top of page

How does our appearance actually change when ageing?

What changes?

 As we grown phsyical changes happen all the time; when we are young our lower half of the face elongates and grows forewards, then the forehead grows up and flatens. Then when puberty hits growth spurts are regular along with weight gain shoulders widen in males and hips in females, breasts are developming in females and they are fully developed by the timethey reach adulthood. Even though all these changes are happening,

 

The face of a man or woman looks almost the same throughtout his or her life, no matter the age. This phenomenon is known as gnomatic growth.

(Debreceni, 2013, p77)

 

What is Gnomatic Growth?

 

Gnomatic growth is a process that leaves facial features in later years similar to those found in youth, because of this, this process is used in missing persons cases when children have gone missing then 20 years later are found and identified. 

 

 

Figure 9.0

Eldery Man

The skin around the eyelids becomes loose and wrinkled, often making a "crow's feet" pattern. The eye socket loses some of its fat pads, making the eyes look sunken and limiting eye movement.

The outer surface of the eye (cornea) may develop a grayish-white ring called arcus corneus or arcus senilis.

The jowls may begin to sag, leading to a "double chin" 

The nose lengthens slightly and may look more prominent.

Loss of teeth can make the lips look shrunken.

The eyebrows and eyelashes become grey.

Wrinkles will become prominent especially around the eyes, forwhead and lips.

Decade breakdown.

 

The following breakdown by decade was created by a renowned forensic illustrator, Karen Taylor, from research presented in The Journey of Otolaryngology, Craniofacial Identification in Forensic Medicine, the Combined Graphic Method (CGM) of Craniofacial Reconstruction, and the Scottsdale School.(Debreceni, 2013, p 78-80):

Eye bags.

 

What are eye bags?

These are puffy/swollen areas under you eye however when we age the eye bags are created by the fat from the upper eye lids moving round to under the eye creating bags.

 

Factors that cause under eye bags

  • Fluid retention due to changes in weather (for example, hot, humid days), hormone levels or eating salty foods

  • Not getting enough sleep

  • Allergies or dermatitis, especially if puffiness is accompanied by redness and itching

  • Heredity — under-eye bags can run in families

(Mayoclinic.org, 2014)

The 20s

  • Fine transverse frontal lines may appear across the forehead

  • Fine vertical galbellar lines may appear in people who frown frequently

  • Fine Lateral orbital lines, or "crows feet," may  appear in people who smile often or spend a lot of time in the sun.

 

The 30s

  • Transverse frontal lines deepen

  • Vertical glabellar lines deepen

  • Lateral orbital lines increse in number and deepen

  • Transverse nasal lines may form across the top of the nose

  • Nasolaboal line or furrows become noticable

 

The 40s

  • The infeior orbital groove may become apparent

  • The eyebrows may decend slightly

  • An excess of upper eyelid may develop and a portion of the superior orbital groove may be obscured at the lateral side

  • The jawline becomes less firm

  • Circumoral striae become noticable, especially in smokers

  • The lips may begin to thin

  • The oromoral groove may begin, depending of facial structure

  • The mentolabial groove becomes more apparent, depending on facial structure

  • Frine lines in the neck become noticable

Firgure 9.1

A image refrence for lines/grooves/furrows on the face

Wrinkles.

 

Terminology for the lines and grooves of the face has been published by the American Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons that  is related to the degree of facial line depth, such as transverse frontal lines and nosolabial folds. A progression of wrinkles begins as lines, then grooves, and matures into deeper furrow and folds. Here is a guideline: Wrinkles appear perpendicular to the stretch of underlyine muscles. For example, the horizontal (transverse) lines across the forehead are perpendicular to the vertical pull of the frontalis muscle of the face. (Debreceni, 2013, p 78)

Figure 9.2

 

This example shows a boy that went missing as a young boy and their drawings of what he would look like around 18. Then what he looked like when found.

Figure 9.3

 

Above are photos of a women who has gone missing and never been found and the drawing below has used the gnomatic growth to influence and direct their drawing of what she would look like aged. The lips, nose and dimples have been used as the feature that will have changed the littlest.

How this links to my sculpt.

 

I am going to use thise process when sculpting myself at 60 years old because I still want to audience to recognise that it is me but older which I think these examples of how this process is used can be very close and accurate to the actual person aged without waiting the years to see what I do infact look like. AS gnomatic growth is about prediction I felt it has been improatnt to see what it is, examples and how it has been used in real life.

After 20 years old the growth pattern is worsening and destructing the past 20 years growth and youthfulness, obviously everyones skin will age at a different rate and factors of how they have lived their life will influence its appearance, this has been explored in detail on the 'Factors of Influences' tab. Go to Changing faces - task 1 > Factors of influences.

Facial ageing.

 

Every pesron ages at their own rate however there are common features that we expect to see at certain ages, below I have outlined aspects of ageing that we notice in people.

 

Skin tags are commonly found around the eyes and neck on eldery people

Using this information.

 

This information is really useful for designing my sculpt as I have visual refrences of where lines will appear as I age, obvioulsy these are identical in all people but these are general things I need to consider. I can look at what sort of person I am, happy, sad, angry, and see how this affects which lines will appear first therefore be deeper on my sculpt. The decade by decade is helping me to understand what happens and the order so realisticly what I expect to see when i am looking between 60-70, I will need to consider how mylifestyle will affect my skin and its texture.

The 50s

  • The inferior orbital groove may define a developing pouch under the eyes

  • Excess upper eyelid tissue may worsen, obscuring more of the superior orbital groove at the lateral side and creating more lateral orbital lines

  • The nasolabial furrow is more noticable

  • The oromental groove deepens

  • The lips continue to thin, especially in people who has thin lips in youth

  • Dental changes may become appaent, increasingly line accordingly

  • A buccomandibular groove may appear

  • The jawline becomes much less firm

  • Jowls and a double chin may appear

  • Lines in the neck are more noticable

  • Arcus seniis may begin to appear in the eyes

 

The 60s

  • All the aforementioned linesbecome exaggerated

  • The circumoral striae may cross over the vermillion border of the lips

  • Ears appear to get larger, and wrinkles appear in front of the tragus

  • The jawline is very soft, and tissues under the neck sag

 

The 70s and older

  • All the aforementioned lines become more pronunced and defined, accompanied by a marked loss of elasticity of the skin and sagging tissue

bottom of page