Ecorche - or filleted man (and yes filleted is spelled correctly)

The French like to make things difficult on Americans by incorporating their cuisine into art.  Ecorche means to filet (or skin, or remove the bones, as in fish, lots of translations apparently) and so when you do a study like this you are really just prepping for cooking.  Eww.

On a side note, this is not the best exercise to learn to draw.  I think this is a great exercise after you've learned the basics of construction...my drawings for a long time have suffered from too much knowledge and not enough basic construction.

Ecorche

Pronounced EH-kor-shay, it is the art of learning anatomy by sculpting your own skeletal and muscular system. My only comment is: why isn't this a foundational course in EVERY art school????!

Special thanks to Nikki Covington for generously passing along his valuable information and insights learned at the Florence Academy of Art. At least, I think that's what the school's called. He's almost converted me to the academic tradition but I don't think I'll ever get over drawing a finger for nine hours...

I much prefer stuff to be done by lunchtime so I can get on with my life.

However, I did learn about a Bronze foundry and supplier of Chavant clay (best stuff I've found--used by all the professionals in USA it seems) in Alpine, UT.

Adonis Bronze
M-F 8-5pm
801-763-9700

Check it out. I highly recommend Professional Plasteline--runs for about $4 a pound.