Ecorche Class and the Hyoid Bone

In the Ecorche class at the Woodstock School of Art we are presently fleshing out the head and neck, and last week class I lectured on the Hyoid bone and it's role as an anchpr for muscle and the role of the Laryngeal cartilage of the Cricoid as armor for the glottis.

Planes of the Head

In the Portrait in Clay class at the Woodstock School of Art we are exploring the most basic of all concepts when studying the structure of the skull and tha tis ..... The Planes of the Head!
Here are a few examples of skull to planes and conversely life head to planes.

Jean-Antoine Houdon's Ecorche .

The revered icon of artistic anatomy, Jean-Antoine Houdon's Ecorche .

Planes of the Head

After not a small bit of research it has become apparent that there is not a lot of good planes of the head reference, and surprisingly, some references that you would think would have great material are frankly dreadful- The Hogarth Dynamic Anatomy series are terribly inaccurate and overly stylized, the Famous Artists Course planes of the head offerings are meager and poorly drawn, Joseph Sheppard's classic anatomy books are totally lacking in the planes of the head, and nothing at all from Richer. What little I could locate appears solidly in  Bridgeman and Loomis. Here's a complilation of the two:

Artistic Anatomy and the Portrait in Clay at the Woodstock School of Art

No really this time is for real. I perfected the last little teaser vid and used the entire War track Low Rider.

Spliced in footage from last week's Portrait in Clay class along with some cool vid of frank, Carol, and Pat drawing with the long stick.

Woodstock Artistic Anatomy Class

This is where we build or Ecorches, model the portrait in clay, and draw the model in the artistic anatomy class at the Woodstock School of Art.

Triceps

From last weeks Ecorche class..."The Triceps"

• The primary function of the triceps is to extend the elbow, which results in straightening the arm. 
• The secondary function of the triceps is fulfilled only by the long head of the muscle, which is to adduct the arm (or to bring the arm down towards the body). The triceps shares this function with the latissimus dorsi (back muscles).

Interesting to note the placement of the Long Head and how it traverses the medial and lateral heads. On flexion it bulges out prominently at the tricep tendon sheath- a flat band of tendon that angles from the elbow up and lateraly. Check it out.

Here's the painting I submitted to the Instructors Show currently on exhibit at the Woodstock School of Art.
It's a scene I painted while at the Art Student's League of New York. At the time , my scholarship duties included tending the clay pit- a large wooden box with a lid that contained hundreds of pounds of terra cotta, used by the clay modeling students. It had to be hosed down and turned at least once a day so as to be supple enough to work with. Some evenings however, I'd stay late into the evening at Carneys drinking beer with Nelson Shanks and fellow students in his class or perhaps with George Sotos and his crew and would neglect my clay duties.This meant that I'd have to stumble over to the League very early and turn the clay before the Sydney Simon or Jonathan Shan class would begin at 8:30.. Fortunately I lived only a few blocks away in a huge four story walk up on 55th and Eighth Street that I shared with five other art students In order to give the clay some time to soak I'd arrive early, around 6:30 , and Washington, the caretaker, would open up and let me inside.As I walked through the dark basement to the back studios where the sculpture studios are, I would see the north light streaming down the corridor and then as I emerged into the studio, that full magical glow would envelope me from the high street level skylights.It was pure magic , being all alone in this most holy of artistic spaces.

Portrait in Clay and The Ecorche

Here are a few views of the Friday "Portrait in Clay" Class and the "Ecorche" Class  at the Woodstock School of Art.

Artistic Anatomy

Leonardo Da Vinci once said, "beware- O Artist, that your figures do not look like sacks of walnuts". This was a caution to the student of painting that the painted or drawn figure show to the viewer, a thorough knowledge of muscle and skeleton anatomy, and not just affectatious swellings on the skin. With this knowledge comes the power to create an authentic representation of the human figure .