How to Draw Human Body Muscles
Original cartoon – 15-20 minutes – by Mayko
Traced outline with pencil, muscles inserted with coloured pencil, based on muscle references. This exercise really helps the next time you lot depict a figure
The skeleton tells y'all about the structure you lot are looking at. We cover some of the essential points and shapes of it in our free beginner mini-grade. The muscles give you the tension, relaxation, stretch and much of the sense of free energy in the pose. Human muscles are layered and there are many of them in one trunk.
At that place's no demand to study all of them for life drawing purposes, but knowing the shapes and contortions of the major muscles that touch the body'southward surface will assistance you to draw bodies expressively.
Nosotros recommend three exercises to improve your knowledge of muscles for drawing:
one. Develop your sense of 'Faculty'. Place your manus on a role of your trunk, for case your stomach with both easily, or place your left hand on your right armpit etc, then move that part in many directions. Feel how the muscle at that place contributes to the movement and endeavour to retrieve the experience of different movements and how the shapes of the muscles change.
Then the next fourth dimension y'all describe from a model or photo, try to sense the pose the model is making within your own body, basically imagining doing that pose. This sensation relates to 'kinesthesia' – you proceeds an understanding and a sort of empathy with the model'southward pose in terms of muscle. The outcome is largely sub-conscious, and will assist give the drawing free energy and life.
ii. The second do will crave one of your finished drawings. You lot volition need some tracing paper to place over the drawing, or any newspaper as long as yous can see through to the cartoon underneath. You'll also need a graphite pencil , a coloured pencil of whatever color, and some anatomical references (encounter the links provided below).
Fix the tracing paper over the drawing at the corners so that it won't motion. Trace the contours of your drawing with a graphite pencil advisedly, particularly where there are bumps or dents. Also trace major lines inside the drawing where there are noticeable changes of tone or bumps. Then take a coloured pencil and try to position the major muscles within the traced shape, referring to your anatomical reference diagrams. It'due south not easy considering the size and even shape of muscles vary depending on the person and their appearance will change greatly by pose too as the angle you're viewing them from.
Your aim is just to merge the anatomical diagram into your drawing as best you tin can. If you struggle with one body role, then pay close attention to that area during your side by side drawing. Or you can search for a similar pose amid the old masters' drawings (Michelangelo and Raphael in detail) and study them.
Here are examples of some drawings and the tracing paper muscle exercise:
Original drawing (35 minute drawing a life cartoon session) by Mayko
Traced outline in pencil, musculus anatomy in coloured pencil inserted based on references
Original drawing – 10 minutes during life cartoon session – 15 minutes by Mayko
Traced outline in pencil, so inserted major muscles using online muscle references
three. Now you will need a adept sized version of a figure cartoon by an old master of your choice. Again, nosotros recommend Michelangelo and Raphael, but any master y'all admire would do, as long as the drawing has skillful muscular clarification. Go through the aforementioned process as do 2.
Muscle references: Fortunately, anatomical references are like shooting fish in a barrel to find on the internet. Wikipedia's muscular system pages are an excellent identify to first. Inner body's anatomy tool is also useful. We also similar the sometime school diagrams from Vesalius which y'all can freely access at this historical anatomies website. Vesalius gives y'all the important shapes of each muscle as part of the whole trunk in poses. It is therefore much easier to chronicle to in terms of life drawing. Our favourite anatomy book is Valerie Winslow's Classic Human being Anatomy.
Vesalius beefcake diagram – back
For exercises ii and 3, these are the muscles you should pay particular attention to (you don't demand to learn the names, only pay attention to the shapes): Torso, front
- Pectoralis major
- Rectus abdominis (6 pack + more)
- Serratus inductive
- External oblique
- Trapezius
- Deltoid
Torso, dorsum
- Trapezius
- Deltoid
- Latissimus dorsi
- External oblique
- Gluteus Maximus, Medius (hip)
Arms
- Deltoid (shoulder)
- Biceps
- Triceps
- Brachialis
- Brachioradialis
- Extensor carpi radialis
- Flexor carpi ulnalis
- Extensor digitarum
Thigh and knee
- Gluteus medius
- Tensor fasciae latae
- Sartorius
- Rectus femoris
- Vastus lateralis
- Biceps femoris
- Vastus medialis
- Semitendinosus, Semimembranosus
Legs
- Tibialis anterior ('Tibia' is shinbone, this is a muscle)
- Gastrocnemium (correct head and left head)
- Soleus
- Peroneus longus
- Achille's tendon (not a muscle)
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Source: https://www.lovelifedrawing.com/4-7-learning-the-muscles/