Ribs and Such

This past week I spent most of my time studying the rib cage and how it aligns with the spine.  When I begin a drawing, the first mark that I make on the page is the shape of the spine.  Once I have an accurate depiction of the spinal curvature, I then draw the ribs and torso.  During gesture drawings I use an egg like shape to capture the volume of the ribs. The top of the egg is where the neck starts and the wider lower portion is beginning of the hips. This shape allows for an accurate depiction of the human form. When I started using this technique it was somewhat strange to me. I would often try and add in the shape of the shoulders, but I learned that the shoulders are something that you add at a later time.

The rib cage surrounds the chest and allows the lungs to expand during breathing.  Ribs serve to protect the heart, lungs and other internal organs  A typical human has 24 total ribs with 12 being on each side.  The first seven are connected to the vertebral column, and are called true ribs. The next three pairs of bones are referred to as false ribs. These bones are slightly shorter then the true ribs and are connected to the spine in back. The last two sets of bones are called floating ribs. Floating ribs are smaller than both the true ribs and the false ribs.

Through the continual practice of gesture drawing, I’m becoming more comfortable with my drawing skills and developing a deeper understanding of the human form.  Aside from drawing, I also have been spending time constructing clay muscles on my manikin.  This has been challenging because the muscle structure of a human is very complex.  Creating these muscles are helping me learn accurate human proportions.