3D Computer Graphics I: Week 7 – Anatomy

For one of the first times during this course I had some past knowledge of the subject we addressed in class – anatomy. I took the Life Drawing class this summer which went a bit more in depth than our official 2D course in terms of the human body. The methods we used were theory, figure drawing and sculpting clay. It was great practice for me and I improved a lot. What I did not expect was how useful sculpting was to deepen the understanding of the human anatomy, but it was very useful. Everyone who want to improve their knowledge of anatomy, especially for art purposes, should try sculpting a live model. But of course, I am far from an expert yet. I just got the basic theory down. I will present a few drawings from this summer and bring up what I think my greatest weaknesses are at the moment. I will also make a plan of how I can improve for the future six months ahead.

Here is a part from the final assignment that I did for the Life Drawing course. We were tasked to capture the rhythm of a pose from a classical painting, draw a new version with the construction, to then draw a complete drawing with anatomy and some simple shading to indicate the shapes. Lastly, we had to draw the same pose again from a 90 degree angle, to become fully aware of how the body is positioned. All of this is great practice.

Sketch from figure drawing class

Wait.. are the legs equally long?

These different drawings demonstrate something important that I will need to practice more – to keep the length of the limbs equal, especially the legs. On the sketch with the chair, the bent leg appears to be longer than the supporting leg. In dynamic poses where the character don’t stand with square hips and straight legs, it’s difficult to get it right. I’d say that the main way to get better at it is simply by practicing drawing dynamic poses.  To me personally, I experience the side angle view to give the most distortion in this.

Hands and Feet

An other weakness that I am very aware of are hands and feet – especially hands. It’s so easy to tell if it looks wrong, but still so difficult to get it right. And I’m usually too interested in the face and the rest of the body to want to pay just as much attention on the hands and feet. My dear teacher Pernilla said that one should spend as much time on the hands as on the rest of the body in total. They are very intricate like that. I just have not put enough mileage in my hand drawing practice to get it right. I am very much aware of it. With this problem as well, practice and mileage is an obvious answer to me. However, watching tutorials and learning even more about the anatomy of the hands and feet should give me a more solid base to start from.

My still unfinished sculpture. I worked on it for five days. Someday.. I will finish her!

Sculpting

I would also like to address once again how useful sculpting is in terms of learning anatomy. I’d strongly recommend sculpting with clay or something else that does not involve a computer and software. Using your hands to shape clay gives you direct control over your sculpture without any restrictions or complications. When I worked on this sculpture during the summer course, I really got to discover the directions of the different “planes” of the anatomy. The twist on the side of the torso due to the latissimus muscle among others, the flatness of the hip bone area contrasting to the rounded belly. I could go on for ages. Working with the human body in 3D gives so much more depth (literally!) to what kind of decisions you have to make when creating your piece.

Drawing on Top Of and Copying

And a last technique that I have learned from Life Drawing: Drawing rhythm, construction and anatomy on top of something, to then redraw it on your own afterward. We got several assignments like these and develops the vision of seeing beneath the skin, to what is underneath. Being aware of what the shapes actually are is important in order to create work of your own.

Edit: Everyone should own a book for reference. I have Albinus on Anatomy. It’s really cheap and Swedish residents can get it by clicking here.