Major bony landmarks

Use major bony landmarks as surface anchors for figure placement, angles, proportion, and perspective from different views.

Track it on the checklist

What it is

Major bony landmarks are points you can see or feel on the body's surface, including the cheekbones, brow ridge, jaw angle, collarbones, shoulder points, elbows, wrists, rib edge, spine, hips, knees, ankles, and heel. You track these anchors under the skin, not as an X-ray.

Use the landmarks to build the figure when muscle, fat, or clothing cover most of the body. The ear hole and cheekbone help place the head tilt. Collarbone angles guide the shoulders. The front hip bones and sacrum show the pelvis angle. Elbows and knees help place the limbs through the surrounding forms.

Compare paired landmarks, rows, and planes to check perspective and proportion. The acromions, or shoulder tips, define the shoulder line. The ASIS, or front hip bones, define the belt line. Spine bumps mark the back's central axis, and the patella marks the front of the knee joint.

Why it matters

Bony landmarks give the figure fixed reference points for structure and proportion. Weak landmark control can cause shoulder and hip tilts to shift, knees to move along the leg, and facial features to change between views.

You can check it when

✓Identify the main palpable landmarks on a figure photo, including the shoulder tip, front hip bone, elbow tip, kneecap, and ankle bones.
✓Your figure sketches keep shoulder and pelvic tilts consistent, with knees, elbows, and wrists placed in relation to those landmarks across multiple views.
✓Place collarbones, rib edge, hip bones, and knees on a clothed figure so seams, waistbands, and folds follow their positions.
✓Rotate a simple figure from front to side to three-quarter view while keeping the landmarks aligned at consistent relative heights.

Major bony landmarks

What it is

Why it matters

You can check it when

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