HELP- Methods for learning- Anatomy/imaginative Drawing

[Jamsey]

Hey

(Im terribly sorry if am asking a question which has already been answered)

On the subject of Concept Art, I am doing my best to try and learn anatomy (mainly for imagination) since its a must for "concept" work, and also because I dont know any excersises or ideas of what else to draw that will improve my concept. However, for my situation i dont know what I should do- whether it will enforce bad habits, poor interpretations, or whatever, I dont know.

-Im 15 and I cant exactly find anywhere which will let me draw people from life unclothed yet im told that this is imperative for observation. I could draw people with clothes in the street or whatever, but some people say you shouldnt because you wont understand whats going on underneath

-I would use books or picture references to copy- until ive built up an "image-base" type thing; but then people are saying references are bad, so dont use them. In addition, Ive seen that some people say that pictures and book type media shouldnt be used because you cant establish a good perspective on something.

-On actually how to improve my anatomy drawing: should I just draw body parts, draw skeletons, muscles. gestures- I need some serious help.

Once again i apologize if I am going wrong somewhere...I probably dont make sense but I had to get down everything that was on my mind.

[FranciscoShreds]

Hey

(Im terribly sorry if am asking a question which has already been answered) probably has, would say use the search feature but since I have work for school I'm putting off might as well do something constructive.

On the subject of Concept Art, I am doing my best to try and learn anatomy (mainly for imagination) since its a must for "concept" work, and also because I dont know any excersises or ideas of what else to draw that will improve my concept. There's tons of things that will help improve concepts, mainly studies. Clothing studies, light studies, value studies, etc. all will make you a better person.

-Im 15 and I cant exactly find anywhere which will let me draw people from life unclothed yet im told that this is imperative for observation. I could draw people with clothes in the street or whatever, but some people say you shouldnt because you wont understand whats going on underneath

Sorry to hear that you're young, but thems the breaks. Who knows, maybe if you go down to your local college and show them that you're actually willing to learn they'll let you sit in. As far as what 'some people' are saying, well that's dumb. Drawing clothed people is just as important as drawing unclothed people. You'll find many text explaining what muscles make what planes on the human body but you won't find nearly as many people showing you how clothing fits a human and what gravity does to help create folds and shapes that make drawing clothed figures convincing. And if there's anyone who needs to know how clothing fits a human it's gonna be clothing designers, and that's a skill that's going to be valuable if you ever plan on making concepts of anything other than just nude figures. (Jason Chan also agrees, buy his MB downloads to see for yourself. :D)

-I would use books or picture references to copy

Yes, that's what everyone else does so you should as well. Particularly bridgman, hogarth and loomis. those are the biggies when it comes to learning how to draw good people.

- until ive built up an "image-base" type thing

There is no 'until' in art. You'll always keep learning and growing, the moment you stop learning and growing is the moment you start regressing to your old uneducated self. An image database can be useful for concepts that you don't practice often, (which directly relates to my next coment) but anatomy is something you'll want to grasp to the point of it becoming second nature. Having to think hard of what muscles make what planes is something that you want to get away from eventually so that it doesn't kill your work flow.

but then people are saying references are bad, so dont use them. In addition, Ive seen that some people say that pictures and book type media shouldnt be used because you cant establish a good perspective on something.

This is really, REALLY, stupid. If Elwell and Dan Dos Santos use references then why shouldn't you? References aren't bad, making references a crutch is bad. In your entire career as a concept artist you might never get asked how to draw a crazy antelope, bear, turtle and squid hybrid with a human soul (actually, someone might go for that one >.>) but if by chance you are then you can use references of the animals to come up with one bad ass creature hybrid. Or if you've never drawn a creature before and you're asked to do one by your art director, and your animal anatomy is fuzzy (yes, there's that type of anatomy as well) you can always reference some great stuff so that your creature looks half way decent.

-On actually how to improve my anatomy drawing: should I just draw body parts, draw skeletons, muscles. gestures- I need some serious help.

Yes, basically that's how you learn. you read the book from front to back while copying the images and putting the lessons into practice. You'll start with skeletal structure and gestures and progress up. And then you'll start again, because by the time you're learning muscles you'll probably need to refresh on the skeletal structure and you'll need to practice gestures to learn to suggest the figure.

Once again i apologize if I am going wrong somewhere...I probably dont make sense but I had to get down everything that was on my mind.

It's cool, everyone starts somewhere.

But you should have stared with the search function! :devil:

Have fun.

Franc~

[Jamsey]

Dude,

thank you so much, youve answered all my questions-Awesome!

Im going to buy an anatomy book ASAP, and follow your advice- bring on the skeletons

THANKS!

[the_jos]

One small addition to Vato's post.

Right here it will only be a couple of months till people will go to the beach again. They don't fully undress, but at the same time they won't be having many cloths on either.
However, you don't have to wait for this. I bet you can get a large mirror from somewhere. That should give you a model who's available whenever you are. Only disadvantages are that you have only one model and can't try very crazy poses or drawing of the back.

Having said that, I think the most important things to be able to draw realistic are the head and hands. We see them daily and know when they are off in a picture. Next is the skeleton, most important placement of 'defining' bones and the way they can bend. What you have next is muscle mass, but that depends on the person you are trying to create.
On clothed people you don't need to know the exact anatomical looks of the muscles as long as you understand the mass. Because that combined with gravity creates the shapes and folds.
Put in a light source and those shapes and folds will create shades and highlights.

On the importance of anatomy:
A couple of days I had an 'oh, that's why!' moment.
I struggled with my real life horse drawings a couple of weeks ago. I drew the back horse legs right, but in my mind things would not connect. Knees are ment to bend to the back, not to the front. But when looking at a horse bone structure a couple of days ago I realised that it's not a knee, but a heel. The actual knee is part of the main mass of the body, a lot higher.

When drawing from life I can draw what I see, not what I think I see.
But when drawing from imagination my horse legs would have been very off because of wrong placement of the knee.
That's why I think anatomy knowledge (and/or reference) matters a lot.