Anatomy Studies from Life

While studying anatomy from books and photos is very informative, to start to master it you need the 3D aspect. So, for the final session of my anatomy class I had our resident "anatomy model", Rob Donaty come in and take two poses, one back and one front, each for about an 1.5 hours of 20 minutes on 5 minutes off.

Even after an intense 10 weeks of anatomy study (maybe because of it) it was difficult for the students to focus on the big picture. Remember you don't draw a brick wall one brick at a time.

Inside the Artist's Studio: Anatomy (Torso Back) part 3

Here is the final installment of a 6 month cycle of studying and teaching academic anatomy. I feel I have learned a lot about drawing (not just humans) and teaching anatomy. I hope this will make my anatomy classes even stronger the next go round.

I thought this might be a good time to list my favorite books for the academic study of anatomy. Next semester I will be teaching a "Bridgman Studies" class, I will write more about the books I reference when studying the visual side of anatomy at that time. I definitely consider these two different fields of study, and have yet to find a single book that covers both well.

Human Anatomy for Artists: The Elements of Form by Elliot Goldfinger

Artistic Anatomy (Practical Art Books) by Robert Beverly Hale

Inside the Artist's Studio:Anatomy (Torso Back) Part 2

Inside the Artist's Studio: Anatomy (Torso Back) part 1

Torso Back

Inside the Artist's Studio: Anatomy (Torso Side) part 3 & 4

Inside the Artist's Studio: Anatomy (Torso Side) part 2

I am heading out IlluxCon tonight, so posting for the next week may be slim to non-existent. I am not sure what the Wi-Fi situation will be and most everyone I would want to do a guest blog is going to be there as well.

Inside the Artist's Studio: Anatomy (Torso Side) part 1

Side view skeleton, over the next month of Wednesdays I will able to show (more clearly) the muscles, such as the serratus anterior, that move from anterior to posterior (or visa versa) on the torso.

Inside the Artist's Studio: Anatomy (Torso Front) part 3

Inside the Artist's Studio:Anatomy (Torso Front) Part 1 & 2

Anatomy demos/handouts for the torso anatomy class this semester at Watts Atelier

Inside the Artist's Studio:Anatomy (Sept 2010)

Inside the Artist's Studio:Anatomy (Aug 2010)

Here are some anatomical drawing I did for an anatomy class this semester.

Perspiration: Anatomy

One of the most recommended books on anatomy is Bridgman's Complete Guide to Drawing from Life . While admittedly a great book, it can be a bit hard to follow. From Bridgman's chaotic, yet beautiful linear drawings, (made all the more difficult to follow by poor reproduction) to the somewhat erratic presentation of the text (due to the book being little more than a cobbling together of notes from his students) it can be very intimidating to the novice artist. The way I was taught to study Bridgman by Jeff Watts was a three tier process.

First: Read and understand the text as best you can (I like to have Human Anatomy for Artists: The Elements of Form close at hand to shed light on anything that is not clear)



Second: Translate and copy Bridgman's drawings into a tonal representation (this forces you to understand what you are drawing rather than just copy his marks)



Third: Find photo reference similar to Bridgmans drawings, and draw from them while trying to identify the shapes you learned from Bridgman. (I was taught to use female bodybuilders, or natural atheletes. So the muscles are clearly defined, without being overblown light steroid enhanced men)