[Fate]

Hi I'm Rob, 15,living in Calgary, newbie here
I'm studying (TRYING TO) anatomy so I found a bunch of books and got on it.
At first it seemed easy, with bicept on one side and tricept on the other, but then as I got more into it things weren't so black and white anymore.(this must be old story to those who went through it) Now I'm tired and I lost my interest
so now I'm going through this 'thing' where I can't draw anymore cause up until now I've been drawing without knowing the anatomy and I don't want to do that anymore but I can't study anatomy cause it's too much for me
I call it 'anatomy down syndrome'
maybe it's the book? I picked books with lot of diagrams cause I simply cannot go through one page of those all-word anatomy books
the book that I was studying with was 'drawing from your head' it's like step by step introduction of muscles to build up a human body
yup, I'm a lost artist in despair
advices, suggestions, inspiring words would be very nice
thankyou

[ July 31, 2001: Message edited by: Fate ]

[dr . bang]

hmmmmmm, i suggest you master the simple form first, once you're comfortable with it, move to a harder step, it will takes time

[jr]

heres my advice, take your anatomy books, stack them up, take them outside, burn them, and as people gather to watch the fire burn, you draw them. and that's how you'll learn about anatomy. you gotta be see it first, then you can go into how it works with the books.

[egerie]

I used to have anatomy courses that were so excrutiatingly detailed (origin point,etc).. Yet today I'm glad I did all of this stuff even tho it had me swearing like a sailor. It's good to know the mechanics but it's also good to know from life and not only books (nice one about burning the books and get free models, jr).

I won't go into long gory details of what we had to do but I think most comic book artists have studied anatomy.

2c from ege who thinks she needs to practice more..

[c]

mmm

i think a good starting point would be taking some life drawing courses at a local community college, and then supplementing that with some anatomy studies of your own.

as for anatomy itself.

start with the skeleton. if u dont have a solid understanding of the skeleton than studying muscles will be infinitely harder.

for the skeleton, start with the shape and angle of the ribcage. actual # of ribs and stuff isn't too important. study the pelvis and the curve of the spine. the bones that make up the shoulder girdle are really important too. the way the clavicle (collar bone) is connected to the scapula (shoulder blade) which is connected to the humerus (upper arm bone) is pretty amazing stuff.

note the relationship between the forearm bones. the way the radius rotates around the ulna, it's really cool.

erk i think i'm getting too detailed here.

anyway, once you have a fair idea of skeletal structure you can move on to some of the larger muscles like the stomach and chest muscles, the back muscles, etc.

since this is for art you don't need to get into all the nitty gritty stuff. u dont even really need to study all the surface muscles, because unless you got a super ripped model in your figure drawing class you won't be able to see them anyhow. it's kind of up to you really.

but the real key is backing everything up with a lot of figure drawing. anatomy is a really amazing subject but it is rather complicated. trying to digest all of it through books and diagrams is going to prove difficult. a good instructor is worth his weight in gold in these kind of situations.

the only anatomy book i can really recommend is 'human anatomy for artists' by eliot goldfinger. it gets pretty technical but i like it because it explains the function of each muscle and how they work and what and where they are attached to. it's easier to understand how to draw muscles when u understand how they work.

along with that book, it might be a good idea to check out basic figure drawing books. they will help you with the basic shape and form of the figure. like the andrew loomis scans u can find the net are an excellent resource (if boring) .

anatomy books that basically show all the muscles at once with little diagrams and stuff are ... going to be ... erk, a pain .

phew, long post. but if u want, i can give you an even more detailed response...

btw im no master of anatomy, hehe, i'm practically failing my anatomy class!

[ August 04, 2001: Message edited by: c ]

[MadSamoan]

All I can say is pick up Bridgeman's series of books on anatomy or maybe 'Artistic Anatomy' by Paul Richer. If it's still too daunting, try putting it on the backburner until you feel you're ready and do a ton of pencil studies from your favorite artist/illustrator instead, preferrably someone who does very anatomy intensive work. (Frazetta springs right off the top of my head)
At your age, it might be tough to get into a life drawing workshop, but you can still work from nude photography books like Vallejo's Bodies/Hindsight books or Schatz's NudesBodyNudes/Waterdance books. Oh yea, try to work from black and white images when you do anatomy studies.

[c]

crikey, i didn't even realize his age!

you're right, he's a little young, and it might be a little tricky to get into a figure drawing class. but then again, i think how great it would of been if i were 13-14 again and studied life drawing. in fact, if we all did, don't you think the art world would be a better place?

c for president for 2020 - mandatory figure drawing for preschoolers.

[Viridae]

Hahha C..that's great.