MichaelBritton

TheDrawing
EZine
Artacademy.com
August 2013
The Drawing EZine
Edward Hopper:
The Understructure of
Nighthawks
Edward Hopper (1889-1967) is con-
sidered the quintessential realist
painter of mid 20th century New
York life. He studied painting with Robert Henri, one of Americas most infuential instructors whose
book The Art Spirit is still widely read, from 1903 to 1906. Hopper was a devoted fan of cinema
and the theatre and his interest in stage design and cinematic techniques played a large part in his
compositions.
Hopper is often said to be the master painter of urban alienation and loneliness. He chafed under this
designation and felt that this loneliness thing is overdone. Hopper was reclusive and throughout his life
felt frustrated and awkward with human relationships. Many of his works evoke a longing to escape.
Hopper is a synthesizer of reality, his process is about memory. The locales of his narratives never
existed; they are fragments of seen and recorded ephemeral that are extrapolated and fused into a real-
ity that invokes the known. Phillies Diner is a fabrication. But, still, people wander Sheridan Square
in New York seeking out the actual location of Nighthawks. It is believed to have been Crawfords
Luncheonette that was once behind the Loews Sheridan Theatre on Greenwich Avenue. Hopper stated
that Nighthawks was a restaurant on New Yorks Greenwich Avenue where two streets meet.
Edward Hopper, Nighthawks, 152.4 x 84.1cm, 1942
T
oo often I have viewed a portrait drawing where the artist has
paid careful attention to all of the requisite, plastic criteria and
be saddened to see the entire drawing fall apart due to the
collar-bones, or Clavicles.
The Clavicles play their role in framing the head. Perhaps not so
much as the hair or a scarf, for example, but in a work of art every-
thing counts.
The Clavicles Adding a
Graceful Finishing Touch
First, lets examine the Clavicles anatomical structure. Understanding struc-
ture is a critical key to improving your drawing and painting.
The Clavicle is a gentle S shaped bone, it gracefully arcs backwards from the
pit of the neck (the Suprasternal Notch) like a birds wing. If you own one of our
fne skeletons try standing on a chair, or ladder, and look down. Youll see that
the Clavicles describe an archers bow. When we stand with our arms relaxed
the Clavicles descend downwards from the sternal notch. But fold your arms
and the Clavicles will ascend upwards.
The medial (inside) head of the Clavicle originates at the Suprasternal Notch
and is attached to the Manubrium,the upper portion of the sternum, by liga-
ments. The medial head of the Clavicle thickens into a conical shape at the
Suprasternal Notch.
The medial two-thirds of the Clavicle is roughly cylindrical. The lateral (out-
side) portion, the fnal third, fattens and widens as it concludes at the Acro-
mium Process which is visible as the second, lateral bump on the shoulder.
The Acromium Process is actually the forward projecting part of the Scapula
(shoulder blade), but the Coracoacromial Ligament joins the Clavicle and
Acromium Process together so that it appears as one gentle form.
Manubrium
Suprasternal Notch
Medial Head of the
Clavicle
Medial Body of the
Clavicle
Lateral Portion of the
Clavicle
Another important note is that all of the neck and
shoulder muscles attach behind the Clavicle. The
only exception is the thin, sheet-like Platysma that
originates at the lower lip and continues into the
chest. Jut your jaw out while clenching your teeth
and you will see the Platysma.
Acromium Process
Scapula
Clavicle
Sternal Notch
Ligaments
Coracoacromial
Ligament
F I

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Y
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Placing the Suprasternal Notch is relatively straight-forward.
Always take your best guess frst, as this will train your eye, and
then sight the distance from the base of the chin to the sternal
notch. Compare that measure to the face. In this case the
measure is just below the horizontal placement of the eyes.
It is also a good idea to check the length of
the clavicle against the face. Too long a clavi-
cle and your model will have the shoulders of a
line-back. Too short a distance and the result
will be equally incongruous.
In this pose the model is hunched forward. Note the radical dif-
ference in measures from the previous pose. The Clavicles are
also swept upwards much more dramatically.
When the shoulders are
raised there is a marked
triangular depression above
the Clavicles.
This depression is called the
Supraclavicular Fossa.
Although in most portrait poses the Clav-
icles are subtle they should not be over-
looked nor skimped on. Ive illustrated
the rhythmic movement that the Clavicles
serve here as the viewers eye travels
down the facial arena the far Clavicle
guides the eye leftwards along the cor-
responding Clavicle, up the shoulder and
back of the neck and back into the head.
Without this rhythmic guidance that the
Clavicles serve, the viewers eye would
simply drop off of the page. No one likes
to be dropped.
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