Skull Study

First step to skeletal anatomy study. The Skull:

This sketch was produced with the normal 2H and 3B pencils that I like to use.

The first skull I drew (top left, small) went wrong because I got the proportions wrong on the eye and nose! Whoops.

Whilst studying the skull I tried to pick up shapes I could use to draw it again without reference (hence the middle strip).

Certain things I discovered that were useful to know about the skull are as follows:

• The mouth is curved, not flat/straight.
• The cheek bones (Zygomaticus [?]) flow out the the same width as the cranium.
• The Jaw + bottom row of teeth (this group is otherwise is known as the Mandible) are separate bones.
• The inward cave on the side of the skull are to house the Temporal, a muscle that is used to move the jaw sideways as well as up and down.
• The eye socket from the front view, can be drawn as a pinched rectangle with rounded corners. One must remember that the eye socket is where the bone bends round into the skull. It is not just a hole in the Frontal.
• The technique of starting with a ball for the cranium and not just a standard egg shape works well. However to help with the direction, a box is useful to establish perspective.