# 652 Locomotive anatomy . . . muscle bunching, stretching and more

I've been a journal keeper for many years and my spiral binder journals are filled with notes, sketches, and lots of information that I've deemed worthy of writing down . . . many of my blogs originate from these old journals.  

Recently, I came across an entry that I hope is informative and interesting to you about quadruped anatomy.  

The focus of this post is quadruped locomotive anatomy . . . muscle bunching, stretching, and more.

Below, is an image from an old journal entry depicting locomotive anatomy; bunching and stretching.

Locomotive anatomy, or how the muscles bunch and stretch, must be understood by the artist.
An animal's body compresses, or bunches and extends, or stretches when in motion.
Below, are two images of a sculpture depicting muscle bunching entitled, "Coyote Clipper".

Below, is an image of a sculpture depicting muscle stretching entitled, "Stealth".
Note the stretching of the skin over the muscles from joint to joint.
An understanding of skeletal structure is a necessity . . . see "nature's one pattern" in blog #644
through #648 for more information about quadruped anatomy.

Below, is another image of "Stealth" depicting muscle bunching.

                                                                                           

Go to the BLOG INDEX and Reference Page for more information.  See Post #616 and #655

Blog, text, photos, drawings, and sculpture . . . © Sandy Scott and Trish

#612 In the studio: Cat reference

The role of reference is to inspire thoughts and give anatomical data and proportions.  I recently completed the sculpture of a Cougar shown at right which I posted on the previous blog.

Each individual animal has different shapes and characteristics that are unique to that species.  My goal is to recognize and capture that individuality and this post compares
the anatomy and proportions of large cats.  

While I've only seen a Cougar in the wild twice and both times in Wyoming from a distance, I recently
spent many hours researching the animal in my library and reference room which is attached to the studio.
Research puts me in the "zone" artistically and when I'm there I accumulate everything I can such as
drawings, photos, notes. books, video, clip file,  taxidermy, skulls . . . anything that that makes me
live, think, see, feel, dream, and understand the animal I'm working on. 

While cats such as Cheetah, Leopard, and Lion have similar anatomy, their proportions, skeleton, and behavior are very different.  For more info and anatomical and skeletal data and comparison . . . see blog #479 posted Nov. 17, 2013 thru #483.  Also refer to blog #496 posted Jan. 15, 2014.  Comparative anatomy is an important research consideration.

www.Blog#479     www.Blog # 496

I am fascinated by the motion, movement, and stealth-like behavior of North America's Cougar.

Cougars are slender, agile, secretive, solitary and considered nocturnal predators . . .
They typically hunt by stalking and ambushing and must feed exclusively on meat to survive.

They are very athletic and can jump, climb, and swim. The Cougar (Felix concolor) holds the Guinness record
for the animal with the highest number of names. It has over 40 names in English alone!  Among them:
Cougar, Mountain Lion, Puma, Panther, Jaguar, Catamount, and the list goes on!

The beautiful Cougar can weigh as much as 300 pounds and can be nine feet long including
the tail which like most cats, is used for balance.  Like all cats, the Cougar's bones are joined together very loosely
which allows extreme flexibility of the spine and scapula.  The scapula is so loosely bound to the ribs that they can push up above the spine when the animal crouches.  Cats, in general, are so supple and flexible that their
front limbs (arms) are capable of almost as many motions as our own.  There are five fingers on either hand though the thumb is smaller and higher up than the others, but on the foot, there is no dewclaw and only four toes.

Below, is the Cougar's skeletal silhouette compared to a house cat.

Much can be learned about large cats by observing your house cat.  Below, is a sculpture entitled "Preening Cat".
 Note the flexible vertebrae of the cat's back . . .  most quadrupeds, including dogs, are more
rigidly constructed and do not have the extreme flexibility of the spine.

Cats have supple and flexible bodies and move with stealth and agility.  Below, are extraordinary examples of cat sculptures by famous artists of the past.  Note the flexible spring-like spine in all works.  The first example is
"Tiger Devouring an Antelope" by Antoine Louis Barye (1796 - 1875).

Below, is "Crouching Tiger"  by Rembrandt Bugatti (1884 -1916).

Below, is an image of  "Reaching Jaguar"  by Anna Hyatt Huntington (1876 -1973) which is in our collection.

Go to the BLOG INDEX on the right for more information.  See posts #616 and 655

Blog, text, photos, drawings, and sculpture . . . © Sandy Scott and Trish

#611 In the studio: "Stealth"

I am fascinated by the motion of all cats including Africa's big cats such as the Cheetah, Leopard, and Lion - see blogs #479 through # 483, posted Nov. 17, 2013 until Dec. 1.  I  have several sculptures of the subjects in progress which will be introduced at an upcoming show in August of this year.

http://Blog 479 - 483

Shown at right is Trish with our cat, Ziggy.  Much can be learned about big cats and cats in the wild such as Cougars by observing the locomotion of a house cat.

Recently, the North American Mountain Lion - also called the Cougar - has captured my imagination and

 I have created a new sculpture entitled "Stealth".   In America, Mountain Lion has become the most common name used,
but the proper name used by scientists is Puma . . . (Felis concolor).  There is actually an all black Puma
sometimes seen in Florida.  Below, are two views of the new work. . . "Stealth".

Below, are images of "Stealth" with the first coat of rubber mold material applied including a picture looking down on the sculpture. The rubber presents a sleek and smooth appearance of the clay model, reducing it to an abstract impression lacking modeling detail.  Viewing the sculpture in this manner is akin to a painter "squinting down" on their work!

Animals and animal groups are special unto themselves and each have their own variation of anatomy in motion. 

 Next Wednesday's blog will explore a more in-depth look at cats and how nature designed the beautiful creature.

Go to the BLOG INDEX on the right for more information.

Blog, text, photos, drawings, and sculpture . . . © Sandy Scott and Trish