Skull

Last week I spent most of my time working on the head and the skull in particular.  The human skull is a bone structure that supports the face and brain cavity.  The skull of a typical adult consists of 28 bones.  Every bone besides the mandible is joined together by sutures.  Sutures are non-movable joints that are made of bone fibers that allow flexibility.  There are 8 bones surrounding and protecting the brain, 14 bones to support the structures of the face, and 6 bones in the auditory ossicles of the middle ear.  There are slight variations between the male and female skull.  A male skull typically has more prominent ridges and temporal lines.  The female skull generally has rounder orbits and a narrower jaw.  Males often have larger mastoid processes and sinuses.  The last major difference is that the male mandible is typically squarer and thicker.

 I had two class periods last week to create three longer drawings of the skull.  Each drawing was from a different point of view.  The hardest drawing was the back three-quarter view.  I found it interesting how small the face is compared to the rest of the skull.  In my drawings prior to this class, I often focus on the face and frequently made the eyes, nose, and mouth to large.  Drawing the skull allowed me to understand the proper proportions of the face.  After completing my skull drawings, I soon noticed that the skull has a unique shape.  I now understand how the jaw moves and where the eyes fit in the skull.  I always assumed that the eyes extruded from the skull, but I now understand that they are push back and are slightly behind the forehead and cheekbones.  Overall drawing the skull was  interesting and a very good learning experience.