Welcome back and thanks for completing that last lesson!

Hopefully, the previous stage wasn’t too hard. Are you ready for the next stage? If so, let’s move on and draw the neck from the side.

When drawing the neck from the side, here are the things you need to take into account.

First, the spine isn’t going to be a straight cylinder anymore. It’s going to be a curved line. A lot of beginners don’t really realize just how much you spine is really curved. It’s not a slight curve, but a pretty significant curve, so be sure to take that into account when drawing it. In addition, remember that towards the base of the neck the spine sticks out a bit.

You’ll also need to take into account the windpipe and possibly the Adams apple when drawing the character from the side. For example, for a female, you could possible just get away with drawing the windpipe , which is a straight line stating at your throat going all the way down to your stomach.

However, since this is a male, we’ll take into account the Adams apple in this drawing. You can think of it as 2 circular rings on the wind pipe. The upper one is primarily the most prominent, but sometimes you can see the lower ring as well. For example if the character has his head tilted upwards or he is a very masculine character.

Now, let’s tackle the muscular layer. Since this is from the side, you’ll only need to draw one sternocleidomastoid. Again, this is going to be an upside y shaped muscle starting behind the ear (not in front or underneath) and ending at the collar bone.

Finally draw the big trapezius muscle in the back. This starts at the back of the skull and goes all the way done to your mid back. It also wraps around a little bit and attaches to the collar bone near the shoulders.

Now, all you need to do for the skin layer is trace over the muscle and bones. Remember to highlight both the trapezius and sternocleidomastoid, as well as make sure there’s a slight bump for the spine sticking out a bit.

Finally, make to draw the Adams apple if you’re drawing a masculine character.

I’ll be turning it over to you again. Good luck and I’ll be waiting for you on the stage 3!