Position, Locations
First we need to understand basic positions and locations on the human body. Anatomically we refer to these positions as Anterior, Posterior, Medial and Lateral. Anterior is the front, and Posterior is the back. Medial refers to the location closer to the centre vertical line of the body, where as Lateral is further away from the centre line, more towards the outside. These terms can be used for the position and locations of the whole body, muscles, or bones. There are more but these are the basics.
We can also locate particular positions on a bone or muscle. (Image below) On the left image bellow we can see the Upper arm bone (Humerus) it has a beginning position (Proximal) end position (Distal) Inner position (Medial) and a outer position (Lateral), Higher position (Superior), Lower position (Inferior) By this we can be quite specific so instead of saying "At the top of my upper arm bone" we can say "The Proximal Humerus" but we dont want to get bogged down with names too much, this gives you a idea only and demystifies what may seem overly complex naming.
Rib cage Anterior View:
The Rib Cage consist of Bone, and Costal Cartilage, in which the a part of Costal Cartilage forms what looks like a upside down V shape, this is referred to as the Thoracic Arch. There are 12 ribs each side of the Rib Cage, 24 in total, which connect to the 12 Thoracic spines of the back. Each 12 Ribs are are put into three groups called True, False, and Floating ribs. The first 5 ribs are called True Ribs, and are so named as they have their own individual origin and insertions points, that being from the spine around to the Sternum. Part of the Sternum is the Manubrium. The shape of the Manubrium and Sternum together can be likened as a tie that you would ware with a suit.
The False rubs are a set of 5 ribs which are so named because they share part of the same cartilage which joins to the Sternum. The Costal Cartilage is somewhat like the tough glue that joins bone to bone, and is rather flexible, and very strong.
The floating ribs only consist of 2 ribs each side from the total 12, and are named due to the fact that they float freely from their origin of the spine. They only travel Anterialy about half way under the False ribs, lateral (Side) view.
The main surface forms we see from the Anterior Thoracic region are 6th, 7th, and 8th ribs, this being the first, second and third false ribs. Particularly on leaner people we see most if not all the Thoracic Arch which is made from Costal Cartilage at the medial border edge of the False ribs. The True ribs are normally hidden beneath the breast or pectorals muscles with the 5th in line with the bottom of the pectoral muscles.
The 7th Rib stands out that has the furthest peek point of the ribs when viewed laterally (from side of body)
Other than the 2nd of the True ribs across the medial border of the upper chest, no other true ribs are seen anteriorly unless in extremely lean people. The angle of 60 degrees for the Thoracic arch is found on Females, while for the Male its closer to 90 degrees.
Artist application:
The 5th rib sits in line, or just bellow the Pectoralis muscle (Pecs/chest muscles) The 6th, 7th,8th ribs are mainly seen with the 7th furthest out from a Anterior profile view. Only a small percentage of the Thoracic arch is seen on the average person. Often your see Striations or grooves between muscles but are normally randomly placed by artist that dont understand why they are there, however there is a Striation between the Manubrium and Sternum as these where once two bones that fused together. Ribs starts tapper off at a angle the further you go down. Women have a narrower Thoracic arch than men. There is a slight plane change between the Manubrium and the sternum. Plane changes are essencial to understand as this is what creates shadows, and shadows create contrast, contrast makes art pop, and look interesting.
Shoulder Girdle:
The Clavicle is a very visible bone, and forms a handle bar like shape when viewed from above. It articulates with a bone at the end of the shoulder blade,( Scapular) called the Acromion Process, Ligaments are what connects two bones together, where as Tendons are used to connect bone to muscle. The Acromion process meets at the end of the Clavicle, and becomes a major land mark for the location of the origin for the lateral Deltoid, and origin point for the Spine of the scapular.more on that later. Both the clavicle and Spine of the Scapular are what's made up to be called the Shoulder Girdle, and moves together. (When we raise are upper arm (Humerus) laterally at about 30 degrees the Shoulder Girdle starts to move with it For every 15 degrees of Humerus rotation only 10 degrees of movement goes to the Shoulder Girdle) If you want to keep it simple make sure you start moving the Shoulder girdle from at least 90 degrees onward with the lateral movement of the Humerus, but raising the Shoulder Girdle earlier is recommended for a more realistic movement in animation.
Artistic Application:
Front the front (Anterior) view the Clavicle can appear rather straight, and from above its like a set of handle bars. Its important to know where the clavicle ends on your sculpt otherwise you cant place the Acromium process. Note also that at the distal end of the clavicle there can be seen a slight bump under the skin. From now on such forms under the skin will be referred to as Subcutaneous, or Superficial. The Acromuim process is like a flat piece of bone that comes off the Scapular (Shoulder blade) No matter how fat or muscular a person is, the Acromium Process never gets covered other than by flesh. When you lift your arms up your see how this bony land mark becomes a indentation between the three heads of the shoulder muscles (Deltoids) You must get the Clavicle right as the chest muscles connects to this bone thus if the clavicle is wrong then the placement of the chest muscles will be wrong too.
Right above the Manubrium between the Sternocleidomastoid muscle insertion (Neck muscles), there should be a notch, this is called the Sternal Notch. (More on the muscles later on)
Scapula:
As we have seen the Scapular also know as the Shoulder Blade comes off the posterior corner of the Acromion process, and continues along the Spine of the Scapula with a slight angle down to its distal end meeting the start of the medial border. Its at this distal end where the medial border starts there is tendon that is never covered either by muscle or fat, and thus leaves a slight depression ring like shape, this is more visible on more muscular people (image below). From the Spine of the Scapula there is a sudden vertical plain change which now becomes the Medial border of the Scapula, this continues vertically down the back, not far past the arm pit, more in line with the nipple or lower chest.. The form of the Scapula is triangle like and rotates around the curvature of the rig cage.
The distal end of the Medial border is hardly ever seen other than in extreme positions, such as when the shoulders are pushed back, or on very lean people, other wise is covered with muscle called the (Teres Major) and fat layers, more on that later on .
The Spine:
Posteriorly we now look at the spine and how its processed anatomically into three sections. In the picture below iv highlighted these areas in Green, Blue, and Red. Green is the Cervical section which consist of 7 Cervical vertebrae , and forms the neck region. Take note that on the 7th this vertebrae protrudes much further than the other 6 (red highlight in image), which gives us a district land mark. The Blue area is the Thoracic region which is what we regard as the torso and is associated to the rib cage region. This Thoracic Vertebrae consist of 12 Vertebrae which equals the number for the ribs each side of the rib cage. The Red area is the Lumbar Vertebrae and consist of 5 Vertebrae. These are bigger, stronger than the other two regions of the spine as the most weight is enforced on this area. ( it is a common area in which has problems in later life such as Degenerative Disk Disease, as is prone to Disk bulges, and whats commonly called a slipped disk/Herniated Disk at he L4/L5.) (To abbreviate the naming, instead of saying Thoracic, we simply use the first letter (T) followed by the specific spine for instance T1-T12. We use the same naming convention for the Cervical, Thoracic, and Lumbar spines.)
Pelvis:
The pelvis is so important to understand as this is the link between how the torso and legs connect in which there are so many anchor points from the pelvis that aid the artist. I want to keep this simple, so lets cover some core basics.
Looking at the pelvis from the Anterior view (Front) it resembles the face of Micky mouse. With what looks to be the ears are two bones called the Ilium.
At the border edge of the Ilium is the Pelvic crest, and Anteriorly at the end of the crest is a Bony landmark called the Anterior Superior Iliac Spine., In text books this is often named ASIS for short. This is a point in which certain muscle originate from which your see later on, this is also a land mark which can be superficially seen on the surface of the skin. Here is a good point to stop and look at the naming of this land mark, as this will enable you to appreciate that the anatomical naming is not some random technical nonsense, but has meaning by combining the bones name with the position and location to formulate the name.
(Anterior) as we know is towards the front, and in this case this land mark is located on the front of the pelvis. (Superior) means higher up, or higher position, like your boss. This means that this land make is found higher up, and normally means there is a lower version of itself. (Iliac) is so named because this land mark is on the Ilium, and (Spine) is a protruding piece of bone. There you have it, its quite simple, Anterior Superior Iliac Spine.
Now we know this and look at the image below your also see there is a land mark similar to the ASIS, called the AIIS, that being its the Inferior version of the superior one above it. and this has a muscle connected to this to also.
Below this is the Pubic bone, and is is alignment with another bone that is of great interest to us when working out our proportions..
(Note: When we start to see the muscles attach to all these land marks, you start to really understand why we needed to know them) It can seem a little overwhelming at first, but there is good reason to know this stuff.
Lower down at the bottom of the pelvis we see what looks like two eyes, these are called the Ishium, and are basically your sitting bone. The only time your see this is if naked and on your knees bending forward. Iv seen it so many times where artist sculpt or draw the back side perfectly round in contour, where in fact the Ischium creates a peak point.
I now draw your attention to the Sacrum. From the Anterior view we dont need to know much about it, but from the posterior view we certainly do. Just as there is a bony landmark located at the front of the pelvis the ASIS, there is also one located at the back, I will name it later, for now see if you can work out what its name is called from this abbreviation"PSIS".
The PSIS land mark is located posteriorly off the Iliac crest, and rather than protruding like the ASIS does, it acts as a dimple in the lower back, have a look you have two. No matter how lean or fat you are, your always see this. As in the picture below on the female model your see I have marked the Sacrum in Yellow, but made it into a Triangle shape, but why? For artist we call this the Sacrum Triangle as we can draw a simplified shape as a Triangle, We can draw or sculpt a Triangle between the two land marks, the PSIS dimples. The commonly used term bum crack is called the Gluteal cleft, but you hardly hear anyone call this the correct name .
Artistic Application:
At the moment we have only been looking at the skeletal land marks, but I can tell you that the Pelvis has some major landmarks that not only aid in the Origin for muscles, but aids as a measuring guide to get the length of the legs correct, and the length of the Torso. The Pelvis for the female tilts forward more than the males, this create a deeper arch in the lower back, and thus positions the PSIS higher than the ASIS, which for males are more or less opposite each other. The Scacral Traingle takes a different form for females and instead forms more of a Triangle due the the lower back muscles (Erector Spinae) showing less thickness over the Sacrum than males.
The upper arm bone is called the Humerus, and articulates with a Ball and socket type joint for its vast mobility. It fits into the socket of the Scapula underneath the Acronium process. The Humerus has 3 main points that I want to bring to your attention as these are points in which muscles attach to.
One point is the insertion point for the Deltoid (shoulder muscles) There is a slight rough bump found at the middle lateral side of the Humerus in which the Deltoid muscles inserts to. This is called the Deltoid Tuberocity. (Tuberocities are raised areas of the bone that are specifically for muscle attachment and there are quite a few of these as your see). The second, and third points of interest are found at the distal end of the Humerus. At the distal end of the humerus is the articulation point for the forearm joint, and at either side both medially and laterally are whats called Condyles. (These are polished bones which are articulation points but also in this case are Origin points for the forearm muscles, we called these Epicondyles of the humerus). The the medial one is what we commonly call the Funny bone and is subcutaneous in form, we can see feel this under the skin.
Lower arm:
The lower arm consists of two bones the Ulna, and Radius. With the palm of the hand facing up (Supinated) the Ulna is the forearm bone towards the pinky side, the medial position. The Radius is toward the thumb lateral side.
There are a few things id like to point out here. First the Ulna at its Proximal end is actually what forms the elbow, and rotates around the Epicondyle of the Humerus. The proper name for the Elbow is the Olecranon, and at this end is larger than the distal end in which connects to the hand. The Radius is the opposite in that at the Olecranon (Elbow) end its smaller, and at the distal hand end its larger.
When we turn our hand downwards our forearm has to rotate and it does this by allowing the Radius is cross over the Ulna bone, this is called Pronation. Because this happens, it changes the way the forearm appears between Supinated, and Pronated regarding the muscles as we will see later on.
At the distal end of the Ulna we often see a bump at the wrist, this anatomical bump is called the Styloid Process of the Ulna, and is something that we would want to have in our artwork.
Artistic application:
Understanding where the socket of the Humerus is located aids us in drawing or sculpting the arm from the correct location. Understanding that the Deltoid muscle inserts into the centre later side of the Humerus gets the placement of the Deltoids (shoulder muscles) in the correct location so they dont look either too short, or too long. That little bump found on the wrist is called the Styloid process of the Ulna, and takes the smooth looking transition from the forearm of the wrist away producing a distinctive silhouette.
Hands:
Because this is only a introduction im not going to get too much into depth. The hands for a artist are one of the most gestural forms of the human other than the face. The hands can convey allot about the feelings of a individual such as anger, sadness and a multitude of other emotions.
There are many bones in the hand, and the ones we are more familiar with are the Knuckles and fingers plus the thumb.
The bones of the hand are broken down into sets called Carpals, Metacarpals,Phalanges, Phalanx. Looking first at the Radius, we can see that it is the primary forearm bone that sit to the first set of hand bones called the Carpals. The Carpals are formed by seven bones, and these sit onto the Metacarpals. These Metacarpals are long bones of the back of the hand and form at their distal end the knuckles for each finger. The first is the thumb and the last is the pinky finger.
The Phalanges are a group of bones which are what most would refer to as the fingers. Each individual finger alone is called a Phalanx. The thumb has two Phalanx bones, while 2nd through to 5th Phalanges have three phalanx bones.
Upper leg:
The upper leg is the longest bone in the body and like the arm has a ball socket type joint. The anatomical name for the upper leg is the Femur.
The Femur inserts into the socket of the Pelvis in which the ball is attached to a intended piece of bone. Due to this extension the Femur jets out further than the Ilium of of the pelvis. This point is often refered to as the hip bone, but we called this point the Greater Trochanter. The Grater Trochanter is a very important land mark for us as Artist as it helps us with the location of various muscles.
Because the Femur jets out from the socket its length come down at a angle towards the knee and lower leg and thus forms the hour glass silhouette we refer to on Women. Because women has a wider pelvis to bare children the Greater Trochanter is also at a wider point than a male.
Lower legs:
Like the arms, the lower leg has two bones. The bone that makes up the shin and bares full weight is called the Tibia, and the smaller thinner bone on the lateral side is the Fibular which is much thinner in comparison to the Tibia. The knee cap is called the Patella and sits directly over the distal end of the Femur as a free floating bone held in place by Ligament and tendon.
The Tibia has a sharp ridge at the front which we call the shin, and is wider Posterialy forming a triangle like shape if looking at it on a cross dissection view from above, the Femur has the opposite profile. The Tibia sits on top of the Calcanius bone of the foot. There is a Tuberocity of the Tibia found anterialy below the triangle like shape at its proximal end and is where the ligament is attached to the Patella. (we will look at that later)
The Fibular at its Proximal, lateral end also has a Tuberocity called he Fibular Tuberocity and is a form we see Subcutaneously, often called the head of the Fibular. The the distal end of the Tibia medially is what we called the ankle bone, the Malleolus, and laterally at the distal end of the Fibular is the outer Malleolus. The Medial Malleolus is more larger box like shaped where as the lateral Malleolus is more diamond like shaped.
Artistic Application:
Artistically we look for the location of the Greater Trochanter in which we can find to be in line with the Pubic bone. We know the Greater Trochanter stands out further on females, and is a pivotal point in which other muscles surround, that comes later. The Femurs length slants inwards at a angle, and forms the ankle bone for the side of the lower leg bones. The Fibula has a bony point which is at the head, and becomes a point which some lower leg muscles attach to, as well as being seen beneath the surface of the skin. At the bottom end of the Fibular is the outer ankle bone. The outer ankle bone is positioned lower than the inner ankle bone (Malleolus).
Feet:
The feet are complex to say the least, but are an area that often gets overlooked which is a shame as the feet actually have a great deal of artistic expression in them if done well. This is a rather complex one to cover as parts of the forms of the foot are mainly bone and Tendon and as such Im going to cover the Bones and Tendons now. I look at the muscles of the lower leg later, and I will refer you back to the feet as the lower leg muscles lend their tendons into the feet. I will try to keep it as basic as I can leaving out only things I feel a beginner does not need to know.
Bones of the foot:
Calcaneus:
The calcaneus is the Heel bone.
Navicula:
The Navicula is located on the medial side of the upper foot and shows its form there.
Tarsals:
The Tarsals Consist of 7 bones, the ones of most importance to us is the Talus the bone in which wedges between the Tibia and Fibular and holds the weight of the foot.
Metatarsals:
Meta means Beyond, and in this case these bones are beyond the Tarsals so are named Metatarsals. We count these 5 bones from 1 being the big toe to the 5th being the small toe. One area of significance is the Tuberocity of the 5th Metatarsal. At its proximal (beginning) head it protrudes out, and shapes the form of the lateral foot. (Remember a Tuberocity is a lump on a bone that is a anchor point for a Tendon) Also at the distal end of the 5th metatarsal is the joint for the little toe which also shows its form.
Phalanges:
Phalanges are all the bones that make up the toes. all toes apart from the big toe has 3 bones Proximal, Medial, and Distal just as the hand does. As a group, or individually per toe they are called Phalanx.
Head of the 1st Metatarsal:
This is the ball of the foot, back from the big toe. This is a large form.
Artistic Application:
The Navicula is a bone that protrudes subcutaneously on the Medial (inside) of the foot, and the 5th metatarsal forms the shape of the lateral foot at its mid point. A easy way to find the 5th metatarsal is to visualise it between the back of the heel and the end of the little toe, this will get you close to the 5th metatarsal location.
Each toe in the classical Italian form is like a Chinese fan as it spreads out because the big toe is straight, pointing slightly up at the toe nail and as we go to each toe there after it curls in until we get to the little toe which is tightly curled.
When we see a foot print it indicates the areas which has the most weight on, of which the least weight is on the arch of the foot medialy.
The Foot is around 1 head unit long which would mean if you took the length of your foot as 1 unit and measure twice up your lower leg from the foot, it should arrive around the Patella (knee cap). This is a average of course, and when we learn Anatomy we learn from the Average in which we can then deviate from when needed.
Once we have found the Tuberocity of the 5th Metatarsal we can use this landmark to create a arc to the high point of the foot which is the Navicula. This arc creates a separation between the Tarsals and Metatarsals. This in turn gives us a nice plane change, especially when then foot is either in high heels or Plantar flexed This imaginary arc however goes at a angle to the medial side of the foot which is half way of the overall length of the foot from heel to big toe. (To recap) To find the 5th metatarsal we measure from the end of the little toe to the heel, but to find the arc angle on the medial side,and separation between the Tarsals and Metatasals, we measure from the medial side of the foot the whole length of the foot which places the Navicula just above half the length of the whole foot, Heel to big toe.
The lateral Malleolus (Ankle) can also be used to create a arc from this point which also separates the Tarsals from the Talus. Its at this point if your drawing or sculpting the foot in a Plantar flexed position that your see the head of the Tibia.
The Calcaneus forms a bump at the back of the upper heel, and another bump shows at the base of the foot where the pad fattens under weight. (show lateral heel) There is a Tendon called the Achilles tendon which connects to the Calcaneus bone, this forms a fossa between the Malleolus (Ankle bone) and the heel because there is no muscle between only tendons
Main tendons of the foot:
Extensor Hallucis Longus:
This is the Tendon to your big toe that is visibly seen to come from the middle of the Tibia, dont be too concerned of its origin as we cant see it. Because this is a Extensor it lifts the big toe up. This also gives us a side plane change from this border created by this Tendon.
Extensor Digitorum Longus:
A digitorum is a set of tendons that insert into the digits of the toes or fingers. There are 4 of these non of which goes to the big toe as it has its own tendon.
This tendon can be seen coming in from the left centre of the lower leg and comes from one single muscle then splits into 4 tendons which is why all 4 toes move together and the big toe moves separate.
Tibialis Anterior:
This muscle originates as the name implies, the Anterior (front) portion of the Tiba (lower leg bone), and overlaps the Ext Digitorum Longus, we will look at the muscles later but at the feet this tendon crosses over from the lateral part of the foot to the medial side toward about half way into the arch, and under the foot. This is a large strong tendon that lifts the foot up and inverted as if you going to look at the bottom of your foot arch when you lift your leg up. From the lateral side of the foot this tenon provides a plane change between where the lower leg ends, and the foot starts. (show image) This Tendon and the previous one are the two most dominant tendons and can leave a depression (Fossa) at the ankle between the two.
4:
The Peronius Brevis is seen from the lateral side of the foot and originates from about half way up the Fibular, so shows it self much lower down the leg. This tendon wraps around the lateral Malleolus (Ankle) like a pulley system and inserts into the Tuberocity of the 5th Metatarsal. Its the Tendon that we are concentrating on as this is visible.
Without going into too much depth Around the wrist and ankle there is a sheet like tape called fasciae , and it holds down the tendons, this is why you hardly see the tendons popping out on the back of the wrist, and at the point of articulation of the foot.
The Skull: Basics
The skull is a big subject in of itself, and as such needs its own study and attention. My aim here is to get the beginner up and running of what they really need, but far from complete what is required to produce good heads. What I want to get across here is Planes. Planes dictate how light either highlights a surface, or puts a surface into shadow. In the image below you see iv added Planes that show these angle changes, and have put darker colours which are put into shadow assuming the light is coming from the front and slightly above. If the Artist is not sure what planes are up, down, side, front, then they will tend to never get these planes fully into place and thus loose contrast leaving the image looking flat.
By looking at the image, you should be able to find many more planes such as the upper lip is a down plane, the philtrum between the nose and upper lip has two planes which create the indentation and thus shadows. The lower lip is a up plane, and so on. By knowing this and paying attention to this your planes will be directed by you so you can enhance the contrast where you choose.
Skeletal system conclusion:
This concludes the Skeletal system at its basic essential level for the artist. You dont have to remember all the names, but in trying to do so you create a link in your mind, an association in which eventually will become internalised for its application to art. Every muscle has a origin, and insertion and its the skeleton that provides this. Once you remember this it helps avoiding placing muscles in the totally wrong locations. Some Bony landmarks show through the skin Subcutaneous forms below the skin, this aids in bridging the gap between the smoother forms of the muscles and fat, and more harder forms. Below is a diagram of the bones I have talked about for reference.
Proportions: Introduction.
There are quite a few proportions that the artist needs to know regarding the human body, and many of these require that you at least have a foundation on the skeletal system as some of these refer to bony land marks, hence why I have covered the skeletal system first. Im going to break down the proportions into parts otherwise the illustrations can get cluttered with too much information on them. once we cover the proportions, then we get into the essential muscles, then we will cover some things on morphology.
Head Proportions:
Your find many references to how tall a average human is, and many will say 8 heads tall. The head is a good way to get the average height by using a head as a unit in which to measure the rest of the body. A unit is taken from the highest point of the skull, to the lowest point at the chin. Because a head unit is going to be as our measuring aid, we need to know at least know something about the head and its proportions.
Head Height/Depth
The average height of a male head is 23.9cm. If the Height is split into 8ths, the depth of the head is about 7/8th, so its 1/8th shorter in depth than height, this is if measure from the furthest point out from the skull at the Nasal bone to the back of the Skull. If you include the nose which can vary a huge amount the whole head can fit into a square, but is not always the case. (These guides are only ideals, or averages and help get you a nice base to start from.)
Widest point of face is the cheek bones (Zygomatic bone)
Features: Eyes
Take a Horizontal line between the height of the head to the chin, at the middle is about where the centre of the eye can be found.
The gap between the eyes are 1 eye wide, from the tear duct down will align to the wing of the nose.
Features: Ears
The eye brow bone is a good line to find the top of the Ear, and below the Nose the bottom of the ear. The ears can be anywhere between these two land marks. Male ears are generally larger than females.
Split the depth of the head in half and the Ear should be behind this line.
Features: Mouth
From the corner of the mouth upward aligns with the edge of the Eris, however this varies.
Features: Jaw (Mandible)
The Jaw starts in front of the ear and its angle change is normally in line with the lower lips.
Skull Peaks:
From the side profile with the horizontal and vertical lines through the middle of this imaginary box, at the top right we can spit the box is half again and aids in getting us the peek points of the back and top of skull.
Facial Features:
From the chin to the bottom of nose, taking this as a measuring unit, then from the bottom of nose upward should align to the brow bone, and from brow bone should get you to the Hair line.
Body Proportions:
As mentioned in the outline of this proportions section, the head is used as a unit to measure the body proportions. Using this method im going to show you two canons. One uses the 8 head tall system which is more suited to Men, or super models Women. It fits the height of around 6ft tall and is above the average Female.
For Females I use another canon which is the 7.5 head tall system, Iv found from my measurements this fits more to the average person between 5.5 to 5.8ft tall. The chart below show make this clear.
Iv found its quite common to find that the first 4 heads down are consistent in most people, but where the extra height comes from is mainly from the Upper legs (Femur). The pelvis can add to this also the lower legs, but the Femur is the main difference that changes the height of a person.
There can be up to half a heads height between the chin and Pit of neck. I found this is be quite consistent in my findings despite this seeming way to long for the neck. I tend to keep it a bit shorter, especially for men.
The first head is the main Unit, the second is inline with the nipple, close to the 5th rib. The third to the Navel which should be tween the floating ribs and the Pelvic crest. The forth head down is at the line of the genitalia of the female, and in the middle of the male genitalia. When using the 8 head canon we continue down as there is no real exact point to highlight. The 7.5 head system is different and more average. For this we count 3+ 3/4 heads down which lands on the centre of the body at the Pubic bone, or Greater Trochanter. We then count from the feet upward noting how the second head up is at the articulation point of the Knee. The third is at the upper thigh, and the last 3/4 of the head should land right at the same place when measure down, at the Pubic bone, or Greater Trochanter.
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This is a sculpt I did 2 or so years ago which is using the 7/5 head canon, as you can see this really suits the female quite well.
Muscles Introduction:
The Muscles are the first thing we tend to think of when referring to Anatomy, and more often than not we think of muscular figures. Anatomy to the artist goes way beyond this, we need to think of anatomy in reference to art, not medical science. Now that we have looked at the Skeletal system we should now have a good understanding of the basic structure and proportion of a human body. Now we are going to look at the muscles and how they attached to that Skeletal structure, and more important what forms these muscles make not just by them self, but with each other.
When ever I refer to Origin, I mean its starting point of attachment from a Bone. The Origin is the attachment point in which the muscle has the least movement, and acts more of a anchor point. The Insertion is the opposite end of the muscle in which attaches to another bone which provides the most movement to the muscle. Muscles can contract, stretch, and twist, some are very visible subcutaneously, while others provide volume, or mass to the body. There are Striations at certain points, these are fossa like grooves that are subcutaneous in some cases, and are not there by random.
Im going to try and keep this as simple as possible by grouping together muscles rather than dealing with them individually, this is because many muscle forms are from groups rather than individual muscles, although to the advanced Artist they are very important individually as well.
Thoracic Region: Pectoralis Major
The Muscle: The Pectoralis Major is commonly known as the Chest muscles.
Origin: from from 3 locations 1:Clavicle, 2:Sternum 3: Abdominal section from the Costal Cartilage of the 6th rib.
Insertion: Upper front of the Humerus (Upper Arm bone)
Artistic Application:
Understanding that the entire length of the Pectoralis Major originates from the Sternum from 3 sections, but inserts into close proximity at the top of the Humerus give us the pin point areas in which fill the chest. If we where to view these layers in the order in which they overlap we would start from the bottom up at the 6ths rib showing very little of its mass compared to the other 2 sections. This section inserts at the highest point of the 3 heads following on with the Largest area the Sternal section, then the Clavicular section. This means that the Clavicluar section overlaps all other sections but inserts into the lowest position. If we where sculpting this we could start with the lower part to get the correct overlap, but when the skin is on, this does not matter too much, what does matter is how the mass builds up from these three sections that overlap near the arm pit.
(More images to follow)
Thoracic Region: Serratus Anterior
The Muscle: The Serratus Anterior shows its form as digit like shark teeth that wrap around from the back to about half way around the rib cage on each rib 1-9. Only few are visible, mainly the 6th,7th,8th ribs. Only a small portion of these muscles can been seen both laterally and Anteriorly as the Latissimus Dorsi covers most of these muscles.
Origin: Anterior ribs from 1 to 9.
Insertion: Medial Border of the Scapula
Artistic Application:
The Serratus Anterior is a beautiful muscle that shows its finger like digits around the ribs, We normally only see between 3 to 4 of these, the 6th.7th. and 8th ribs. They interdigitate with the next muscle we are going to look at, the Thoracic region of the External Obluques. From the front view (Anterior) we only see a small part of these muscles and the way to know how much is by drawing a arch from the pit of neck through the nipple towards the outside of the rib cage. This line creates a border in which the Serratus Anterior muscle be contained in (See image below) When viewing the Serratus Anterior with no other muscle covering it, it can look like a fan opened, keeping this in mind tells us that there is a arc as they disappear under the Latissimus Dorsi. We will look at the Latissimus Dorsi later on.
Thoracic Region: External Obliques
The Muscle:
The External Obliques covers a large area and fills the gap between the Serratus Anterior, Abdominals, and between the lower ribs to the Pelvis. The word Oblique means its direction is at a slanted angle, in which this is the case with this muscle. Each digitation inserts at the bottom (Inferior) of each rib in which interdigitates with the Serratus Anterior. The Abdominal portion sits right on top of the pelvic crest and is known for its attractive forms in the body building arena, and is often used by males to show off along with his Abbs. The overall form at the abdominal area is partly made up along with a ligament that creates a border line called the Inguinal Ligament. We will see how this combined gives it its form from the images below.
Origin: Ribs 5 through 12, Interdigitate between the Serratus Anterior.
Insertion: Anterior half of the Iliac Crest of the Pelvis
Artistic Application:
A large cap filler and beautiful muscle which create a nice departure from the Serratus Anterior slanting down towards the Pelvic Crest. To the novice it may appear that these are ribs, but in fact these are muscles. The average person wont show these muscles, but knowing they are there is no reason why we cant hint at them in our art work. If you want to keep it looking natutal try not to make these muscles to neat and perfect, more so when the torso is twisted. Remember that this muscle will have fat on top.
Thoracic Region: Abdominus Rectus
The Muscle:
The abdominal muscles are very well understood as being the 6 pack abs, and are often on show case to show how fit we are. Dependant on fat levels is to how much if any of the abs we see, and even then genetics will not give us the same formation from one person to another. There is a large sheet like tendon that holds all the abdominal together called the Aponeurosis. The direction of the abdominal fibers run vertical. Only 4 abs are normally all we see at best because the first two are right underneath the Penctoralis Major. After the upper 6 abs we have one larger mass of muscle which goes all the way down to the Pubic bone, and its between the upper 6 pack, and this larger mass is where the belly button is. This is also about where the bottom of the rib cage is, and where are elbows are.
Origin:
The abdominals originate from the Pelvic crest, and for the sake of keeping things simple
Insertion:
The 5th,6th, and 7th ribs are the insertion points for this muscle.
Artistic Application:
Make sure you never add abs perfectly symmetrical, and dont make them too small. The first top two are smaller and have a slanted angle to them, the seconds row has slight slant, and the last row are more or less Horizontal. Often hinting at the Abs is enough to look realistic.
This concludes the Thoracic region with the Pectoralis Major (chest muscles) Serratus Anterior, (Saw like shaped) muscles around the ribs, External Obliques, and Abdoninals that cover the front part of the upper body. Next we will look around the back, then the shoulders. (Updated 29/09/16/)
The Back:
Now we have covered the front of the torso, lets look at the back. The back can be quite complex, but knowing our skeletal land marks makes the job much easier.
Muscle: Trapezius
This large muscle covers the back of neck, across the upper back and all the way down to the 12 thoracic vertebrae
Origin:
Base of skull (Occipital bone), down the spine to the 12th thoracic vertebrae
Insertion:
From the spine of the Scapula (not including the medial end that forms a ring like depression ) Medial border of Acromium process, and lateral third of the Clavicle.
Artistic application:
This is a big mass filler of the upper back and can be split into 3 main plane changes as shown in image 1A. the medial border of the spine of the scapula is triangle like shaped, and remains without muscle. Another muscle for the shoulder which we will look at later connect to the scapula on the other side of this triangle bony/tendon area and this form a ring like depression. The more muscular the person, the more of a depression you will see. For very muscular people the Tranpezius leaves a depression between the muscles on the scapula and Trapezius at the spine of the scapula, where as for very lean people the spine of the scapula stands out as the prominent point emphasising the plane change as shown in Image 1A.
Muscle:
Scapula group Teres Major, Minor, Infraspinatus.
Im grouping these together collectively as they form the mass associated to the Scapula,(Shoulder Blade) although technically these are regarded as shoulder muscles, not back muscles. The scapula is covered by 3 muscles the largest of which is very thin called the Infraspinatus.
The Infraspinatus. Originates from most of the whole posterior area of the Scapula and Inserts into the upper lateral head of the Humerus (upper arm bone)
Teres Minor is rather small originates from a raised ridge located at the lateral upper two thirds of the Scapula (See Image 1B) and Inserts into the upper lateral head of the Humerus (upper arm bone) below that of the Infraspinatus, we can only see a very small part of this on very muscular people, but the average person we cant and thus becomes part of the whole overall mass.
Teres Major Originates from the posterior tip of the scapula, and Inserts from the direction of under the humerus, which wraps under and into the Anterior border below the head of the humerus.
Artistic Application:
Primarily both the Infraspinatus and Teres Minor have little individual form for the average person, but the Teres Major provides a major form. This form would appear to be coming from the bottom of the scapula to under the arm pit, and can be seen very well when the scapula is pushed back, and viewed from the side profile of the torso. When sculpting this rather complex area we should remember that the Infraspinatus, and Teres Minor insert into the outer head of the Upper arm bone, while the Teres Major wraps inside under the arm pit. Its between where the short head of the Tricep comes out from which is attatched to the Scapula, but I will bring this up again later on when we get to the arm muscles. Understanding the order of layers should help you decide in which order you sculpt the muscles so the correct muscle if layering in the correct order so that its border edge is either not seen, or is visible.
Muscle: Latissimus Dorsi
The Latissimus Dorsi commonly known as the Lats, is a huge muscle which wraps under the arm pit, goes all the way around the side of the torso to the back. This muscle covers over the bottom of the Trapezius, and the bottom tip of the scapula, and the Serratus Anterior, in which still shows it form under the lats due to its very thin like sheet of muscle.
Origin:
The Latissimus Dorsi Originates from the lower 6 Thoracic vertebrae, all 5 Lumbar Vertebrae, and the length of the Sacrum. Its continues to the Posterior third of the Iliac crest, and the first lower 3 ribs as it heads up to its insertion point. Although this muscle covers this large area, not all of this is made up from muscle fibre, but from Tendon, which thus leaves a curved muscle border that points to the highest peek of the Posterior Ilium. This then important to know how to find the peak of the Iliac crest which will be covered at another time.
Insertion:
The insertion point is from the direction of under the humerus, which wraps under and into the Anterior border below the head of the humerus but above the insertion point of the Teres Major.
Artistic application:
This is a big muscle, more so for body builders. It gives us that V shape torso, and creates the back fan like mass when the arms are lifted laterally. Artistically we then see from the front of the torso the Pectoralis major heading into the front of the upper arm, and see the arm pit depression made up from 3 arms muscles, then the at the back we see the Lats.
Images to follow.
Muscle: Erector Spinae
The Erector Spinae is a group of two main muscles that help hold the spine in an erect position. It has two main forms 1: Lower back over the Lumbar Spine which has a tubular form 2: Mid back over the thoracic region which is larger and wider.
Origin:
The origin for the Lumbar region has many attachments in which can be simplified that this portion of the muscle attaches up the spine all the way to the neck.
Insertion:
Artistic Application:
The Lumbar region transforms the curved lumbar spine into a flat plane in which we can see from the lateral view of the torso. Think of this muscle as a bridge between the Thorcic region, the Chest area, and the Pelvis. The Thoracic portion shows its mass under the Lattisimus Dorsi and somewhat provides the boundary of what some would thing was part of the Lattisumus Dorsi inferior border. The Thoracic region forms like a semi flat balloon, and completely obscures the ribs for being seen therefore the artist that is aware of this will not try to put in rib forms past this point. This muscle group will not be seen past the bottom of the Scapula, or upper border of the Lattisimus Dorsi. This muscle group unlike the upper back muscles are always seen regardless of how muscular a person is, so even more important that these muscles are seen for female backs over any other back muscle.
Muscle: Rhomboids
The Romboids get their name from the shape of a Rhomboid. This is a deeper muscle that is more of a mass filler than anything else, however we do see the very bottom part that comes off the bottom of the Scapula because in this little triangle void it has no other muscle covering it. On some people we can see the upper and lower border can be seen when we push back the Scapula off the Rib cage. This muscle pulls the Scapula together and in such a pose is where your see more of this muscle unlike the Agnotistic muscle the Serratus Anterior which pulls in the opposite direction.
Origin:
T2 to T5 (Thoracic Spine)
Insertion:
Medial border of the Scapula. Unlike the Serratus Aterior where it inserts to the underside of the Medial Border of the Scapula, this muscle insertion the outside of the Medial border of the Scapula.
Artistic application:
As mentioned there is very little of this muscle seen, but simply ignoring its absence would be shame as it does fill the mass of the upper back under the Trapezius, and we can see its upper border as it inclines from T2 of the Thoracic Spine. Also this muscle creates a facet plane change from the Medial Border of the Scapula to the Spine. It also shows small section visible under the layers between the Trapezius, and Lattisimus Dorsi in a triangle like opening. I we where to include this in our sculpting, I would add this muscle first then add the other muscles over the top, this naturally shows whats left of this muscle.
Images and Video to follow.
Update: I dont have access to my main PC that has all my assets on it, I had to send my motherboard back, and am awaiting for it to be check and a new one sent out. When I get back up and running again I can start to get some images up. For now im going to write up a laymans summery of what iv covered so far.
Thank you everyone, appreciate the feedback, and comments. About sculpting software, I have a feeling either Sculptris will be replaced by Zbrush Core, or it could be the case that Zbrush 5 is around the corner and Core gives users a cheaper option. I think for anyone using purely C4D as their main app, who does not have other software in their pipeline to cater for UV mapping, and retopology, 3DCoat is the way to go for sure at this time of writing, although I have never used it before so cant compare it to Zbrush regarding its abilities, speed, and features. Things that Make Zbrush very special for me is Dynamesh, its ability to automatically rebuild a new mesh as your adding more and more detail to the sculpt, this removes the technical restraints of using polygons, and makes it more like working with real clay. Zremesher produces a low polygon version of a high polygon Dynamesh, in some cases some of the produced topology is good enough for animation. Uv mapping in Zbrush is ok for general Uv mapping, certainly not for production work, and retopology is slow, painful, and does not come close to what I have in MODO, and from the looks of it 3DCoat. What ever the case hang on till Zbrush core is out, see what options are available then. Dan