The importance of head structure

From Rockwell on Rockwell.  How I make a picture.

Norman Rockwell
The importance of head structure

“I have made these sketches of the skulls to illustrate how important the knowledge of the skull is. I had an art teacher years ago (George Bridgeman) who made us draw hundreds of skulls in all positions. I felt he was overdoing it at the time but now I realize what a wonderful lesson he taught us. When ever I draw a head, I instinctively feel the skull structure beneath. Faces are the centre of attraction in all human interest, story-telling pictures. It is the face of the characters in your picture which tell the story you wish to express. You can make people love or hate these characters or laugh and cry with them. It is obvious, therefore, that the human face is the most important single element in any human interest picture. If you do not have real skill in drawing and painting faces and their expressions, you are licked at the start in making human interest pictures”.