A university process book on the skeleton and skeletal system for a life drawing and animation course. It explains the structure and function of the axial and appendicular skeleton, the skull, vertebral column and thoracic cage, with bone counts and anatomical terms.
This is a process book written by a University of the West Indies student for the course ANIM 1011 Life Drawing. It explains the skeleton and skeletal system and why understanding them matters for accurate life drawing and solid character animation.
The document first defines the skeleton as the bones of the body and the skeletal system as the bones, cartilages and ligaments that aid movement. It then introduces the axial skeleton, which forms the central axis of the body and includes the head, neck, chest and back bones, and the appendicular skeleton, which includes the upper and lower limbs and the shoulder and pelvic girdles.
The skull section covers the cranial and facial bones, the brain case and cranial cavity, and notes that twenty-two bones make up the skull, with only the mandible being movable. The vertebral column section describes the sequence of vertebrae from skull to tailbone, listing the cervical, thoracic, lumbar vertebrae, sacrum and coccyx, for a total of thirty-three bones.
The final section covers the thoracic cage, which forms the chest portion of the upper body, supports the thorax, protects the heart and lungs, serves as an attachment site for the upper limbs and facilitates breathing.