Anatomia Artistica Michel Lauricella

Anatomia artistica — Michel Lauricella

1. The Simplified Head (La Tête Simplifiée)

The book opens with the head, but Lauricella avoids the standard "Loomis method" circles. He focuses on the "wedge" and the "mask." He breaks the cranium into a spherical volume and the face into planar facets. His drawings of the écorché (flayed figure) show the relation between the skull’s bone structure and the surface expression.

2. What Makes It Different: “Morpho” Thinking

Lauricella’s approach is built on a concept he calls “morpho” (from morphology). Instead of memorizing every muscle name, he teaches the simplified geometric masses of the body. He breaks the human figure down into: anatomia artistica michel lauricella

• Blocks and wedges (ribcage, pelvis, head)
• Cylinders and tubes (limbs, neck, torso)
• Simplified surface landmarks (bony prominences, muscle origins/insertions visible on the surface)

This makes the book incredibly useful for drawing from imagination or life drawing. You learn to see the body as interlocking 3D forms, not just a collection of anatomical labels. Anatomia artistica — Michel Lauricella 1

Sketchbook Format

The book is designed to look like a worn-out sketchbook. The drawings are not polished; they are raw, energetic lines. This is intentional. Lauricella is showing you his process, not just the final result. You see the construction lines, the erased corrections, and the trial-and-error. It gives the student permission to be messy. Blocks and wedges (ribcage, pelvis, head) Cylinders and