Anatomy critique

[Marlo]

critique please.

[Falchion]

Anatomy critique? Look at anatomy. That left shoulder of his is, uh...interesting?

[Nezumi Works]

Proportions seem all right, it's just his torso seems awfully flat. There also seems a bit too much overlapping of the biceps by the chest, especially on the closer side. Not much to say about the lower body since it's just an outline. Arms might be slightly too short, although you could make a case for where they are.

Pose seems a bit on the static side as well.

[Marlo]

I noticed it about being flat too, and im bit stuck on how to make it pop out o__o;

thank you~

[Nezumi Works]

Reference is your friend. Look for poses of a shirtless (not necessary to be nude) guy whose upper body is more or less in that position (or photograph a friend), and use that as a guide. This guy seems pretty close. At a glance, I'd say you need to change how his left bicep overlaps the side of the chest (rather than the other way around), how far out the indents for his underarms are (they appear a bit far right now), and more indication that his torso has a side. The curvature of the pecs and the indications of the sides of the ribcage could be touched up a bit more to help with that. You've actually chosen a pose that makes your job more difficult, since it's straight on, and thus harder to make out where the sides of the body lie. A 3/4 view is much more dynamic, and easier to convey the 3D forms.

I don't know how much you've worked on underlying structure, but for anatomy of this sort it's pretty much vital. Look up some Loomis or Bridgeman and practice their techniques, they're about as solid as you're going to find.

[Marlo]

Thank you for the quick reply!

Is this better? Also, in all due respect, not to disagree with the reference you gave me, I'm trying to show all the body, since I'm probably using this as a reference for my character >___<;;.
I'm terribly sorry!

[Nezumi Works]

Definitely looks better up around the pecs. I think since he's turned slightly 3/4, the midline should go slightly to the right as well. Which would also mean pulling back on the side of the torso a little bit on the right side (your right) since you wouldn't see quite as much of it as the left. Remember to lightly sketch in the line of his lower abs as they curve down into the groin, that should help with adding shape.

No disagreeing with the reference, he's a real guy. But yeah, if he's not quite the pose you're looking for, that's fine. I was mostly looking for someone with roughly the same build and pose as an illustration of what I meant for the pecs and side more than anything. Reference is still your friend though, since nobody knows how to draw everything. It's always best to reference as much as you can, since your final result will come out more believable.

[Marlo]

did it improve, and yes it wasnt the pose i was looking for :X.

Um. the feet look off aswell. im not quiter sure why though.

[Nezumi Works]

They're much too thick, for a start. And they're not in perspective. His left foot should be moved up a bit, since you're extending the ankle, and turned to a 3/4 for forward view since standing like that isn't all that comfortable. Before drawing foot positions, it's usually best to work out on the floor where the soles go.

If I were you, before doing anything else on this image, is go find photos of feet in the positions you're interested in and do a few pages of studies, so you can understand better how the foot looks and how it relates to the ankle. Then, armed with that new information, go back and re-draw the feet the way you now know they should be. Feet are tough, there's no question. The inner curve can be very subtle, and if you're not used to starting with structure (draw a cone to represent the heel, a wedge for the body of the foot, and so on), it takes a lot of practice to really get them down.

[Marlo]

thank you nezumi! do you know any good resources for references

[Nezumi Works]

deviantART, for whatever faults it might have, has a rather impressive stock gallery. For that matter, CA has a stock and reference forum here. Google Images can net some decent results, depending on what you're looking for, as can places like Flickr. Oh, and try the Character Designs site, they've got some nice full-body photo sets.

Start building a reference library on your computer if you haven't already. Whenever you find a good quality photo of anything, save it. Odds are, you'll eventually need it.

[Marlo]

thank you =D

[DBZMerciter2005]

The only critique I have is that his hips might be a tad too big. Men are more like triangles, women are like figure eights. By that I mean the hips of a man do not usually extend beyond their waist, whereas women's hips do (this creates the "curves" of a woman, for the most part.)

If you made his waist/hips (right below the rib cage) a bit narrower, more triangular and less rectangular, it'd look infinitely better. I know that this link isn't real stock photos, but they're photorealistic enough for you to reference from.

http://davidkawena.deviantart.com/ga...#Disney-Heroes

[Marlo]

This was BEFORE you critiqued me, DBZmerciter2005. Thanks for the point out, i knew something was weird with the torso!

[Marlo]

How is this?

[Elwell]

Hey Marlo, this was actually done earlier from your previous version. I put a skeleton into your figure and found the only real proportional problems were the thickness of the torso/shoulders and the angle of one of the legs. It looks like you're concentrating on the surface appearances rather than the underlying structure.

[Marlo]

thanks so much!

[Marlo]

um.im not sure why it came out so akwardlike, though i followed it, and i finally get what you mean by underlying anatomy XD;.

[Marlo]

is it okay ?

[Marlo]

[Nezumi Works]

Definite improvement going on. Watch the bend on his right calf, there. Check some reference and make sure of the forms.

[Marlo]

better or a no go?

[Nezumi Works]

Very much better, yes. Watch his right foot, remember that there's a plane facing us (the ends of the toes). I think in general, this is the sort of shapes you're looking for on the feet:



The ankles might be a little bit narrow too, especially on the left foot. But again, check some reference. That'll generally put you on the trail.

[Marlo]

[Spikings]

Just had a quick flick through this thread, youve definitely improved from the first post which is a given.

The foot on our right looks a little off, like the top part is bulging upwards more than it should. Have a look at this pic, it gives an accurate shape for the foot - more curve, less bulge. Make it subtle. http://monoontherun.files.wordpress....ntar-view1.jpg The ankle leading from that foot looks a little thin too, but that may differ once you fix the foot.
That seems to be the only thing thats bothering me, the rest is pretty accurate.

[Marlo]

very rough lines before i go into clean lineart . any mistakes you see?

[Quigleyer]

to be quite honest at the moment it feels as though you're working backwards. Drawing a figure without reference is a possibility, but it takes a lot of knowledge and understanding of things that don't seem to make it into this drawing. To say that you're learning and understanding things in the middle of a drawing done from your head is a little bit optimistic.

Just my opinion, and meant with all amounts of respect. I just think that there's a level of knowledge this requires that you haven't quite obtained- but you can easily learn it should you push yourself in that direction.

[Marlo]

I understand whatcha mean =]. No offense taken, it is for the better.

But could you elaborate on what doesn't make it into the drawing? I'd like to know .

[gtgauvin]

First and foremost, what I'd do is practice viewing and reconstructing the figure as a series of 3-dimensional shapes. What I'm seeing here is outlines, which are useful, but should be built on a solid foundation of form. Try breaking down the figure into cylinders, spheres, cones, blocks, wedges and whatever other forms are appropriate. This will give you a stronger guide as to where to put the outlines, and how much weight to give them. I've scanned a couple preliminary sketches from my own sketchbook to show you what I mean:


As for useful texts, I'd check out Stephen Rogers Peck's Atlas of Human Anatomy for the Artist, George Bridgman's Constructive Anatomy, and my personal favorite, Stan Lee and Steve Buscema's How To Draw Comics, the Marvel Way.

[Nezumi Works]

I can personally vouch for the Bridgeman book (take a look at my sketchbook, there's loads of samples from the past couple of weeks), and I'd also recommend his Complete Guide to Life Drawing for its focus on drawing an appealing body in motion. Been meaning to get the Marvel book for ages, although I've got enough books I need to work through at this point as it is.