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E S S E N T l A L W O O I) C A R V I N G T E C H X I Q U E S

Fig 12.6 The małe skeleton.

Shoulders

If you can gct somcone to sit down and let you look straight down on to thcir shoulders you will sec that therc is an indentation between the shoulder blades but that from the ridges of these there is a curvc forwards to the shoulder (Fig 12.8). When the arm hangs straight down the shoulder blade sticks out {see Fig 12.7). The shoulder blade moves forward and around the ribcage at its bottom corner when the arm is raised, and the ridge that runs on to the top of the shoulder (the spine of the scapula) drops beside the spine. There is not a straight linÄ™ across the back from shoulder to shoulder cvcn on a guardsman. Because of the shoulder blade the top of the arm and the back are continuous. Some carvers are tempted to make the armpit too high or to run a groovc between the shoulder and the back as on a doli with movable arms. On the front, howevcr, the head of the upper arm bonÄ™ (the humerus) and the

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