What even are spines, muscles, and hips?

by Basicglitch, December 8th 2020 © 2020 Basicglitch

I THINK I'm starting to get the hang of being more "loose" (still a struggle, but a few of these feel much more fluid than others). Still trying to get it through my thick skull that spines aren't a striaght line. Who would've guessed?

I'm unsure what to define on the stomachs, backs, and hips. I've been shopping around for some anatomy books to study so that I get a good grasp on the muscles involved in movement while I draw. I think that's the next step here, right?

These were done within about a half an hour, maybe 5 minutes on each. The two guys at the bottom are frustrating because the model has his hips turned forward but his shoulders turned back. Trying to establish those muscles, without having a clue what they even are, is... uh... impossible, lol.

Am I on the right track? Is there a habit I'm building that I should change? Any advice is super appreciated (the comments on my other stuff have been SO helpful! Thank you everyone).

Verati404

Hi! I think you're doing a good job so far, but I understand the frustration: when you don't understand the underlying structure of the human body, it can be hard to know what to draw.

So, first thing's first: go find an anatomy drawing of the torso and the hips. No, really. You should at least glance at the overarching muscle groups - you don't have to concern yourself with details too much, but more the big picture: how far the ribs come down, and where the muscles on the torso connect to each other: the lats, the pectorals, the traps.

Second is the hip area: if you look in a mirror, you can probably feel where your hip bones are on the side. Your pelvis, for the purpose of drawing, is basically shaped like a bowl with knobs on the side where your legs attach. A Barbie doll actually illustrates this pretty well.

If you want a super quick way to understand all of what I'm saying here, go check out Aaron Blaise's "Human Anatomy" course on his creatureartteacher.com website. He runs specials pretty often and I benefited from several sales of his, which launched a greater understanding of what our bones and muscles do when we move. I highly recommend those, but if you're broke, spending time looking over a skeleton and muscle chart and identifying where you're having issues will help, too.

All in all, I think you're on the right track. You can identify when something doesn't look right, and that's probably the most important skill to have in the beginning. I hope some of this information helps. Keep up the good work!

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Polyvios Animations

Wow! You sure are one the right track, basicglitch, for I'm a big fan of yours and your efforts. Again, that's a really far more than greater job on establishing the forces and forms, keep going.

Still I've got one tinier, smaller suggestion: in addition to loosening up the forces, or gestures-if you will, why don't you please tighten up the forces and forms just a wee little bit, in 45 minutes of 2 minute poses, (about 23) from your anatomy book collection?

The reason why you would, and could do this is because, it'll make your poses and figures, not just solid and fluid, but much most livelier, too.

Hope it's been definitely and absolutely productive and favorable.

Aliencommando

Hi! You're on the right track and these drawings look pretty nice!

Before you start worrying about muscles, you might want to spend a bit more time on proportion. Although the poses overall look good, your hips and legs are all over the place at the moment, proportion-wise. As far as anatomy, I know someone below says to study muscle groups but IMO you should study the skeleton first-- not like every last bone and rib but once you've drawn at least the skull, torso, hips a couple times, you will really get much better at proportions, and then you'll find it easier to understand where the muscles are connecting. Also skeletons are fun and spooky to draw. But if you do none of that and just keep drawing from reference pictures a bunch, you'll get better anyway.

Hope it's helpful! :)

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