Actually learning 3D anatomy / limbs?

Beyond frustrated with many years of experience and dedication to this specific topic in particular for nearly 2 years now. My brain refuses to do "3D" - things like foreshortening and limbs. Torsos don't really have this issue and I can draw passable 3D shapes, but arms, legs, and heads never seem to be convincing. They always look "flat".

Here's what I've tried (so please don't suggest these):

- Draw A Box

- Multiple textbooks (Force, Anatomy for Sculptors, Drawing the Human Head, Figure Drawing: Design and Invention)

- Actual classes (I got a B :'D )

- YouTube channels such as Proko, Marc Brunet, Ethan Becker, and more or less anyone who's posted decent anatomy tutorials.

- Drawing from photos, movies, real people I see outside, and other artists, aa well as muscle studies

- This website

- For methods specifically, I've tried both coil foreshortening and bounding boxes (slightly better results for these, but becomes an issue when filling in actual anatomy).

Almost everyone tells me to just study more or that I'll get there with more practice, but almost all I do is study. I've filled multiple sketchbooks now, please help! Examples: https://imgur.com/a/3ehjBWW

So I have bad news for you... But I think you actually capture those things pretty well. Especially the legs, I had to double check your post to make sure you said you don't feel like they have a 3d feel to them.

But that also makes it really hard to give any suggestions, because if I see the depth in your drawings then to me there's not really a problem to solve. (Doesn't mean I think you can't learn anything on this front, obviously there's always something to improve. But right now it's very "Hm, I don't think your art looks like what you think it looks like.")


Is there a specific visual that you are working towards? As in, do you have an artist in mind who's amazing at foreshortening that you'd like to draw like, but that you feel you don't live up to? Something like that?



(p.s. yeah the coil foreshortening etc always feels like a party trick to me. It sorta works but also it doesn't actually give you any structure to work with.)

Wait, really? For some reason I feel like arms especially don't click - I think it's something about the way they bend, but I always get really frustrated when working on them. It's hard to see your own progress sometimes, but that's kind of a relief. No news is good news, huh.



I don't really have anyone off the top of my head for foreshortening specifically, but I generally try lean pretty anime when it comes to faces and other details (artists like Shigenori Soejima [especially in Metaphor], Yusuke Kozaki, and pakosun). For body anatomy I like a bit more definition (things like Jen Zee's Hades art or more recent Guilty Gear entries), but can afford to not adhere strictly to that goal in some work (doing all that for an animation seems inefficient). Coloring (I'm actually struggling with consistent goals for this one - I like a lot of coloring styles) and adding details like clothing seems to also cause some 3D issues, but I don't have many examples because my laptop is in the shop.



(also yeah that pretty much never worked for me, it mostly just messed with the anatomy. Boxes worked much better but every so often there's a weird angle that I can't make them make sense for).

They do have a way more complex way of bending than a leg, so it makes sense that arms are more difficult to grasp. A leg has a hinge and then a literal cap at the knee, it keeps the location of the muscles at pretty consistent places in comparison to an arm.

(I think this is why I feel like boxes also is a weird approach to arms, because there are two bones in a forearm for a reason)



But since you have those artists you like - I know Shigenori Soejima has a TON of art with foreshortening just in the P5 series. (Heck, so do all the persona dancing entries) It's always an option to minimalistically trace his work and see what exactly makes it go from arm blob to very dynamic art, and what you feel is the difference between your sketches now and those pieces. Although that may be easier when you get your laptop back.

(I think his work is especially fun to study because you have this whole timeline of his skill developing. Persona 3 has great art but it's nowhere NEAR metaphor. Which I really want to play. sobs.)



When it comes to clothing btw, I think the BEST thing you can do is learn a little bit about how garments are constructed - You can gain a lot of knowledge just from owning a tshirt and a pair of pants. If you put seams in the right place, that's half the battle right there. (the other half is 'just' making sure the perspective in the body and garment is the same)

Good plan! TYSM!!!



(Great news! I'm also a cosplayer! Just need to figure out how to translate that to art.


I actually have a soft spot for original P3's art, but I definitely prefer Metaphor's overall look, I think a lot of the designs are really cool).

Nice, that's the perfect skill for this tbh :D



(Oh and please don't consider that a dig at P3's art, I love it too! But you can see him get technically better over time and that's really neat!)

(Oh no I'm not offended! I agree! I got into the series with Portable so I have a soft spot for it).

Thank you again!