Anatomic Practice

RemusShepherd · Post by **RemusShepherd** » Fri Jun 03, 2005 6:02 am

I've heard that drawing your characters' skeletons is good anatomy practice. Fortunately I have a character who, on occasion, has her skeleton visible:

...I like the way that came out, really.

I have another character who has no skin, so his musculature is visible, but he's not debuting for a few months.

Hey, it's all about the learning experience.

-Rain- · Post by **-Rain-** » Fri Jun 03, 2005 9:04 am

Is it just a skeleton, or is it a full-fleshed character in which, somehow, the internal organs, muscles and skin have become invisible? Because if it is just a skeleton, she shouldn't be filling the trousers that way. And she wouldn't have breasts. (so I guess it is the second option: a normal person, only the skeleton visible. Weird O___o).

Apart from that, her left arm. It is too short (the elbow should be at the level of the waist, so the upper bone should be a bit longer).

uuh...I hope you were looking for some criticism

RemusShepherd · Post by **RemusShepherd** » Fri Jun 03, 2005 9:19 am

-Rain- wrote:uuh...I hope you were looking for some criticism

I was, thanks!

The left arm is partially bent, with her hand on her hip. I think the foreshortening is correct, but the elbow joint may be wrong. Perhaps the humerus should be obscuring more of the radius and ulna, so it's clear that we're looking at a bent elbow from an outside angle.

As for what she is...it's complicated, but she's mostly intact and full-fleshed. Only part of her actually missing is the abdomen. The rest of her flesh is invisible in this shot. I know the pants aren't correct -- that's by design. Most of the time her flesh is not invisible, and I'd rather not have to draw a major character's naughty bits from the inside out over and over again. :p So I'm assuming she's wearing an extra layer of fabric covering from the base of her spine over her pelvis.

The only other part that I know is wrong is the brim of the hat -- it lifts over her eyes so the full skeletal 'expression' can be seen. I probably shouldn't have made it that way, but I like the look.

Zuri · Post by **Zuri** » Fri Jun 03, 2005 11:28 am

Well, actually, if her arm is bent towards us, the foreshortening is incorrect. Firstly the sleeve of the shirt should be flipped upward, with the opening towards us, not flat as it is, that implies the arm is down, since if the arm was up, it would be supporting the sleeve open. Secondly, the bone should be getting larger as it comes towards us. I also think the bone is entirely too skinny on the arm in general. Foreshortening is hard tho. You have to wrap your brain around reverse perspective.

Reference:
http://www.wheelessonline.com/images/skeleton.gif
http://www.georgiasouthern.edu/~bmunkas ... %20Web.jpg

It gets quite large as it goes towards the elbow as you can see, the armbone is very thick. As it looks in that image, it looks like it is going to snap at a touch.

My 2 cents.

RemusShepherd · Post by **RemusShepherd** » Fri Jun 03, 2005 11:39 am

Hmmn. You're definitely right about the sleeve. That's a stupid mistake, I'm surprised I didn't see it. Easily fixable, though, since the shirt is flat black.

The bone...yes, I see what you're saying, although my anatomy book doesn't have a humerus that flares as much as the pictures in the links you gave. Maybe I was looking at the wrong angle. I'll have to look at my reference again.

Look at the second link you gave, the second picture (on the right). It shows the profile of the humerus. See how thin it is, near the elbow, in profile? that may have been similar to the angle in the anatomy book I was working from.

Okay, 'redo the entire upper left arm' is on my TBD list.

Zuri · Post by **Zuri** » Fri Jun 03, 2005 12:43 pm

Yes, but in foreshortening you have to exadurate the size to give the illusion of close vs far. If everything is the same size, it doesn't 'look' right in perspective. Seriously. Get a friend to put their hand on their hip and then look at them. The elbow will appear larger than say the one on the other side because of perspective.

It hasn't changed size, its the *perception* of size change. The upper arm ( humerus) should also appear shorter than it is because you don't see as much of it when it is in perspective.

This was a quick doodle to help you see what I'm getting at.

As visual people, sometimes it is easier to show rather than explain.

Ida · Post by **Ida** » Sat Jun 04, 2005 2:45 am

It might just be because of the short arms (the right one looks the worst to me, actually), but she does seem oddly plump. That might just be the design, though... One thing I'm pretty sure of, though, is that her boobs are too low - or actually it's quite strange, since they are clearly situated wrongly compared to her arms and neck, but when you ignore those and compare thm with her back, it looks fine. Hmm... I think Phalanx knows more about this than I do (again.

)

Zhan_Dvega · Post by **Zhan_Dvega** » Sat Jun 04, 2005 11:12 am

It might just be me, but her bones seem unusually thin.

RemusShepherd · Post by **RemusShepherd** » Sun Jun 05, 2005 8:01 am

So I'm getting the impression that the proportions are off, somewhere, somehow.

No surprise there -- proportions are my biggest problem as an artist. I'll get the hang of them eventually.