Ovis Canadensis construction
An isometric paraline projection drawing of a bighorn sheep skull from specimen to finish.
An isometric paraline projection drawing of a bighorn sheep skull from specimen to finish.
My final project for Drawing for Scientific Illustration. Both the finish and the process are included; including the orthographic drawings, a photograph of the specimen, an animation of the construction of the main skull (sans horns), and a few selected frames from the video. The drawing was done at 1/2 scale, with measurements taken directly from the specimen (which unfortunately was lacking a mandible and a few teeth, but was otherwise in fairly good condition) and projected in space using a paraline system for proportional accuracy. The finished piece was drawn in black conté pencil on mylar, and rendered with conté dust and a brush.
The orthographic views, sans horns, which were constructed separately and added onto the skull just before going to the finish.
The notional space, subdivided into the initial planes for cross-sections, and displaying the orthographics projected onto the center and basal planes.
Cross-section 07, showing the front of the eye socket. The construction was all done on successive pieces of tracing paper, totaling over 25 by time I began to add the horns, and likely over 35 before the final contour drawing.
Cross-section 22, displaying the interior construction of the nasal cavity and the roof of the mouth.
The final skull contour, overlaid on the collective cross-sections.
And the final contour drawing, ready for the construction of the horns to be applied to it.
And finally, the skull itself. Picked up "somewhere in Colorado probably" by my godmother on her travels, it ended up sitting in the attic of our barn with the rest of the paintings and general clutter she left with my family after her move to Mexico. I asked for some random bits of nature from home, and got sent a truly giant box with this in it. He is battered, weathered, not completely free of (very very dry) fleshy bits, and entirely characterful. After starring in this drawing, he retired to my bathroom counter, where he placidly keeps the potted aloe company and stands guard over the kitty litter boxes, and occasionally terrifies guests.
