Ape Skulls and Skeletons Assignment
Ape Skulls and Skeletons Assignment
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Drawing Dynamic Creatures

Ape Anatomy Bootcamp - The Skeleton

Ape Skulls and Skeletons Assignment

391
Course In Progress

Ape Skulls and Skeletons Assignment

391
Course In Progress

Now that you’ve watched me demo the skeleton and skulls of apes. It's time to draw them yourself using the 3d models and photos provided.

Focus on obtaining the fundamental knowledge of these sources. The more you understand the source material, the more believable your imaginative work will be.

Do multiple sketches from different angles and try not to do the same angles I covered in the demo.

Once you're done sketching from different angles, try some memory sketching. Take the concepts you just practiced and try to sketch them again from memory only. This will help you find the areas you are exceeding and lacking in.

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Tiger
Finally found the time to get back to drawing the assignments.. Don't you just hate when life gets in the way of learning? Here're my ape skull studies.
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Thieum
Very nice skull studies!
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nickmesics
First I tried to be loose using gestural lines. Then I studies the form and proprotion differnces between the three skulls. Then finally I drew some from imagination.
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David Colman
GREAT work.. nice study of me LOL. Overall solid draftsmanship. I do feel you could loosen up even more, get some energy here and draw through the form. Let us see through the volumes as if transparent and then any forms , lines or edges that are closest to viewer you can lock in with harder definitive line
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nickmesics
And here are the skeleton studies
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Jamus Zeppeli
Skull Studies with an Orangutan & Gorilla one from imagination
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David Colman
Fantastic work.... loose but with volume.. however some of the planes are getting wonky. the down shots and 3/4 angles are losing structure. ITs okay- cant be perfect every time - just something to watch
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Mariusz Stefanowski
Beginner getting started late on the course :) really felt the need to at least know what the heck is happening in pelvis and arm area before starting so Ill continue on skeleton and heads today. I really appreciate loose approach, spent so much time recently on being accurate and exact in beginners course that this feel really freeing. Seems like its really great way to learn about subject.
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David Colman
Wonderful to hear youre breaking out of your mold and how yourre finding a way to make this challenging subject work for you
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Mariusz Stefanowski
Ballpoint 3. Somehow loose is synonim of speed for me, probably personal workaround. Cannot overthink if going over my speed limit.
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Mariusz Stefanowski
Ballpoint 2
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Linus Lehmann
Today i was at a local museum to draw their orang utan skeleton. I have drawn in public before but im still not completly used to it. Im fine with strangers walking by and looking at my drawings but of course i want them like my drawings too. I especially felt that today because i tried to focus on learning instead of making a pretty copy. I really liked the overall experience though, to see an actual skeleton and to compare an orang utan skelton to the chimpmodel (they are very similar but still a little different). They also had some stuffed monkeys, i drew some on the third page.
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hunt4animation
Additional skull studies. The first from reference and the second from memory.
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David Colman
Nice silhouettes but it appears youre not drawing through the forms thoroughly resulting in a flatness and loss of volume. Get messy..dont be so concerned with making a pretty drawing. Pretty drawings come later when each line represents the knowledge you learn but drawing through the form
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Eve A. Bear
I tried to do the exercise from my imagination and found that I couldn't remember anything, so I studied the references a bit more and it was easier to do. I tried to go back and forth between imagination and reference. It helps me I think. The messy thing in the fourth image is that I'm trying to go more gestural... I don't know if I'm on the right track?
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David Colman
You draw quite nicely. I think youre being too hard on yourself . Gestural is the way to go for flow of bones... I like that page- then build the volumes on top of that. Do about an hour of studies, then close the reference and draw from your imagination. Draw through the form more, less of contour perfection.
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Ian Gregory
Here's some chimpanzee, gorilla, and orangutan skulls in different angles, along with doing more skeletons. I also tried to do the one while standing up, turned out to be a whole new challenge. For these attempts I try not to use too much erasing and see how it will look like after putting down the overall form and then the details. Feedback is very much appreciated.
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David Colman
GREAT approach. I love your challenging yourself. I would like to see more objective volumes on the skulls, drawing through the forms. Also try to introduce more boxy forms especially with bones
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goot
4mo
Here’s some rough sketches.
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David Colman
fantastic looseness now draw through the forms with objective volumes... What is going on the other side of the skull.. LEts see it because it will force you to think about the subject in full 3dimensions
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bernard_van_aalst
Proportionally correct, proper structure. I the next thing to do is, while drawing, to imagine this ape to be a character of its own, envision him as part of a story - I guess the drawings will then come more alive to the viewer.
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hunt4animation
Attached are some quick skeleton studies from imagination. Feedback is appreciated
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David Colman
SUPER fun!!! in due time the poses will become more earnest. But I like youre pushing the envelope
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Linus Lehmann
Great poses, they are very entertaining! Anatomicaly the only thing i can think of would be to maybe add the shoulderblade if you want to go a bit more realistic. Otherwise i think the thing you could try to challenge yourself would be to try some more difficult cameraangles.
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hunt4animation
Additional skull studies from reference
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Linus Lehmann
These are very beautiful. And good job with showing the volumes. I think you should do some from memory/imagination in some poses to find out how much you remember and can access easily.
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Linus Lehmann
Here are some of my newer skullstudies. As suggested i tried to be more loose and to think a lot more about the volumes, and tried to chase the rabbit. The pages with a ref are with reference and the pages with an m are from memory. I think i will focus on the muscles now but im going to continue to study the skulls and skeleton whenever i find time. Any kind of feedback on what i would need focus on in future skullstudies or in general would be as always very much appreciated.
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bernard_van_aalst
Nice skull drawings, each with a character of their own. Sometimes you tend shape them too narrow, I’d suggest to start with the eye socket part (which will always attract the most attention), the zygomatic arch below it and proceed from that.
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hunt4animation
Attached are some skeletons and skulls I have recently been working on from reference. It’s not where I want it and I will keep working at it. I didn’t want to post it but it would be helpful to get some feedback
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Linus Lehmann
I really like these drawings. I think you did a great job at simpifiying the skeletons volumes first and than getting more complex. I think you should also try drawing some skeleton poses. Starting with the gesture, something that lmight look like a thin wire mannequin and than adding the ribcage and bones. I think for the skulls it might help you to focus on some of the connectionpoints of the parts and some volumes. Some examples: how the browridge and the frontal bone flow into each other. Also the the zygomatic bone and zygomatic arch often seem disconnected to me. And maybe also define the mandibles as volumes more often. Hope that it helps.
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bernard_van_aalst
Nice skulls, pretty hatching technique. The body in the lower right corner is by far the best, good proportions.
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Mathias Ragnarsson
Hello again @David Colman, here’s my assignment on skulls and skeletons. When I drew the skulls I tried to identify unique traits between the three, so it would be easier to distinguish them when I draw them from memory. In my eyes the Orangutan and Chimpanzee were the most similar, with the Orangutan being a bit more round overall but flat around the eyes. Even though I thought I had a good grasp on them, drawing them from memory later proved to be a challenge! It was difficult to really push the unique details when my only source was a foggy memory. I also had in mind your last feedback, that I should try and draw some ape skeletons in various poses, so they’re included here as well. I limited myself to not spend too long on these and also allow myself to be more loose. Maybe a bit small and too messy? I tried to focus more on the overall pose and character, while also showing the skeletal base of them. As always, any feedback is very much appreciated. I’m really enjoying this so far!
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hunt4animation
These are great! Thanks for sharing. For some feedback I would suggest doing looser and quicker studies so that more can be explored at a quicker rate. Less concern for the final drawing. The from imagination drawings are fun! For further feedback I would say they look too closely to humans. The chimp pelvis is really distinguished and the forearms have bone that bulge out and really separate. I look forward to seeing more!
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David Colman
I think you're being too hard on yourself. These are quite nice and have some innate character to them. The gorilla skulls are fantastic. I do think you "let go of the rope" on the box form of the skull with many of the others and became trapped with too many soft spherical shapes. Try becoming more efficient with the use of objective shapes. Also- revisit some more poses for the skeleton and try to draw upon the skeletal structure knowledge you acquired in the reference study to make them more believable in their construction and not so primitively cartoony.
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Jeff Arsenault
Mostly Gorilla skulls, a few Chimpanzee and Orangutan. Ball point pen and a few in fountain pen. Some gorilla skulls from imagination at the bottom. I'll work more on the skeleton and skulls from imagination this week!
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Eve A. Bear
I did the skull study and tried to add the body gesture from my imagination. I need some practice to go further with the imaginaire part ! This is why I do your course, bien sur... :)
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David Colman
GREAT work everyone. And I like seeing each student help one another and respectfully too. Overall remember to see the skulls as spheres and boxes- staying loose and drawing thru the forms. Be less concerned with pretty drawings and steer clear of contour heavy drawing. Be okay with feeling uneasy- a SIGN OF GROWTH
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David Colman
GREAT work everyone. And I like seeing each student help one another and respectfully too. Overall remember to see the skulls as spheres and boxes- staying loose and drawing thru the forms. Be less concerned with pretty drawings and steer clear of contour heavy drawing. Be okay with feeling uneasy- a SIGN OF GROWTH
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Linus Lehmann
These are some of my skull studies. I got quite exited when i started to find some rhytms in the skull models and pictures, because ive always had trouble with that in the past. But there are probably many more that i missed. Sometimes when i was doing something else and had a paper nearby i would sketch some skulls from memory. On the last page (the ones in black ink) i drew the skulls in three angles each from memory only in my sketchbook, so these are showing my current knowlegde of the skull. I think i will continue with some more extreme angles of the skulls and some more skeletonposes, if not suggested otherwise.
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hunt4animation
Thanks for sharing! I have struggled with finding rhythms or knowing how to interpret it into a drawing. Some days are better than others. If I try to force it the proportion and drawing gets distorted. Trying to find it in a skeleton and a skull was challenging starting out and now I’m taking the small wins toward any type of progress.
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David Colman
I love seeing how committed you are. Okay biggest fire first- you seem to be caught up in the silhouette evident in your hard line. Although silhouette is important for clarity its hurting your volume communication and overall flow. Get looser and "chase the rabbit" meaning if you hit a vertical plane on one side chase it to the other side and find the parallel form to complete a properly aligned plane and volume. Try this and see how it works.. Love your enthusiasm. In the end thats what it takes.... keep going
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Thomas Vang Pedersen
Working on the ape skeletons
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David Colman
clean and pleasing to the eye... I like it, now draw some from your head and in different poses and angles and when do that loosen up. Let me see the full rhythms of the bones with constructed volumes around it. Dont worry about making a pretty drawing focus on an informative drawing
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About instructor
Illustrator working in film as a designer and storyboard artist- known as the "animal guy" for my passion for doodling animals. insta @davidsdoodles
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