queeeensuave:

kimbysaysgo:

thatpettyblackgirl:

https://museumandmemorial.eji.org/

A gentle reminder that the “last lynchings” were between 1981-1991, so
it’s less than 40. The CRA act was passed 54 years ago. Not enough
people want to hear or remember that.

y’all should remember that lynching is the extralegal murder for an alleged offense without a legal trial. Of course these cases of people dying at the hands of police is a lynching.

Wow

art-res:

tofuthebold-art:

Back muscles!

SKELETAL LANDMARKS 

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  • shoulder blades: most of the upper back muscles attach to them directly, placement is affected by the arms. They can get obscured on very muscular backs, but most people these are the most dominant features!
  • 7th cervical vertebra: neck bone that sticks out in most people, it sits in the center of that diamond shaped tendon in the middle of the trapezius
  • Also, obviously always keep the general shape of the ribcage and spine in mind, it was too much of a pain to draw them all in lol.

BACK MUSCLES

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  • Erector Spinae: make the column-like structures around the spine,
    they extend all the way up to the neck, but you really only see the
    bottom part.
  • Latissimus Dorsi: are very thin, so most of the time you only see the structures underneath (such as the erector spinae). But when flexed, (for example, when climbing), you can see here on Jimmy Webb’s back that swooping curve it makes under the armpits.
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  • The lats are also responsible for most of a person’s upper body strength and are the “V” shaped part of the back. For example, it’s how Bruce Lee was so strong despite being a small guy. Just look at those wings, man.
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  • Infraspinatus, Teres Minor, and Teres Major:
    sit on the shoulder blade itself, and connects it to the top of the arm
    bone. These are responsible for a lot of the crazy shapes you see in
    bodybuilders’ backs.
  • Underneath them is the serratus anterior, which technically isn’t a back muscle but sits on the side of the ribs. These form that zig-zag pattern on the ribs that makes people look super ripped when visible with the external obliques, both wrapping around the sides of the torso. They’re not technically back muscles but fill out the silhouette, so it’s good to keep them in mind.
  • the glutes/butt muscles… they go farther up the back than one might assume and they, along with the pelvis, do affect the surface appearance of the lower back.
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  • Rhomboid: simple shape, attaches from the inner edge of the shoulder blades to the middle of the spine at the 7th cervical vetebra to about the 4th or 5th thoracic vetebra. It does not overlap with the latissimus dorsi
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  • Trapezius: divided roughly in the top, middle, and bottom sections. The top is quite thick and cylindrical and makes the sloping shape from the neck to the shoulders.
  • The bottom part is very thin; like the latissimus dorsi, the forms underneath it are visible when relaxed, making the rhomboid visible if it is flexed and the traps are not. Also not where the bottom part’s tendons attach to the shoulder blades; it outlines the curve of the shoulder blades even in people who are covered in brains muscles.
  • When fully flexed, it doesn’t taper into a point, but makes a small “w” shape at the bottom.
  • The 7th cervical vertebra sits at the center of the diamond-shaped tendons between the first and second sections of the trapezius. This part appears recessed in very muscular people.
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  • Deltoid: not really a back muscle, but they overlap with the Infraspinatus and insert into the upper ridge of the shoulder blades, so it’s good to see how they interact with the others.
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Ah, now for an example, featuring Thor himself. Note the curve where the traps meet the shoulder blades, the diamond-shaped tendon, and the rough “w” shaped contour of the lower back. Also note the two dimples, which is formed by the pelvis bones. They tend to be more prominent in women, although they are found in both men and women.

Try to find the back muscles on other people yourself, and then GET DRAWING

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(PS, Generally it’s best to be able to simplify the forms instead of trying to render straight away – that’s how you know you really internalized the anatomy! I… honestly still don’t understand the back enough to do that yet, hence the lack of examples, unlike with the forearms post. But nonetheless, I hope that this is still useful as a general reference. I know it’s helped me at least remember what the different parts are, even if I don’t yet have a grasp of how they interact in motion!)

Such a great, in-depth anatomy tut!

vampireapologist:

When I was 18 I took a ballet class at college and every morning our beginner adult class started just as the Ballet Majors in the studio next door took a mid-class break.

Many mornings they would gather in the doorway of my classroom and watch us struggle through our bar warmups or jumble up a new technique while they smiled and whispered to each other.

And every morning I dreaded seeing them there because I knew they were making fun of me.

I had other classes with some of them, and I was always embarrassed when ballet came up, and it always did, them being ballet majors, because I loved to talk about it but knew they’d seen me dance, and I was sure they thought I didn’t belong in the conversation.

At the end of the semester, our instructor announced that she’d like to invite the dancers from the next door studio to sit in on our final performance as an audience, and everyone in my class hesitated. We’d worked so hard, we wanted to celebrate our progress during our final without being judged. Most of us left class that day suddenly more anxious about the final than we’d ever been.

The next morning, in one of my other classes I had with the ballet majors, one of them approached me, and as if she’d been reading our minds the entire semester, she said

“Hey. I just wanted to say that I know we watch you guys dance a lot, and I wanted to make sure you know we’re never laughing at you. When we watch you guys learn the basics…..it reminds us of when we first started when we were younger. It’s like…looking at ourselves when we first fell in love with dancing. That’s why we love watching you guys.”

It shocked me. I felt awash with relief and utterly stupid all at once.

Here I had spent an entire semester assuming the worst of people who had otherwise been nothing but nice to me in every other setting, and I had no one to blame for that but my own insecurities that I’d allowed to rule me for months.

I’d been so unfair to these girls, because I was self conscious. I was so worried about being judged that I’d judged all of them.

Here I was worried they were laughing at me, and all along they were looking at me with nothing but absolute delight, even envy for what I was getting to experience.

This encounter changed my entire attitude, permanently.

It made me realize that, yeah sometimes people are jerks for no reason, but more often than not, people really are just….Good.

Since that day, I’ve started giving everyone the benefit of the doubt until they prove me wrong, for their sake and for my own.

And I’ve learned that the world becomes a lot better and life becomes a lot easier when you accept that maybe not everyone is judging you. Maybe you’re the one who’s hardest on yourself.

Let yourself be. Let yourself exist and breathe and be happy.

The world is a much better place.