I know my painting won’t begin to compare with that of Peter Paul Rubens, but it will be an interesting challenge. With my portrait of This Old Man, I painted ears - very badly. When I did the California Girl portrait, I breathed a sigh of relief. If you’ve continued reading this far, I thank you from the bottom of my heart.Įars get joked about a lot, and they continue to puzzle geneticists and frustrate artists. Geneticists still disagree over why there are variations in earlobes and whether or not the trait is dominant, but I’ve bored you enough already. Of course, earlobes can be detached - as in my simple sketch - or attached, or somewhere in-between. The anti-tragus is the lighter area at the top of the lobule or earlobe, as we know it. It extends downward toward the tragus, another dark area of shading. The concha - the word means shell - is the opening to the middle ear. The fossa triangularis is that triangular-shaped dark area toward the top. Next comes the anti-helix, the lighter ridge. Directly inside is the scapha, which appears shaded in my drawing. Let’s go back to that list of parts I mentioned earlier: So, here’s a quick look at how ears are put together. If we’re doing portraits and hope to make them realistic, learning to draw ears correctly is time well spent. Of course, I’m joking, but all the same, I hope you’ll show the humble ear a bit of appreciation. I know, I know…you’re so glad I’m studying anatomy, and you’re delighted I’m sharing it all with you, right? Is it any wonder we don’t like drawing ears? First, we have to remember how the ear is constructed, and then we have to create a likeness for each different part. It’s made up of many different parts: the helix, scapha, anti-helix, fossa triangularis, concha, tragus, anti-tragus, and lobule. It’s anatomical purpose is to focus sound waves and channel them into the inner portions of the ear. It is, of course, the outer ear - or auricle - which we see, and which, as artists, we draw. The human ear is divided into three distinct parts: ![]() I don’t think anyone really likes drawing ears, do they?Įars are complicated, involving six intrinsic muscles, and three extrinsic muscles. The humble ear gets little appreciation from artists. The evil that men do lives after them, he. It’s part of a eulogy Antony delivers at Caesar’s funeral. Ears are enough to keep me busy for a while. The full line reads: Friends, Romans, countrymen lend me your ears. I recently graced these pages with my drawings of funny-looking feet, but honestly, when it comes to funny-looking, ears win out over feet hands down…but, no, let’s not talk about hands quite yet. Remember, I warned you that you might be seeing dismembered body parts appearing here. It’s come to my mind, though, for a totally different reason. ![]() It’s taught often in literature classes as an example of rhetoric. I won’t quote all of the speech, but you can find it here: The good is oft interred with their bones, I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him Julius Caesar by Peter Paul Rubensįriends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears I enjoyed memorizing Mark Antony’s funeral oration when I was in school. We all learned that line from Julius Caesar, didn’t we? I happen to be very fond of Shakespeare, especially his tragedies.
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