The integumentary system includes the skin, hair, nails and sweat glands. Not only does the skin protect the inner body, it also acts as a massively intrinsic defence system. Skin is very tough, its thickness ranging somewhere between 1-3mm (its thickness increasing around the souls of the feet, palms of the hands and back).
Skin is constructed of three main layers, all of which can be further broken down. The outer layer, the epidermis, is a sheet of skin which is constantly replenishing itself. Beneath the epidermis is the dermis. The dermis is a thick wall which provides skin with a lot of its elasticity. Finally, the innermost layer is the hypodermis which contains the fat tissue. The body uses fat as its food source. Though our daily food intake supplies us with our daily energy source, the fat reserves are kept as an emergency food source to provide energy when it isn’t being provided by carbohydrates. Fat also has secondary functions, such as protecting the body from cold and reduce shock from impact.
The fats builds up in different areas between men and women. Men primarily gain weight around their mid-drift, while within women it’s more prominent around the thighs and buttocks.
The bodies temperature is controlled by sweat glands within the skin. When the body is too hot it will produce sweat in order to cool down. The main sweat glands are found in the arm pits, around the groin and behind the knee.
The loose study in charcoal is based on William Bouguereau La Vague. Bouguereau is a renaissance artist whose portraits primarily depict fuller figured women. This shape is reflective of that period and evidence that the female form initially gathers fat cells around the hips and thighs.
Lucy Anna Lowe 