS
(TIP OF SHOULDER)
METACARPAL
OF THUMB
GREATER
TROCHANTER
OF FEMUR
MEDIAL CONDYLE OF FEMUR
FIBULA
HEAD OF
ULNA
ILIAC
CREST
PSIS
SACRUM
PHALANGES
OF FINGERS
(FINGER BONES)
PATELLA (KNEECAP)
ANTERIOR BORDER
OF TIBIA
LATERAL MALLEOLUS
(OUTER ANKLE)
HEAD OF FIBULA
LATERAL MALLEOLUS
(OUTER ANKLE)
CALCANEUS
(HEEL BONE)
METACARPAL
HEADS
(KNUCKLES)
PHALANGES
OF FINGERS
(FINGER BONES)
MEDIAL CONDYLE
OF TIBIA
MEDIAL MALLEOLUS
(INNER ANKLE)
TALUS
METATARSALS
CARPAL BONES
(WRIST BONES)
LATERAL AND MEDIAL
CONDYLE OF FEMUR
FIBULA
TARSALS
STYLOID PROCESS
OF RADIUS
METACARPALS
TIBIAL TUBEROSITY
MEDIAL MALLEOLUS
(INNER ANKLE)
OLECRANON
PROCESS
OF ULNA (ELBOW)
GREATER
TROCHANTER
HEAD OF FIBULA
TIBIA
MEDIAL (INNER)
EPICONDYLE OF
HUMERUS
LATERAL (OUTER)
EPICONDYLE
OF HUMERUS
LATERAL CONDYLE OF FEMUR
TIBIA
VERTEBRAL BORDER
OF SCAPULA
(INNER EDGE OF
SHOULDER BLADE)
SPINOUS PROCESSES
OF VERTEBRAE
POSTERIOR
BORDER
OF ULNA
SEVENTH CERVICAL VERTEBRA
(NECK VERTEBRA)
SPINE OF SCAPULA
METACARPAL
BONES
METACARPAL
OF THUMB
HEAD
OF ULNA
PATELLA
CRANIUM MASS
(IF THERE IS NO HAIR)
GREATER TUBERCLE
OF HUMERUS
STYLOID
PROCESS OF
RADIUS
METACARPALS
FEMUR
ZYGOMATIC
ARCH/BONE
(CHEEKBONES)
FRONTAL BONE
(FOREHEAD)
FIRST METATARSAL
CALCANEUS (HEEL BONE)
BASE (TUBEROSITY)
OF FIFTH METATARSAL
PHALANGES
6
Classic Human Anatomy in Motion
Bones and Surface Landmarks 7
PORTRAIT STUDY OF CLAUDIO, WITH HEAD TURNED
STUDY OF A HAND, SHOWING TENDONS
STUDY OF FEET
TENDONS OF EXTENSOR DIGITORUM MUSCLE
ACHILLES TENDON
PIP JOINTS
LATERAL
MALLEOLUS
(OUTER ANKLE
BONE)
CALCANEUS
(HEEL)
HEAD OF ULNA
MCP JOINTS
(KNUCKLES)
LATERAL MUSCULAR
RIDGE OF FOOT
Sanguine and brown pastel pencils, charcoal,
and white chalk on toned paper.
Graphite pencil, ballpoint pen, colored pencil,
and white chalk on toned paper.
STUDY OF A TIGHTLY CLENCHED FIST
STUDY OF THE BACK OF THE LEGS
MCP JOINTS (KNUCKLES)
STERNOCLEIDOMASTOID
PIP JOINTS
TENDON OF
BICEPS FEMORIS
THYROID CARTILAGE
(ADAM’S APPLE)
HAMSTRING MUSCLE
GROUP
(SEMITENDINOSUS,
SEMIMEMBRANOSUS,
BICEPS FEMORIS)
POSTERIOR TRIANGLE
TENDON OF
BICEPS FEMORIS
TENDONS OF
SEMITENDINOSUS
AND
SEMIMEMBRANOSUS
THENAR
MUSCLE GROUP
POPLITEAL
FOSSA
FAT PAD
GASTROCNEMIUS
TRAPEZIUS
POPLITEAL
FOSSA
HOLLOW
HYPOTHENAR
MUSCLE GROUP
CLAVICLE
ACHILLES TENDON
TENDONS OF
FLEXOR MUSCLES
OF LOWER ARM
TENDONS OF STERNAL HEAD (STERNOCLEIDOMASTOID)
Sanguine and brown pastel pencils and white chalk on toned paper.
74
Classic Human Anatomy in Motion
Sanguine and brown pastel pencils, charcoal,
and white chalk on toned paper.
Charcoal pencil, sanguine and brown pastel pencils,
and white chalk on toned paper.
Muscle and Tendon Characteristics
75
Method #4: The Organic
Line Approach
Poses of 1 to 2 minutes
In the organic line approach to gesture drawing, you lay down
your lines in a flowing, loose manner, but more selectively
than in the searching line approach. If you wish, you can
use different values (light and dark lines) to accentuate the
rhythm of forms, to convey tension, or to show that forms
are advancing or receding—though in a highly edited way.
Very often, the lines in an organic-line gesture drawing have
a calligraphic quality, changing from thick to thin or dark to
light in a single stroke. You can also add tones to your drawing. Charcoal, Conté crayons, graphite pencils, and colored
GESTURE DRAWING OF A FIGURE
IN A CONTRAPPOSTO POSE
GESTURE STUDY OF TWO MALE
FIGURES IN DANCE POSES
Organic line approach
Organic line approach
Black crayon on newsprint.
Black Conté crayon on newsprint.
224 Classic Human Anatomy in Motion
pencils are all suitable for this approach, as are calligraphy
pens that can produce both thick and thin strokes.
The organic line approach is great for relatively short
poses—1 to 2 minutes. When doing an organic line study,
look for any interesting tilting or twisting action within the
pose that you can exaggerate to create greater dynamic tension. You may emphasize certain anatomical forms, but draw
them rapidly because of the time constraint.
2-MINUTE STUDIES OF ACTION POSES
Organic line approach
Black Conté crayon on newsprint.
Gesture and Action Drawing
225
When beginning to study the gait cycle, it’s easier to focus
on just one leg. The drawing below emphasizes the stance
and swing phases of the right leg—referred to, technically,
as the right stance phase and the right swing phase. The small
footprints show where on the sole of the foot the weight of the
body is concentrated during the heel strike and toe-off.
As the right leg moves through the gait cycle, so does
the left leg, with the phases in reverse order. At one point
during the stride, both feet are touching the ground—a
stage known as double support. (This does not occur in the
running gait cycle.)
The arms tend to swing in opposition to the swing of the
legs: When the right leg swings forward, the right arm moves
back, and when the left leg swings forward, the left arm moves
back. In ordinary walking, arms are generally held in a relaxed
position; in a “power walk,” however, the arms are intentionally bent at the elbow and pump like pistons during the stride.
The drawing at bottom is a simple study of a basic walking
movement. I based this study on a video, pressing the pause button at sequential stages and drawing the figure from these key
frames. I roughed in the figures using a basic manikin structure,
then replayed the video, adding more visual information.
GAIT CYCLE—WALKING
The Running Gait Cycle
Like the walking gait cycle, the running gait cycle has two
phases: stance phase and swing phase. One big difference from
the walking cycle, however, occurs in the swing phase of the
running cycle when at one point both feet are off the ground—
the flight phase (a subphase within the swing phase).
To practice depicting running, you can study videos of
people on treadmills or running along a track and freeze
various frames to sketch the basic positions. As you study,
you will see subtle differences between different runners.
Some people run with their torsos upright, some lean slightly
forward, and others—especially sprinters—have a strong
diagonal tilt. Runners’ arms generally move like pumping
pistons, with the elbows held close to the torso, though some
people keep their arms more relaxed and loose. Joggers’
hands are usually relaxed and slightly cupped, but sprinters
generally clench their hands into fists. Some runner-athletes
are trained to flex the knee so far that the heel almost hits
the glutes (“heel to butt”), while other runners do not lift the
foot nearly so dramatically. A runner’s foot usually lands on
the ball of the foot or the mid-foot, although some runners
land on the heel. Strides also vary in length, depending on
the individual and the speed of the run: Some runners have
strides so long they look like leaps, while others have shorter,
more compact strides.
I have purposely kept the running movements depicted here
very simple. They’re just your first step toward understanding the principles of running—how the figure’s weight shifts
during the running gait, how the legs and arms alternate,
and so on. The drawing below shows a simple breakdown of a
manikin figure running one complete gait cycle; the right leg
is emphasized. The stance and swing phases are identified, as
are the foot strike, foot flat, mid-stance, toe-off (acceleration),
flight, mid-swing, and foot descent (deceleration) stages.
GAIT CYCLE—RUNNING
HEEL STRIKE
FOOT FLAT
MID-STANCE
TOE-OFF
MID-SWING
Stance phase
HEEL STRIKE
Swing phase
STUDY OF A WALKING GAIT CYCLE
FOOT STRIKE
FOOT FLAT
MID-STANCE
Stance phase
HEEL STRIKE
FOOT FLAT MID-STANCE
HEEL-OFF
TOE-OFF
Focusing on the right leg
270 Classic Human Anatomy in Motion
EARLY SWING
(ACCELERATION)
MID-SWING
LATE SWING
(DECELERATION)
TOE-OFF (ACCELERATION)
FLIGHT PHASE
Swing phase
MID-SWING
FLIGHT PHASE
FOOT DESCENT (DECELERATION)
Sequential Movement
271
CLASSI
CHUMANANATOMYI
NMOTI
ON