Until a child is three or four months old, the neck is too weak to support the head, which is proportionately very large for the body. The neck in a new-born baby and up to age two is hardly visible as such, but may be indicated by creases in rolls of fatty tissue. As the child grows the neck becomes more perceptible and takes on a rather slender delicate appearance. When a boy of sixteen or seventeen becomes active in athletics, the neck thickens. As a portrait painter, you should watch for this, as the heavy, sturdier neck is a good way to indicate a young man growing out of boyhood.
All professional athletes show great strength in the neck.
Michealangelo gave all his people sturdy necks, both men and women. There is something heroic about a very strong neck in a painted image. The pit at the front base of the neck has two small bony protuberances rising on either side. These are the inner ends of the collarbones, the clavicles, which attach at this central point to the breastbone, or sternum. The opposite ends of these collarbones extend outward to the shoulders.