memorizing anatomy

[kennybrann]

ok here is my problem. i am trying to memorize the human body so i can draw without a reference. i figure the best way to do that is by repetition. the problem is i have eight hours of free time a day to sleep eat or draw. so if actually sleep i get about an hour a day of drawing time. i was wondering if there is a better way than repetition to memorize the human body so that it doesn't take me forever to do this.

[LORD M]

ok here is my problem. i am trying to memorize the human body so i can draw without a reference. i figure the best way to do that is by repetition. the problem is i have eight hours of free time a day to sleep eat or draw. so if actually sleep i get about an hour a day of drawing time. i was wondering if there is a better way than repetition to memorize the human body so that it doesn't take me forever to do this.

An hour per day is better then nothing at all per day. Try and associate different muscles with a different colour, like painting the pectoralis major in red while you paint the rectus abdominis blue or something like that.

[B u r l]

i don't believe so; you just need to keep on drawing anatomy. although, studying the standard bone and muscle structure / proportions would help out a bit by acting as a core base for visualising the human form - acting as a general rule of thumb. it's a shame you don't have much free time, but be careful you aren't rushing through the studies as quickly as possible just because you don't have much time - make the time you do have count.

[SoufMeng]

I agree there is no way around practice. And with so little time it gets even more critical to work smart.
One very important thing to draw the human body from imagination is to be able to feel the forms you're drawing, that is why practice using 3D shapes for reference is good; live model drawing, sculptures, digital 3d figures you can flip around, etc.
Thats what i like about Bridgeman's and Kevin Chen's works, among others, it's obvious they're feeling, touching the forms with the pencil as they draw them. Rodin is gold reference too.

Here's the site (http://www.angelfire.com/art3/kchendemos/) where are gathered some class demos by Kevin Chen. He starts with big simple forms; cylinders, spheres, etc, draws them at the right size and proportion because thats the most important (a nicely rendered but poorly proportioned arm is worth bullcrap), only then he adds the more complex shapes and smaller muscles to make it more recognizable as whatever it is. But good construction first.

Also, if you do sports sometimes, look, draw what you see in your mind. The swimming pool is great for that, with people too busy fighting the water to mind you studying their latissimus dorsi... :p And if you commute to work or elsewhere a lot everyday, maybe keep a sketchpad with you where you can draw bystanders, cars or just doodle stuff.

Anyway, one hour a day is really not much but better to move ahead slowly than stand still i guess. :)

[Jonas Heirwegh]

You need to understand HOW the body functions. It's really easy to remember all the muscles and all the bones once you understand what the function is, why they are shaped the way they are shaped, etc... It's all pretty logical because every little thing in our body is there for a reason. You only need to read upon this info and draw it for yourself to understand.
Most of all you need a real passion for the human body, a love for how incredible it all is. I guess thats the most important thing..

A book where you can find all the info is a book by Eliot Goldfinger.
http://www.amazon.com/Human-Anatomy-Artists-Elements-Form/dp/0195052064

[Cron]

Don't force yourself to memorize something, just practice daily and your subconscious slowly get what you experience!
I highly recommend Sculpture for learning anatomy...

[Slothboy3000]

Take your time and learn what you want at first. I think that's a good way of getting one to be more passionate about it.

[Ivory_Oasis]

What are you doing the rest of the day? Maybe you could fit in practice on top of other things (like school)? In class, you could be practicing a certain anatomy part while listening to lecture....or working on fleshing out stick figures....

Even at work, you could be at least thinking about anatomy and trying to re-construct the human body in your mind, step by step (and have a book around where you can check when you get stuck).

[LORD M]

Someone posted this here on CA some days ago. Worth checking out.


http://www.anatomyarcade.com/index.html

[kennybrann]

thanks guys this is what i was looking for

[Manamaraya]

What's wrong with working from refrences, now?

Honestly, unless your some kind of genius, it'll take a very, very, very long time to 'memorize' the human anatomy 100%. I'd advise against aiming for that, since it's a rather unrealistic expectation.

What you can do though--is develop a solid understanding of how the human body works, and use that understanding as a tool coupled with useful reference images for the few things you may not be 100% certain of--and take off with that.

I'd never advise writing off the use of refrences entirely. The human body is an odd, quirky entity--and it will do countless weird things your mind wouldn't be able to conceive on its' own without a little help from life or even reference photos.

Of course, obtaining and maintaining that solid understanding still requires you to draw the human figure from life over, and over, and over until the day you decide to quit art ;]