Alright, as an artist I love doing fanart and post silly shit but really I've been thinking about improving my art and I tried to avoid learning anatomy but that ends here and today. One of the things I have always been interested in is Anatomy as it's both interesting to see how our body is created and how it works but also that it can be helpful to understand refrences or have an easier time drawing overall.
So, I have made the decision to do an anatomy series where I'll try to explain anatomy as easy as possible (but also I wanna add details and dive deeper into it). Obviously I am still learning so correct me If I do mistakes!
Name origin: lat. CrΔnium
The skull or body that encloses the brain
One of the mistakes many artists do is that they draw the head flat. The skull however is not a 2D flat object. It's a 3D object which has volume, planes and structure.
Now the cranium is not the entire skull but part of the skull and like I said protects the brain.
Cranium bones are fused together to keep your brain safe which is why our head is very very sensitive. Genuinely it's not a joke to hit our head but that is the key component of the skull: to protect and safely guard the brain and provide facial support.
Infants have soft spots to allow growth.
cranium has a spherical like shape and is located at the top of the head.
The cranium has two parts: the cranial roof and the cranial base. The cranial roof is the dome shape that protects the brain(kinda shaped like a baseball cap). The cranial base is the floor of the skull where the brain sits and spinal cords connects. Think of the two parts as roof and dome.
The Cranium is complete with the eight cranial bones and 14 facial bones. So in total 22 bones in the entire skull.
Frontal bone (1): Forms the forehead and the upper part of the eye sockets.
Parietal bones (2): Form the upper sides and roof of the skull as a paired set.
Temporal bones (2): Form the lower sides and base of the skull housing the structures of the middle and inner ear
Occipital bone (1): Forms the back and base of the skull, featuring the opening for the spinal cord.
Sphenoid bone (1): A butterfly- shaped bone spanning the width of the middle skull base.
Ethmoid bone (1) : Located at the roof of the nose between the eyes, separating the nasal cavity from the brain.
Visualization of the 8 cranial bones:
Maxillae (2): The upper jaw bones that also from parts of the nose and eye sockets.
Zygomatic bones (2): The cheekbones.
Nasal bones (2): The small bones that form the bridge of the nose.
Lacrimal bones (2): Tiny, fragile bones near the tear ducts inside the eye sockets.
Palatine bones (2): L-shaped bones that form the back part of the roof of your mouth
Inferior nasal conchae (2): Curved scroll-like bones inside the nose that help filter and warm air.
Mandible (1): The lower jawbone; it is the largest, strongest, and only movable bone in the face.
Vomer (1): A thin, flat bone that forms the bottom and back part of the nasal septum.
Visualization of the 14 facial bones:
Front/Side view of both facial and cranial bones:
Note: You don't need to know every single detail of the skull. You don't need to know every single technical term. We are artists and not medical students. But knowing the structure can incredibly help sometimes even with semi-realism. We only need to simplify the structures into smaller chunks. It's important to know AND understand the rules before we break them.
Lucky you, I've found some good pictures on Pinterest that show step to step how to simplify the skull. I also love that it's in different angles which is great for practicing! You can definitely use the images to study anatomy or simply practice by tracing.
Again, don't make the mistake of starting with the eyes or nose first. Thats the reason why the face falls flat or why it looks disproportionate. Also don't treat the skull as a flat 2D circle. Start with the structure and then add features.
Here's a really good YouTube video incase you need more guidance and more details:
https://youtu.be/-nccgMvFs60?is=7L308bKTQ9CvC0Hb
Lastly, I want to mention that you obviously need to practice practice and practice. Trial and error. I hope this helped and thank you very much If anyone has took their time to read all of this which I really appreciate. I will continue this series next week as school will start again so my schedule will be packed again. I'll try to post on the weekends. Feel to ask questions that I might cover the next time or feedback, whatever it is.
Here's a kitty as a reward.
