••• ‡‡‡‡‡‡ ••• The • Book • of • Bones ••• ‡‡‡‡‡‡ •••

[asoir]

DVD's and books? Cannot WAIT.
Oh i'm all giddy!

[Gspot]

oh my..such goodness...such knowledge..I'll definately give this a thorough look some time.

[mentler]

I review this stuff before every lecture. I work from memory to see what I may have forgotten. I find I learn more every time....

[asoir]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...bob011507c.jpg
stunning as hell

[mentler]

I am making this post to get past the 666 replies <> afraid to leave the house until I got past it LOL

I guess since someone just slammed this thread I need to mention that these are not copies. This is my system and for the most part everything is done from memory. The only time I use any reference is when I get to an area I don't feel comfortable with. At that point I check it against reference material. There is a great deal of conflicting information in the leading reference sources BTW>

[frostsnake]

I couldn agree more with your latest comment ( confusion is inevetable)..
Just wanne say I admire your willpower for knowledge Alot!
last one`s are great btw.

[Gbertek]

Mr Mentler humans need to travel! Possibly some sort of hover craft? Love the quality of your work. Would also love to see some of your machine ideas. =)

[mentler]

Again from memory.... getting really for workshops demos.

Note: That the purpose of these kind of exercises is about understanding problems of forms in space. Also notice that they are not meant to be flat diagrams but orthographic plans that can be projected in space.

Be careful that this information is used to understand what you see and not to replace it.

Work from life and give live to your work...

[asoir]

beautiful
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...bob012107a.jpg
is a clear example of how correct anatomy can look utterly magnificent

[lennon]

WOOOW man you rock!
I don't like comparisons but that's most probably the best I have seen around (anyway who am I to judge).
Great distortion of anatomy and such a flow! your way of handleing forms is exquisit.
Now, tell me the true and don't lie:
U use that sort of paper to give it a more "Da Vinci-kind-of-look" isn't it?
I don't get the thing with the eyes althought. Those studys were you use the same eyes (kind of occuard too). It's some quotation to some famous work?
Say, perhaps when you have time you could enter my thread and give me same advices?

[theos]

mentler
you were saying that you may release some beta typ dvd's i would be verry interested in getting one
ive been looking through your book of bones here and it has been such an eye opener i wish i had you teaching me when i did my degree in fine arts
would have made so much more sense
just wanted to say thanks for posting all this
really apreciate it

[theos]

michael
do you do any clases in australia?
as i would be really interested to come along and be taught this inovative style to anatomy your work blows me away
thanks

[theos]

michael
i have been drawing since i was 6 and never come across such a wonderfull easy to read life changing way of looking and acheiving what ive allways wanted im on page 12 of your thread and just in awe
i have a copy of burne hogarths book on dynamic anatomy but find it confusing
your style is a clean no noncence way of working with the most beautifull thing in the world. the human body thank you so much for posting all this here
you have made a fan and i will be following you closly from now on

[Kronos]

Hello!

i've been stalking this thread for yonks now, and thought it was finally time to add my name to the list of screaming fans
your stuff is just beautiful and HOLY MONKIES do i wish you taught at my school! we don't even have figure drawing as part of the course and its a FINE ARTS degree! i'm going to be lodging a formal complaint this year about that because its really getting on my nerves.....
i loved that page you did quite a while ago now where you drew a bunch of eggs and boxes and made figures out of them, a great way to get the imagination going.

fantastic, inspiring work!

[mentler]

Handouts for my lecture on Gravity and Balance which leads to Rhythm which leads to Angle which leads to Volumes which leads to Interlocking which leads to Twisting which leads to Yin and Yang

[Vaejoun]

I dont have the time to read this thread, but from what I see your stile and knowledge is amazing. On my school such stuff isnt taught. Really a shame, so I started learning from DVD and i am on the way. ^^ My system is very simmilar to yours, except that I am still at the ripgcage and the head.

An important question:
Your threads are named ass "Book of..." do you want to make a book out of this ? I would definately buy one.

[mentler]

These are what I call cubies and I give this as a homework assignment at SoFA.

This is all about gravity, weight and balance. It is about building blocks and the line of gravity. Start with the cube for the pelvis then the rib-cage then leg supporting the most weight (active) then the leg supporting less weight (passive) next balance the head on top of your construction.

This is the logical way to construct the figure because the head is balanced on top.

Last add the arms and use them for balance as well much like a tight-rope walker uses his arms.

Start simple and work your way to more complex poses always trying to keep the line of gravity and the pull of the earth in focus.





The Plot Thickens and the Saga Continues!



Rum Dumb Doodles <> Basic blocking concepts and variations.

[Exocentric]

Really impressive. You could compile these sketches into a book and I'd buy it. Great source. I really enjoy your work. *subscribes*

[paperX]

Thank you so much for continuing to provide us with this great source of inspiration , I'd buy an dvd/books you churn out in a heartbeat

[maxetormer]

I know you have amassed all this knowledge little by little,
but its sometimes its intimidating to see who much you know and
how well you use it, (I wonder if ill have the same kind of
confidence with my own work one day ) those page with the
gravity bits its golden information to make a posse work, and the
face to skull measurements like this one provide great ideas
to find relations that can help tons to make a believable face
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...bob012107a.jpg
You have all my respect and admiration, MASTER MENTLER!!

[mentler]

Stuff they never tell you.

This is some of the really basic stuff one has to master before we
can create convincing forms is space.



Cubing or Blocking

The bottom line here is that most of us think we can draw a cube and
most of us can't.

It is much more difficult than it appears and requires considerable
practice and attention to procedure.

Drawing in the western tradition is about the illusion of form in space.

To do this we have to fix find or establish the axis/position of the form.

We do this by finding the point of the height line that is closest to us.

We than find the point where the height ends and draw a line through that point.

(Note that I said through the point.)

It is always better to draw/think the line through where we
think it visually ends.

Once you have established the height line (H) go back to the closest point and
lay-in the first width line.

Then the second width line, making sure that they appear to converge to
an imaginary vanishing point.

Close in the shape with the second height line.

You now have a plane (front plane) oriented in space.

You have gone from Point to Line to Plane.

After you have fixed the width it is time to deal with the depth.

Again starting at the closest point of the height line then the
bottom point of the same height line.

Now you have the depth plane or side plane.

To to create the form put on the top or bottom plane depending on
the axis/position in space.

As I said before this is harder than it seems and I did one wrong here.

I left it to show just how easy it is to lose the illusion if you are not
always aware of the axis/position of the form.

[mentler]

Mapping The Sphere of the Rib-Cage.

As many of you know I prefer to treat the rib-cage as a ovoid or
egg shaped form for many poses.

In order to do this you need to know how to map a spherical form.

I think after doing this it is important to say that this is not intended as
a method of drawing but as an exercise to increase understanding
of forms in space.

What one does as an artist is to have as a lot of information available in
our subconscious and use it as needed.

I don't think anyone would ever what to approach a
drawing this way but having this kind of knowledge as backup won't hurt.

Start with several egg shapes of various sizes.


Find the vertical axis.


Find the horizontal axis


Divide the upper half and the lower half into thirds.
Try to do these measurements visually.


Lightly create ellipses of varying sizes depending on
the amount of tilt you want your rib-cage to have.



Locate the angle and position of the sternum
(center line of the rib-cage)


Establish the width of the sternum and lay-in the ellipse of
the first rib in the top one third segment.


Next lay-in the thoracic arch of the cage


Drop the lines on both sides of the sternum from the
first rib to the bottom of the tenth rib indicating where
cartilage meets the bone.


I like at at some point drop in the clavicles and keep making
refinements to the general shape of the cage


It is important as well to have a clear picture of what the spine is doing.
The spine mirrors the position of the sternum to the halfway point then
curves back under to the center axis before attaching to the pelvis.


I have refined the forms more here. The rhythms lines to the shoulder points.
The action of the spine. The side planes of the cage.
I am going to re-do this exercise larger and start with fewer construction lines.
I will also discuss the steps in more detail.
The key point I want to emphasize is that the position of
the sternum stills the rotation and gives us the position of this form in space.


More to come

Here are a few profile variation on the human form.
I plan to do several more.

People come in all shapes and sizes and I think that
the artist involved in depicting the human form should
be aware of the variety.

There are differences in body type, gender, age, ethnic
background and a myriad of other factors.
Da Vinci and Durer were certainly aware of this
as was William Rimmer MD. who was a
medical doctor as well as an artist.

The other reason that I think this is important is
that the balance/placement of the head on
top to the torso also depends somewhat
on body type and other physical factors.

More to come....

[take²]

as everyone else i have a lot of anatomy books, but your studies are the most usefull i know.
thx for your time.

[mentler]

[B]There are differences in body type, gender, age, ethnic
background and a myriad of other factors.
Da Vinci and Durer were certainly aware of this
as was William Rimmer MD. who was a
medical doctor as well as an artist.

The other reason that I think this is important is
that the balance/placement of the head on
top to the torso also depends somewhat
on body type and other physical factors.
[/B]

[Craig Houghton]

It's great to see a step by step as you did with the rib-cage Mapping. That's very effective.

Long live the cubies!

-Craig

[Raja]

After seeing this thread, I plan to practice very hard on working at anatomy. I have somehow managed all these years to draw freehanded and not build up in stages. I'm starting to learn that your end result can turn out unproportioned and look messed up with building up. So, I've started to work on anatomy today...for the first time. I'm currently using the only anatomy book I have which is called "Anatomy for Fantasy Artists" by Glenn Fabry and it's helping me out quite a bit so far. Though, I could possibly benefit more if I had one with just regular humans since a lot of my drawings are more humans, but my imagination soar into fantasy.

With this thread though, I can study some of your anatomy sketches and figure out how the placement is,what it looks like, etc. and just do a rough sketch following the shape rather than always rully sketching the human skeleton.

So, to sum all of this jibber-jabber up, I'm going to say thank you. With this thread I can grow more as an artist and have my end result have body parts in the right places.

Quick question though. What would be a good book/site/etc. to get/go to that can severly help me get much better at anatomy?

[HunterKiller_]

Ricky,

We will work out the adoption papers.

No fair.

First time looking through this thread. No need for me to even say how masterful your work is.

I now know how important drawing cubes are.
Just the other day, after reading the Vilpu figure drawing book, I decided to go back and seriously draw some cubes.
I did that, and... well, it could just be my imagination... but I think my drawings improved!

Oh and ah, your handwriting is really cool.

[mentler]

Thanks all for feeding the Monkey
Will visit your threads
Leave mega stars
Kind words and milk and cookies
(or beer and pretzels)

I have been trying to post in
sketchbooks but something funky is
going on over there and
it won't open for me.

Come visit us at SoFA.

[Dreamworker]

Very cool updates! I like the pose and I look with great atention the papers on reply #687 , I found these very interesting.
Ciao

[Sirio_Brozzi]

Cant agree more wiht the blocking process you have down, really effective, tried the egg one recently while doing some studies. Really good stuff! Dug the last studies with the plus sized women. Cant wait to see and learn more.