Structural Comparative Anatomy I: Cranial

Wednesday Evenings, Online, 7-9pm ET (NYC TIME)

Looking to lend structural credibility to your figurative artwork? Want to be able to better understand and illustrate cats, dogs, and horses? Want to really develop your understanding of anatomical forms and the various shapes they can take? In this Wednesday evening online course, we'll take a good, through look at the anatomy of the human figure, and compare it with the horse, dog, and domestic house cat in depth.

Starting with the underlying forms of the skeletal system, we'll build out our understanding of the soft tissue and musculature of each of these animals, studying how the forms of the same anatomical features differ from each other to suit the needs of functionality.

We'll make use of 3D models (digital and traditional), photography, diagrams, and artwork to gain insight into these complex anatomical features. The assignments for this course involve collecting imagery, drawing structural sketches (big form, and more specific structures), and écorché studies. Digital or traditional art welcomed- any medium is a fine fit for the material we'll be studying.

This online course is part 1 of a larger 3-part curriculum:
Because the material is so dense, I thought it made a lot of sense to break up the material into three different courses, starting with the head (this course) and then moving onto the body/torso, and then the limbs:

Course 1: Cranial Anatomy (Head: cranium + facial structure, & Neck)

Course 2: Axial System (Spine, Ribcage, Midsection, Girdles, Tail)

Course 3: Appendicular System (Limbs, Hands, Feet, Hooves, Paws & Claws)

In this course, Part I, we'll take a look at the Cranial anatomy system:
Head (cranium + facial structures) & Neck. We'll look at the underlying skeletal structure, the musculature of the jaw, face, and neck, the forms of the features (eyes, ears, nose, and mouth), as well as any soft tissue forms we need to be aware of. Hair/fur volumes will also be addressed at the end of the course.

Class Session Dates:
November: 2, 9, 16, 23, 30
December: 7, 14, 21

Total: 8 Sessions for Cranial Anatomy

Each week we'll hold a live class session over Zoom. Each Zoom session will be recorded, and will be posted to our online learning platform 1 or 2 days after the class session occurs. So no worries if you can't make it to all/any of the live sessions! The material will still be available to you afterwards.

As we near the start date of our course (November 2nd, 2022), I'll reach out via email with instructions on how to join our online learning platform. There you'll find lots of resources, such as reference images, links to recommended books, models, and demonstration videos to help with the course material.

Any questions?

Email me at ekitson@gmail.com