On Saturday of each week, I'll post a new lesson - most weeks will be a diagram with text explanations. Some weeks will feature a drawing with an overlay or some other type of example of the uses of previous lessons. I'll be starting out with basic proportions, then moving on into the skeleton and then the muscles. Important landmarks to look for while drawing from a model will be noted; this will help you keep your proportions in check. I will also mention any interesting articles, exhibits or other materials I come across that will help you further understand human anatomy.
In case you're wondering about me and my background with anatomy, I earned my MFA in Fine Arts from the Academy of Art University in San Francisco. My focus was figure drawing and painting with a closer look at human anatomy. In order to further understand the way muscles and bones attach, my thesis was a series of paintings featuring zombies called 'Post Apocalyptic Portraits'. This subject matter allowed me to note the intricacies of anatomy so I could pull it apart convincingly while keeping the realism that I'd learned from studying the Old Masters.
One of the best classes I've taken in regards to understanding anatomy at a very deep and intricate level was écorché. If you have a school or studio nearby that offers this type of course, take it! You will learn to sculpt the human body from bones to superficial muscles, including all deep muscles and tendons in between. Here are a few photos of my écorché sculpture :
I apologize for the gross wall behind him. These photos were taken in my studio at school and I never repainted to make the walls presentable. Anyway, as you can see, you learn bone and muscle thickness as well as insertion points very well while working on these sculptures.
Another big help is going to cadaver labs (usually you need to be enrolled in a college course to attend one of these) or to visit the Body Worlds exhibition that occasionally will tour around the world. I urge you to pay close attention to the name of the exhibit you go to - Body Worlds is the original and only uses bodies that have been donated to the cause rather than taking those of prisoners or other unknown locations. It's a little more romantic when you know the folks wanted their bodies to be looked at, in my opinion.
Anyway, I hope you get a lot of great information from this blog and learn what you need in order to produce great works of art!
Happy drawing!
Next week's lesson : Overall proportions of the body
