Mid Term Skeleton Torso

This first drawing to the left is one of the earlier torso drawings that I did.  I tried the exaggerate the tapering of the spine as it reached the neck in order get the sense of support from the pelvis- I wanted to figure out just how big was too big for the lumbar vertebrate.  I feel that got a fairly good grasp of the pelvis and its various directional curves, especially underneath, where the pubic bone juts forward.  I also feel like the opening of the rib cage came out very nicely along with the angles and perspective of the ribs.  The rib cage, however, is severely undersized and disproportionate to the pelvis. Also, the spine is far too massive and stiff near the coccyx and comes off appearing more rigid than springy. 

The drawing to the right was one of the first where I had attempte

d to add the rib cage to the spinal curve.  Looking at it now, I would have to say the rib cage looks slightly undersized, but I feel that the ribs are fairly successful.  I mainly concentrated on the

 curve of the spine as well as the various angles that each rib makes in order to form that ridge along the backside of the rib cage.  I also feel that I began to have a better understanding of the width of the spine, especially near the neck.   The quality of line weight and foreshortening makes this one of my favorite drawi

ngs.

I worked on the drawing on the right for somewhere around 6 hours- quite frustrating in the end.  I think I drew the pelvis three or four times.  Although I am not very happy with the outcome, I certainly learned a lot about the pubic bone area of the pelvis as well as the crests.  I think I got closer to the "tractor seat" feeling of containment within the pelvis more so on this front three quarter view than on other front three quarters that I did.  I had a lot of trouble with the foreshortening of the (camera) left side of the pelvis, and perhaps part of the reason was because I sat down for this drawing, where normally I would stand, but I will not make excuses. Overall a frustrating lesson.

This last drawing to the right is perhaps my most successful drawing of the skeleton torso.  I am confident with the curve of the spine as well as the proportion of the rib cage to the pelvis (although it may still be slightly small) I think it looks believable.  I think I did well with foreshortening and perspective overall, although I had a difficult time seeing the sections of rib cage behind the scapula. I had a good time with this particular study. 

Drawn out: Crit on bone drawings

Our first real drawing assignment was 4 drawings done of the vertebrate. At least one drawing of each along with a second view of one.  A couple drawings of mine were successful, while I had a few that were not so good (possible because of time committed).  Something that I did well was defining planar structure using cross contour line.  I have also been working on line weight in order to either create emphases, or a general awareness of depth.  I am still working with basic square and ball shapes in order to better understand foreshortening as well as placement of certain objects in space and proportion.  I feel that the better I get at simplifying complex objects, the better chance I have of accurately drawing them.  For now its frustrating...