Anatomy Tips

I've been asked quite a few times now, how do I study anatomy?

Like, personally? I just go with the flow and let the lines decide and- joking!

So, here I'll be answering that as extensively as possible with all the links one might need! Although I really do not recommend following into my steps exactly since I'm self-taught and in dire need of returning to the basics.

*Will link some artists and tutorials that have a better, solid base later on.

First off, draw a lot of different poses and drill into your brain how to make shortcuts so body proportions come to you naturally.

That will not be achieved without practice, so draw as often as you're able to. I mean it! Personally I take art easy but the times I push myself more often are when I most noticiably get better at certain skills, including anatomy.

Exhibit number one:

This was three years ago in 2021 when I decided to finally sit down and doodle some bodies, can you see how rough those lines look? It's kinda 'cringe' looking back even, hah.

Though I continued pushing and sketching those until I reached a smoother feeling, grasping their forms easier and going for unique looking poses that caught my interest and challenged what I knew of anatomy until then. 

Obviously, I could do with a ton of extra practice presently still! There's never enough when it comes to bettering yourself and your skill set. 

So continue aiming for higher, with breaks in between of course. Can't do art when you're tired out of your damn mind, can we now? Drink water and sleep a good quantity of hours please.

(You can clearly see I did not feel inspired to draw their faces,
hands or feet in these, LMFAO.)

Now you'll turn to me and say, okay I practiced doodling anatomy! 

What's next? 

And I'll say:

Next is expressions, hands, feet! Specific body parts! Believe me, there's a whole plethora of things to specialize in, since you're seeking to better your anatomy drawing abilities, just know it never fucking ends. 

I should know, I've been on that trench for years haha.

So choose your favorite pick and go to town with it, switch them up until you can probably tell where everything should go, like the back of your hand. 

I'm not going to lie, you'll probably always use references no matter how many hours a day you pour over these studies. And there's no shame in that! Plenty of amazing, financially successful artists use references for every single piece they create and it's still drop dead gorgeous, isn't it? 

So you do you and be happy with the process. It's different for everyone but a lot of us can agree on most of these artistic struggles, hah.

My favourite places to find poses are theposearchives, AdorkaStock, Null-Entity, JookpubStock, PirateLotus, Pinterest, Line of Action, Draw This, QuickPoses, lovelifedrawing, Posespace and the good ol' mirror!

Sounds silly but staring at your own body can help you understand how it works better than you might think. (Specially useful for hands and feet.)

A secret option for those who are of age is to look up corn websites and have fun with the spicier sides of art, you know? Live a little!

Another tip, my college teachers told us that it's a really good practice to draw as you watch a movie, since all the scenes and characters are presented in a very intentional manner to the audience in order to tell the story.

Personally I can never draw moving things, messes with my concentration on both tasks and I end up doing neither, heh.

But if you find that to be your preferred manner of study, go for it!!