Rainville's Reputable Respository of.... Studies (now closed)

[Jason Rainville]

I suck at alliteration

This is more or less a thread created to house various projects for any mentees I have now or in the future. The focus of this thread is STUDIES from reference. Though there may be more open and fun projects down the road, the purpose of this thread is to help give beginners or low intermediates a clear path that will hopefully make grasping the basics a little easier for them.

I AM NO PRO The activities in this thread are mostly based around my experiences, and include projects that I've found useful in my own development. Please don't take my word as gospel, and for the love of His Noodly Appendage don't you dare think that everything you need to get better will be found within the confines of this topic. Keep an open mind, learn from everything.

The basic setup: I have 2 mentees right now, Aila and Ilahmec (I thought I had more but they dissapeared) so I'm set.
The projects are based around my mentees and what they need. We will be starting with some general things to do but it may quickly change, with each mentee getting their own custom projects based on their weaknesses. If you want to do these projects along with my mentees feel free, but please, do not post your work in this thread expecting for critique and/or direction unless you are my mentee. This thread is for my mentees and their development, and even though I'd like to help everyone this thread would get too full, too fast. I would suggest posting it in your sketchbook and asking for critique there.

I currently have: 1 spot open. Please PM me if you would like to sign up.

Please sign up only if you are dedicated enough to meet a loose, weekly deadline.




This week's activity
Part 1 of 3 anatomy study; the torso

Before covering things like value, mechanics, nature etc, we should cover anatomy. Why try to put accurate values on potentially inaccurate anatomy? No amount of value-work or colour-work will save inaccurate line-work, and no amount of nicely rendered nature scenes or cool spaceships will help characters with bad anatomy.

So this will be a 3 part series on muscles: week 1 - the torso, week 2 - the arms, week 3 - the legs. The studies contain two separate parts: 1: study the muscles by direct copy from muscle diagrams and 2: draw accurate muscles on models drawn from reference. The first part will help develop your sense of the different muscles, where they attach and their basic form. The second part is more or less practical application; finding out how muscles work in different positions.

Part 1 - Here are several diagrams detailing the human torso. Along with part 2, these should be copied within a week or so;

Trunk Front
Trunk Back
Trunk interior

Part 2 - After copying these, now comes the practical application portion. What I would like you to do is select at least 2 pictures featuring the bare, human torso. If you're feeling ambitious, you could select 4; one from the male front, one for the male back, and the same for the female torso. 2 should be enough though, just try to make sure they aren't from the same angle.

After you have them selected, draw these torsos as if they were flayed, as if you could clearly see the muscles as per the diagrams. Use the diagrams (and any other material) as reference. Here is an example of what I mean (the actual sketch is on the top left, overlayed onto my ref.)



So to recap - sketches of those 3 diagrams (don't worry too much about rendering, but try to show the form of the muscles. for the interior, you don't have to draw every single bone, only the ones connecting to the muscle for placement) and at least 2 flayed torsos.


Good luck and if you have any questions just ask

[Clay W]

I was asked to post an introduction here to keep everything organized, so...



I can be found at http://www.v-a-l-l-e-y.deviantart.com. As you can see from the drawings, I have a rather basic, manga-influenced style with not much of a foundation in anatomy, or understanding of other important basics like colour theory, how to properly apply shadows and highlights and even how to properly use simple traditional media such as pencil crayons.

I know manga makes a lot of people sick, and sometimes, it does the same to me. I'll admit that I've puffed up my pictures (look at the Zelos Wilder picture at the top) with things (such as colour and shininess overkill) that'll grab people off the front page of devART and help me get my work noticed and to get critique, but I know in reality that anyone who is actually talented in art won't be caught by that and it doesn't make my art look any better. I hope to move into a slightly more western-influenced style that is more realistic when it comes to anatomy while keeping a few of the features that made me enjoy the eastern style in the first place.

What I'd like to gain is a foundation to continue to build my own style on. I'd like to be able to understand anatomy well enough that I don't have to draw my characters in the same pose again and again just because I'm afraid of how there bodies will look if I put them in perspective. I have my own webcomic that's been scrapped and restarted multiple times, and I dream of actually getting to the point where the plot is actually somewhere, but I don't want to do that unless I'm able to make the art just as or more enjoyable than the story. And, of course, I want to improve in art because I love it, and I haven't met an artist that doesn't want to improve.

Thanks again for your help, I greatly appreciate it. I should hopefully have access to a scanner in the next couple of days and my exercises should be up then.

[Jason Rainville]

Hey man, welcome. If you have any questions or suggestions just let me know, I look forward to seeing the first project

[Clay W]

I'm not so sure how well the attachments will work as I'm yet to figure out how this site works.

Anyway, I'm done part 1 of the assignment; it was entertaining, but I'll admit I procrastinated it because I knew I would fail epicly when it comes to anatomy. A few things gave me trouble, especially the side view; I was drawing the side one but I had no clue what I was drawing. XD I mean, for the outline of the body, there are all these bumps and stuff and... I didn't get it. XD Also, on the back, there I couldn't figure out where to place that bone on the shoulder for some reason (I'm sorry, I don't know the name). The butt is in a seperate pic because I didn't plan well and ran out of room.

So, yeah. It looks miserable, but it's better than not doing it, right? Thanks again, I'll try to have part 2 on tomorrow (I still need to find good refs).

[Jason Rainville]

Hey Clay, nice job so far. I'll post up a critique/suggestion post when the rest is done.

It would be beneficial if both of you also include in your post and questions you may have, anything about the project subject you don't understand (IE: What's this muscle and what does it do/I'm unsure about this muscle group etc) I would be great if I could hear any confusion you guys might have. Don't hesitate to ask questions about anything; it's the best way to learn

[Aila]

Time for me to post. First, a little intro..
Mostly known as Aila or Aiylah on the web, I came to CA just over a year ago with the aim to improve my art skills.. and I have improved in some aspects, just not so much in the anatomy, I'm afraid. I've lost count how many pictures I've abandoned.. or not even started.. due to the fact they include figures of some kind. So, hopefully this project will finally give me the shove I need
I dabble in fantasy art but have moved more in the direction of symbolism and surrealism recently.

I've only managed part one so far, I fell into an inspiration hole on the weekend and have only just managed to climb out. I'll try and get the second part finished soon.
I did a fully rendered sketch for the front view torso, the other two are quick sketches.

[Clay W]

Okay, part 2 is done, and way too late, my apologies. I only have a front and back of male and I guess I'll do female on my own time as I've already taken enough of your time as it is.

Part 2 doesn't look very pretty, and I'm feeling really bad after seeing how well Aila did part 1. D= Ah well. The spots that gave me the most trouble were the shoulders and how they connected with the biceps/triceps as well as the pecs. I feel like I learnt something, but still... doesn't look pretty.

Again, sorry it's so late.

[Jason Rainville]

Cool guys, I'll get a crit post and hopefully also the next assignment up tommorow

[Aila]

Ok, this is where I start to fail
I get confused with all the muscles in the upper arm... I'll have a closer look into it. Haven't done females yet either, am also late

[Jason Rainville]

Ok, so this is going to be a general response/critique help post.
You guys are 'on time' with everything by the way. Like I said, a week +/- a few days, heck even more than that is absolutely fine. Not a race

Clay good work, glad to hear you learned something. As for the shoulder and how it connects with the arm, I think I'll save that for the next exercise (I would always like you guys to learn things on your own, and the next exercise on arms would probably clear most things up)

I'm worried though that my ref might be giving the wrong impression on some things so I'll just take your pic and show something;



So as you can se it represents different layers in some sections, turning into a partial cross section. Hopefully that clears anything up. I can't really say much else, it looks pretty accurate and all the muscles are there. I will though bring us in for a closer look at the underarm, since it is a tricky area (this is for both of you);




Aila Really nice job on those, looks clear and accurate. though shading wasn't a requirement, nice to see you turned it into a bit of shading practice too Like you say you seem to be having a problem with muscles of the upper arm. That's ok at this point, this was mainly just for the torso. the next topic will have much more to do with the arms, but as a quick fix take a look at the few pics above.

There's a little correction in your reffed pic, and I'll also use it as a general principle example;


EDIT: I goofed up in the text in that pic; the lats cover up the serratus anterior, not the obliques, and only partially

SO I hope all that helps you guys out a tad/answers your questions. Hopefully today I'll have the next activity up, it's more of the same, but with arms. After that and then the legs, I might ask you guys for suggestions on what you may want to learn, or maybe think up some fun stuff...

[Jason Rainville]

This week's activity
Part 2 of 3 anatomy study; the arms

This is part 2 in our 3 part series on major muscles, the arms. Same as last week, but here's a recap;

The studies contain two separate parts: 1: study the muscles by direct copy from muscle diagrams and 2: draw accurate muscles on models drawn from reference. The first part will help develop your sense of the different muscles, where they attach and their basic form. The second part is more or less practical application; finding out how muscles work in different positions.

Part 1 - Here are several diagrams detailing the human arms. Along with part 2, these should be copied within a week or so (Note: don't worry about the hands, we can cover those more effectively later. Also, only worry about the muscled portions. Remember the drawing is more important than the shading, so don;t make more work for yourself unless you WANT to shade);

Arm 1
Arm2
Arm3
Arm4

Part 2 - After copying these, now comes the practical application portion. What I would like you to do is select at least 2 pictures featuring the bare, human arms. If you're feeling ambitious, you could select more

After you have them selected, draw these arms as if they were flayed, as if you could clearly see the muscles as per the diagrams. Use the diagrams (and any other material) as reference. Look back to post one for the example, but I think you guys have the hang of this at this point
--------------------

General arm flexing: I'll touch on this since it's related. Sometimes I notice people drawing the triceps (rear upper arm muscle) as having the bulk of its mass higher up closer to the deltoid. usually this is the case, especially when it it flexed, but when the arm itself is flexed (meaning the forearm brought to the shoulder) the triceps is stretched. It can still be flexed, but since it it stretched out it cannot compact or gain any of its 'bulk' back. Here's a diagram showing what I mean;



This doesn't have much to do with the project per se, but it's still important to keep in mind when drawing arms.

Good luck

[Clay W]

Awesome, thank you so much for the crit, I didn't imagine before you'd go into so much detail. It was incredibly helpful.
And exercise 2 looks like it'll be very helpful, too. I'll hopefully have it done quicker than a week this time. (sorry again)
And triceps - THANK YOU. XD I actually did that just yesterday on a sketch and I'm just realizing what made the arm look so wrong now. (I had a character trying to flex his arm except the bulk of his tricep was still sitting at the upper end of his arm, and for some reason I kept looking for what I did wrong in the bicep when I really messed the tricep up)

[Aila]

Thanks!
Do you know the muscle names by heart by the way?
I don't think I'll be able to remember where every little muscle is, but trying to remember the main ones at least.
Here are my arms.. the flayed ones were a little rushed Got overloaded with other projects, have to start a choreo and I'm away the weekend so I thought it'd be better to get them up today.

[Jason Rainville]

Do you know the muscle names by heart by the way?
I don't think I'll be able to remember where every little muscle is, but trying to remember the main ones at least.

Ha, a lot of them yeah. The only ones I don't know are the deep layer muscles as well as a lot of the lower and rear leg ones. I've spent quite a lot of time pouring over my anatomy book, trying to learn where each muscle originates and terminates, so the names kinda stuck.

IN NO WAY are you obliged to learn all or any of the muscle names. The only reason I think it's a good idea is that it's much easier to talk to other people about muscles when they have definite name. Saying 'brachialis' is just easier than "y'know the muscle on the outside of the upper arm between the bicep and the triceps?"

-----

Anyways, I can't see much to crit on. Muscles look to be all in place, except your second referenced one; There's a noticeable absence of the 'head' of the tricep, IE the bulge near the shoulder. Would you be able to upload your ref so I could take a look?

I'll have the next lesson up today, maybe tomorrow

[Aila]

Oh, yep, looks like I messed that up *facepalm* I used a pic from one of the artist nude sites you linked.. here: http://www.human-anatomy-for-artist....sitting_03.jpg

[Jason Rainville]

This week's activity
Part 3 of 3 anatomy study; the legs

This is part 3 in our 3 part series on major muscles, the legs. Same as last week, but here's a recap;

The studies contain two separate parts: 1: study the muscles by direct copy from muscle diagrams and 2: draw accurate muscles on models drawn from reference. The first part will help develop your sense of the different muscles, where they attach and their basic form. The second part is more or less practical application; finding out how muscles work in different positions.

Part 1 - Here are several diagrams detailing the human legs. Along with part 2, these should be copied within a week or so (only worry about the muscled portions. Remember the drawing is more important than the shading, so don't make more work for yourself unless you WANT to shade);

Leg 1
Leg 2
Leg 3
Leg 4

Part 2 - After copying these, now comes the practical application portion. What I would like you to do is select at least 2 pictures featuring the bare, human legs. If you're feeling ambitious, you could select more

After you have them selected, draw these legs as if they were flayed, as if you could clearly see the muscles as per the diagrams. Use the diagrams (and any other material) as reference. Look back to post one for the example, but I think you guys have the hang of this at this point
--------------------

Whoops! I forgot this for last week; this is a little diagram showing the rotation of the arm, and how the forearm muscles ALWAYS line up with the upper arm (else it would be broken) BUT the hands, sitting at the end of two bones, can rotate somewhat independently. Look at your own arms in a mirror while rotating to get a sense of this;



--------------

This next diagram is to make sure you notice the curve of the legs, and how they should never be shown as just straight tubes (at any angle);




Good luck

[Clay W]

I find it ironic that the time I plan to be ahead of time I end out being much later than the time before. D=
I have arms done, but my dad has his scanner with him on a fishing trip and I can't find the software to do it on our other laptop. For now I'm going to see it if I can do some scans at one of my friends houses, but if that doesn't work out, I'll have to take pictures of them and upload them (though I suppose quality of practice pictures isn't too important). Until then, I'll get started on the leg one and try to have them uploaded at the same time. Sorry.

[Jason Rainville]

That's alright clay, like you said keep going with the new studies and upload when you can

I'd like to hear input from you guys as well on what you may like to do next. Are you tired of anatomy or are you starting to like it? Is there anything you think you want to focus on?

Normally I'd keep going with other anatomy projects (such as gesture drawings, faces etc) but the last thing I want is for you guys to feel bored/burned out with the same type of lesson.

[Aila]

Woo legs
But humans have waaaaay too many muscles and that's where my difficulties lie I can imagine I'll remember all the muscles and use that knowledge for drawing, more likely to remember the basic shapes (like the shaded versions in your references, as opposed to the muscle versions).
Gesture drawings sounds fun
Oh and thanks for that arm rotation explanation!

Anyhow here are my legs. Er, the legs I drew, I mean. I didn't do the bent leg on the second guy well, that was a bit much I think Oh well, worth a try.

[Jason Rainville]

Woo legs
But humans have waaaaay too many muscles and that's where my difficulties lie I can imagine I'll remember all the muscles and use that knowledge for drawing, more likely to remember the basic shapes (like the shaded versions in your references, as opposed to the muscle versions)

I think trying to rmeember ALL of the muscles, exactly where they go etc is a bit folly, but like you said it's to know where the main masses are and generally what they do. By looking underneath into the muscles we can get a better sense of why things bulge in the ways they do.

Anyhow here are my legs. Er, the legs I drew, I mean.

I don't really have much to comment on with your pictures, they're looking pretty good. For legs, remembering the three large muscles on the front of the thigh are important, as well as the way the long thin muscle that stretches from the pelvis to the knee divides the legs into 'outer' and 'inner' masses when seen from the front.

I'm going to try to think up a new exercise, it will most likely include timed gesture drawings from posemaniacs or something. I'll also take a look through your SB and see specifically what we can work on in future studies.

I remember you saying that you had a lul from august - September (thus being able to do some studies in here), is the cutoff day coming soon (IE are you going to be quite busy in a little while) if so I'll try to get a 'you-specific' study off before then

[Clay W]

Finally getting close to caught up.

First I'd just like to note there are two missing; one arm and one leg, both didn't scan completely so I need to wait I can get back at a scanner, which fortunately will probably be tonight.

Drawing the arms was a slap in the face for me (especially when I applied it to reference) but it was the legs that made me feel even more amateur than ever (foolish me, always drawing people down to the waist and stopping). I obvious have real issues with the leg, ankle and calves, but those are all things I need to practice more on my own time.

Another thing I'm having trouble with in my drawing is the hips and butt, and they're always and awkward spot on my drawings which is probably why I usually stop there.

If we could eventually do feet or hands, I'd be psyched, but if we can't I can easily practice it on my own time. I just bought this really helpful anatomy reference book and it's just... pictures of people. =D

You can ignore the arrows, those were just lines to myself to point out where I noticed I did something wrong.

Thanks again and sorry for the massive wait.

[Jason Rainville]

Hey Clay, glad to see you got your stuff in I don't know what you're fussin' about, these turned out nice. Like Aila, I don't see any huge problems here, again as long as you feel you learned something, IE why certain parts of legs bulge while others don't...

at any rate, your idea about hands and feet is a good one actually. The problem is that I'm not very good with the PRINCIPLES behind hands and feet, though I may be ok at them. I never learned anything very useful that I could pass on, for some reason it's locked in my brain


This week's activity
hands and feet

This week's activity is a bit more light. Unfortunately, it amounts to independant study, since I can't really put into words how hands or feet 'work.' It just takes study.

There are two parts to this activity;

Part one; Sketch at least one page of hands from life or reference (really, you have a free hand so why not from life eh?) get ref for tricky and uncomfortable poses. Try to vary the pose of the hand as much as you can.

Sketch at least one page of feet from reference (Unless you're bendy like aila ) try to get various angles. Each page should probably contain about 5 hands or feet.

(tip: I find drawing hands from life uniquely, oddly difficult. My advice is to try to draw the basic, blobby shape of the outline of your hand before getting specific and measuing things like the distance between thumb and index finger etc)

Part two: after doing a page of either hands or feet, right away sketch from your mind various hand or feet poses. These do not have to be the same poses you just did, but your not barred from using those poses as inspiration.

the same thing goes for feet. For fun (and a challenge) try putting them on some legs and make them feel like they're touching the ground.

That's about it

[Aila]

Hands and feet, good call

I remember you saying that you had a lul from august - September (thus being able to do some studies in here), is the cutoff day coming soon (IE are you going to be quite busy in a little while) if so I'll try to get a 'you-specific' study off before then

I'm back at college on the 16th, but as it happens, I'm busy with a show and other stuff now already, so continue as normal I'm going to fit the drawing in around my schedule.

Sketch at least one page of feet from reference (Unless you're bendy like aila )

harharharh although... hmmm...... xD

[Aila]

Ugh, hands aren't working out for me I did a sheet of referenced, but when I switched to unreferenced I couldn't get it right and stopped before the sheet was full to save myself from frustrating the hell out of myself
Have to take a closer look into the basic shapes on the hand, but I'll post my failure already. Feet coming up next week hopefully, sorry it's taking an age.

[Jason Rainville]

Hey aila, don't beat yourself up; hands are enormously complicated and difficult to master. Unfortunately like I said I'm not master of the theory of hands, but I did spot a few things that hopefully will help guide you in the right direction;

[Aila]

Awesome, thanks I'm going over a few of the hands with - gasp - ballpoint pen using your paintovers as a help. I wonder why hands are so hard?

[Jason Rainville]

Awesome, thanks I'm going over a few of the hands with - gasp - ballpoint pen using your paintovers as a help. I wonder why hands are so hard?

Probably because hands are so complicated. think about it, every way you look at a hand it appears different. It moves in so many ways - the thumb can move, the fingers move, the thumb muscles of the palm can come into the palm, the pad under the fingers is compressed when the fingers are brought inward, skin is draped over everything... aside from faces, they're the most complicated things on the human body that we can draw. Plus, I'd wager that we see our hands as often as we see the faces of others. We're REALLY familiar with how hands look, so any mistake is that much more apparent.

Oh, I'd also suggest looking at bridgmans' book on anatomy (I think I linked to it in literure) the way he breaks down the hand really helped me out.

[Jason Rainville]

Bumpity: malpanka has not been in contact with me for a good 2 months, so I have one spot open. Please PM me to sign up. Essentially first come first serve.

[Aila]

We're REALLY familiar with how hands look, so any mistake is that much more apparent.

That makes sense.. I thought the other way, since we see them a lot, they'd be easier to draw
Yep, I grabbed Bridgeman some while ago, I've had trouble loading it in my pdf viewer (it lags) but I'll see if I can look into it.

Anyway, feets! I think I had a little more success than the hands this time.

[Duztyn(db)Brown]

Is the other mentee spot still Available