Hi, welcome to my continuing series on anatomy for artists. Join me as I investigate anatomical texts to study how the human body can be accurately rendered in drawing. My sources include wikipedia, youtube, and textbooks (e.g. Gray's Anatomy). My approach is to build a rudimentary understanding as relevant to figure drawing.
Many muscles move the lips, I would like to highlight these: the Levator labii superioris, the Zygomaticus (Major and Minor), the Rigorius, the Platysma and lastly the Orbicularis oculi.
The Levator labii superioris is a set of muscles for elevating the upper lip. descends down from above and pulls up.
The Zygomaticus Major pulls in under the cheeks when we smile. The minor is higher than the major and when engaged creates an tug on the lip like Elvis.
The Rigorius pulls sideways and down for a bit of a frown.
The orbicularis oculi is the free floating muscle around the mouth. More complex than the oculi at the eye, it has four quadrants. All originate at the middle of the mouth and insert in the end of the lips. This allows you to:
Presses together to close the lips.
Tightening to purse
Rolls the lips inwards in between the teeth.
Thrust outward pouting and kissing
The Platysma pulls the face down through the neck to the clavicle. This creates a stretched out and tense skin the neck and a grimacing expression.
Thank you for reading and following my investigations. See you for more variants on Wednesday.
