An anatomy demo I did this afternoon. Daggers!

We don't need Loomis or tracing for this exercise, just the power of our brains. You are still retaining everything you studied this morning whether you realize it or not. So not really worrying about specifics but just the forms and how they interact with each other.

Notice in the image how the bicep fits into the deltoid, or the forearm is drawn as a cylinder on top of the upper arm. I do this on purpose like its a sculpture or legos. You don't want to try to connect the dots with lines afterward, instead put the pieces together in the blocking phase. Then it is easy to add other muscles or details over your accurate forms. If you can't do this then go back and build simple objects and gradually increase the specific details. You are never too good to go backward. Never guess when you can find out and don't waste time finding out. Do it right now.

Once you draw one arm this way then try rotating it slightly in another direction. You will remember little details from the previous drawing to apply to the new one. Analyze. Figure it out. That is how you learn and remember.

I ranted at CA today.




Everybody in this thread is fucking awesome!

I'm liking what I have seen so far but I wanted to just throw out a few things that I have learned, maybe someone can benefit. I have noticed a lot of basic construction issues here, myself included. It is imperative for beginners or whoever to supplement anatomy with other fundamentals and hardcore analysis. Perspective especially is so important for building the other skills to improve, you can learn the rules quickly and apply them forever. Analyze.

The secret to drawing convincingly is that everything is a 3D object and not a collection of lines. You have to force yourself to understand this and draw accordingly. Try to think of your subject as an actual object made up of forms and planes and build them up to describe them in a 2D space. Honestly there is nothing more important to discover about art, build things and sculpt around them when you paint.

A few years ago I had a lot of trouble drawing heads and stuff in perspective because I didn't understand it and I was always trying to fake it. I still do, shit. From the first lesson the head is just a cylinder or cube with other cubes and cylinders attached. The mannikin is there to develop a form on which to build. In fact, the most important Loomis pages are the seemingly boring ones.

Don't just do an hour and move on, do all of them and think about why you are doing it. Analyze your shit and tear it apart until you make yourself cry on your tablet. Then wipe off your eyes pussy cause it's time to do it again.

If you think about the object as a bunch of planes and forms you have done most of the work already. If you know perspective and have an idea of where the muscles are then you can draw a body in any pose. If you understand that they are made up of 3D forms and planes then you have the lighting information already. Choose a source and apply to the planes. It's fucking simple but somehow we convince ourselves it's so difficult and then give up.

None of your shit will ever look correct until you get these ideas down, colour is pointless if you can't draw. Rendering looks terrible if the forms are off.

Get up earlier than Dave and do more studies. I started doing arm plates at 5 today. Here are a few. I didn't worry about the results, they are quick and informative for me. Don't fucking worry about how your studies look and don't waste time working on pointless shit. You are trying to develop a formula for yourself to understand. There is no magic tutorial for any aspect of art. This thread is not enough. Your sketchbook is not enough. It is all up to you to figure it out for yourself. Fuck the crippling fear. Fuck what other people think. Art wants you to fail. Do you?

Wow that was long, just look at the pictures.


Oh yeah Crimson Daggers day three losers.

Daggers day two. I did 4 or 5 pages of Loomis but it was only an hour today.

Just a little anatomy while I am stuck in bed.

Some more relaxing head and pose. I am feeling this sort of line/value hybrid in digital, forehead strokes are my new negative space hair experiments.

Some quick heads. Sometimes I realize my profiles are looking weak, or frequently 3/4 view is off so I have to do some studies. This was yesterday morning, so another page this afternoon and tomorrow.

Some more anatomy quickies. A couple of Bammes in there.

Just a quick anatomy for my colleague. Trying to make digital look like my sketchbook, and failing.

It seems I have posted a lot of man-meat lately so here is some lady-meats. I don't want anyone to get the wrong idea or anything, I still draw plenty of naked men in my spare time.

I guess I will use this blog for something, anatomy is a good place to start. If Gareth or anyone else is into this, let me know.


We'll start with this back view of an arm, first give yourself a bone structure or base, no need for accuracy. I just realized it's not even rotated properly. Toss the photo and start a new layer.



Now start adding the muscles and landmarks, if you're not sure of the placement then consult a mirror or Bridgman. They are pretty easy to see in the photo, it's imperative to remember that everything is made up of 3D shapes. Cylinders, cubes, you learn these concepts when studying perspective. Also, Bridgman shows us how parts fit together mechanically, like a machine, pistons and wedges control movement.


Now, grab a large brush and start fleshing out the shapes. We can accomplish a few things here. Obviously we need to know the direction of our light source, or sources in this case. Remember these are shapes, anybody can figure out a cube or cylinder and light it. Don't worry about details, don't noodle, use the biggest brush possible and give yourself some simple shapes, don't over complicate it. If it doesn't look right at this point, it will never look right. Throw it away and start another one. Draw a dozen on the same page if you have to, in fact you should. You can't polish a turd. Your drawings aren't precious.



Continue sculpting the shapes, use a cheesy outline like I do, grab a smaller brush and start adding details. Right now it's a good base to work from. I stopped here but one could build up the paint around the shapes one at a time, never once consulting the reference. It is the little details that make a painting look realistic. The highlights and contrasting shadows. But without the anatomy and perspective, highlights are worthless and distracting. This arm should only take a few minutes. When studying anatomy, don't worry about precise measurements or your ego, if it looks bad just do another one. Use the frustration and draw twenty of them until you get it right. That'll show em.