Human Anatomy And The Friendly Neighborhood Skull Model

I am currently in tech for Stuart Little at Adventure Theatre, so have not had much time to have a pencil or brush in my hand this week. But I did spend a little time this morning with my sketchbook in the company of my friendly neighborhood human skull model.

Friendly Neighborhood Skull Model

Graphite on paper.

I have done a couple of sketches of my friend here, and I have discovered that whenever I devote significant time to contemplate it* I spend the rest of the day examining people's faces and trying to see the underlying structure. Of course you can't say to your friends "I am not looking at your face, I am seeing your skull."

I am currently reading Michelangelo: A Life In Six Masterpieces by Miles J. Unger. Early in the book he writes about the dissections of human cadavers that both Michelangelo and Leonardo performed. That exposure to human anatomy profoundly informed their drawings of the human form, allowing them both to produce figures of startling expressiveness. My experiences in studying the human figure over the past nine months or so have given me a whole new appreciation for the need to have that grounding, although I think I will use secondary sources and avoid the charnel houses.

The other thing I am focused on is lots of drawings of spheres, cones, cylinders, cubes, boxes and pyramids, all on different valued backgrounds in varying lighting conditions. And while it may sound tedious (and it sometimes is), it is challenging and will ultimately be useful. At least that is what I keep telling myself.

Than there is the painting I cannot seem to finish, but that is a tale for another time.

Peace in yer crease.

* I have so far managed to avoid doing this dressed all in black. And I have not named my skull Yorick. Yet.