Hi, I'm Stan Prokopenko, and this is Proko. Last time we learned that the trapezius makes
the back wall of the neck. But, what the neck is all this stuff here?! Let's swing over
to the front and explore the rest of the neck.
There are a lot of small muscles in the neck that pop out when the neck tenses and moves
around. We'll go over 10 muscles in the premium lesson. In this video, I'll focus on the 2
muscles that affect the surface the most along with some bones and cartilage.
Bones and Cartilage
As always, anatomy starts with the bones. Note that the spine inserts on the back of
the skull, completely behind the jaw. The throat sits in front of the spine, making
up for half the width of the neck. The mandible, or jawbone, will be an important attachment
point today. So will the "hook" of the mastoid process behind it. You can easily feel the
mastoid process on your own head. It's the hard, bony area on the base of the skull,
just behind the bottom of your ear. Some neck muscles attach to the clavicles. Remember
that there's a small gap between the clavicles where the manubrium sits, about one eyeball
wide, before they flow out into that Cupid's bow shape and where is that music coming from?
Here we see the Adam's apple aka the thyroid cartilage that surrounds and protects the
voicebox. It sits just below the hyoid bone, in front of the spine and esophagus and all
that but behind the muscular wall of the neck. The Adam's apple is larger and has a 90 degree
angle on men, but women actually have one too. "Eve's apple" is just at a more open
120 degree angle so it's less noticeable.
There's another cartilage called the cricoid cartilage right under the thyroid cartilage,
which looks a lot like a class ring. Gryffindor!
There's a thyroid gland that cover the cricoid cartilage and soften it depending on how big
the gland is.
The hyoid is a small, horseshoe shaped bone above the Adam's apple. It's the corner between
the bottom plane of the jaw and front of the neck. It's an unusual little bone because
it has no joints or direct attachments to other bones.
Time for muscles! There's no competition: these three muscles are the largest and most
important neck muscles for artists to know. The levator scapulae, sternocleidomastoideus,
and trapezius are essential for expressing the forms and movements of the neck. We already
covered the trapezius, so let's get on with the other two!
Levator Scapulae
The levator scapulae is a diagonal muscle visible on the sides of the neck. It originates
from the top 4 cervical vertebrae, and inserts on the top-most point of the scapula, at that
medial-superior corner. The muscle twists on itself, so the fibers coming off of the
highest point of the scapula attach the lowest on the neck. As for what it does...
Levator Scapulay! Levator Scapulay...
It's levator scapu-LAE, not levator scapu-LAY…
Levator Scapulae!
Yup, the levator scapulae levitates the scapula, or rather, lifts up the medial edge. Sometimes
it activates just to help stabilize the scapula, so you'll see the levator scapulae popping
out in a lot of different poses. If you're having trouble identifying neck muscles, the
levator scapulae is the one that points to the ear. It's buried under the sternomastoid
anteriorly and by the trapezius posteriorly. But its middle third on the side of the neck
is superficial.
Sternocleidomastoideus
The sternocleidomastoideus
NO!
The sternocleidomastoideus...
EEH!
It sounds intimidating, but the sternocleidomastoideus is probably a muscle you're at least a little
familiar with. It's the one that makes the neck's "V" shape as it goes from behind the
ear to the pit of the neck. Its three-part name describes its three attachments...It
originates from the top of sternum, "sterno", as well as the medial third of the clavicles,
"cleido", and inserts on the mastoid process of the skull, "mastoideus". Sternocleidomastoideus!
You can also call it sternomastoid for short.
It has two distinct origins, and that means two distinct muscular heads, with a small
gap above the clavicle. It's superficial throughout its entire length, so the sternomastoid is
a must-know muscle. When it activates it rotates the head to the opposite side. If both sides
activate together, they flex the head forward. That's the sternocleidomastoideus.
EEEEEEEHHHHH!!!!
Next time, "how to draw the neck!" See you then.
To learn about 8 more neck muscles, check out the premium course at proko.com/anatomy.
So, we have a premium section for students that want to learn more. The premium section
has extended lessons with more information about the topic. It also has additional drawing
demonstrations. If you do the assignments for each lesson, these demos serve as the
answers for the assignment, so you can check your work. There's an ebook version of each
lesson that you can download as a PDF. Print them out or keep them on your device so you
can quickly review the lessons. And finally the Premium section has 3d models that you
can spin around, study, and draw from any angle. If you don't want your drawings to
look like this, go to proko.com/anatomy.
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