Human anatomy drawing as a science is concerned with the structure or shape of humans. I am sure you will agree with me that even individuals who are not medical students might still be interested in learning about this subject matter. The human body is the world’s most fascinating and generally the most familiar object. It is the instrument to all our actions, the source of all our pleasures, the target of all our efforts. The closer we feel to it, the more clearly we see it and understand it, the better we are to protect it, treat it correctly, and fully utilize its abilities. Human anatomy drawing is an intricate subject to learn. The body’s nerves and muscles make for an almost impossible maze to navigate for some.
Are you in need of a human anatomy drawing tutorial? Look no further than this step by step guide when you need to learn human anatomy. In this article, we will show you how to draw human anatomy properly. Draw your anatomy in style using these simple but effective drawing tips. So, whether you’re a beginner or just looking for some helpful pointers for your anatomy drawings, this article is for you and can help you achieve an amazing piece of art.
Why Learn How to Draw Human Anatomy
Generally speaking, your audience knows what a human body should look like and how it functions. Therefore, if something is incorrect about your characters, such as their proportions or their joints, they lose their credibility. This applies even if you’re not trying to make cartoon characters realistic-looking. The audience will notice if something is fundamentally wrong about the way your character moves or looks. A basic understanding of human anatomy and how to draw it will help your characters become more realistic. It will also help you create a successful story or illustration.
There are several reasons why you should learn how to draw human anatomy. The most obvious reason is that it gives you a chance to practice it and see how realistic those caricatures look. You may also consider drawing the body so that you can get a deeper understanding of how exactly it works. Lastly, drawing your own humans gives you the freedom to play around with the limbs and other features. Not only that, you can keep adding or removing features to add some more personality to them.
If you are an artist or a cartoonist, it is a prerequisite for you to learn about human anatomy. It is necessary so that your drawings will have anatomical accuracy. The purpose of this article is to show you the basics of drawing human anatomy, particularly the body and other parts.
How to Draw Anatomy Step by Step
Here You can learn from basic to advance levels. Anyone who wants to draw and understand human anatomy should start with the basics on paper. Having a good grasp of the human skeleton is important. Not only will it let your imagination run wild and create interesting characters, but you’ll also get a better understanding of how muscles move and fit together with bone structure.
There are many things to learn when you are at the beginning stages of learning how to draw human anatomy. Drawing human anatomy isn’t as hard as you think it is. And once you get the hang of it, you’ll never want to draw anything else. In this section, learn human anatomy drawing step by step.
There are three general steps you need to follow when drawing human anatomy:
- Blocking: A general silhouette of a figure can be drawn by using basic shapes.
- Shaping: On top of those shapes, build the muscular structure and anatomy on top of those shapes.
- Defining: Depending on the style of your illustration, you should add appropriate levels of detail.
Try to understand not just how muscle groups look and how they work when drawing human anatomy. Each muscle’s role affects how the body moves and positions itself. Changing the position of an individual’s eyes, mouth, and neck can be affected even by something as simple as a smile.
Step 1: Begin with Basic Blocking
With so many muscles in the human body, it is easy to become overwhelmed by the details. As an alternative, think of the body in terms of simple shapes:
- Circle- for the head, for joints like the shoulders, elbows, knees, and hips.
- Rectangle- for the chest.
- Oval- for the pelvis.
- Curved line- for the spine.
Draw the figure’s fundamental shape starting with these basic shapes. This step can be made easier if you use a reference photo to ensure correct proportions. You’ll eventually feel comfortable enough to do this without a reference as you gain experience.
Step 2: Draw the Muscles
You can now add details of the anatomy and the muscle structure based on a basic drawing of the figure.
It may take weeks of practice and studying reference drawings to truly understand how each muscle works and how they all connect. Because the human bodys are complex, creating anatomically correct drawings isn’t something you can do daily. Below are some tips to help you refine each part of your body.
● Torso
Even though there are many types of bodies, all of them are based on the same basic structural principles. The torsos of males and females differ in fundamental ways, however. As an example, the shoulders are wider than the hips on a male torso. The hips and shoulders of a female are typically about the same size.
Generally, the torso muscles include two large chest muscles, abdominal muscles, and side abdominal muscles that wrap around the back. Women and men follow the same structure, with a few minor differences. Women, for example, tend to have smaller waists and breasts that arise from the front of the chest muscles. Usually, when blocking an initial figure, these are drawn in.
● Head and Face
Proportions are everything when it comes to drawing anatomically correct heads and faces. To draw a proportionate face, first, divide it into three equal portions:
- The area between the top of the head and the top of the eyes.
- The area between the eyes and the bottom of the nose.
- Starting at the tip of the nose and ending at the tip of the chin.
A small section of the ears is located between the eyes and the nose, extending from their tops to their bottoms. The face can also be further divided into vertical sections:
- In line with the outer corners of the nose, the inner corners of the eyes are positioned,
- You should align the outer corners of your mouth with the circles in the center of your eyes.
As you draw expressions, you should take into account the cartilage, bone, and facial muscles. Focus your attention on the cheek bands that extend from the nose to the chin and around the mouth. You can draw more realistic, engaging expressions when you understand how these bands move when a figure smiles.
● Arms
Three major muscle groups make up the arm:
- Shoulder
- Upper arm
- Lower arm
As if it were a slightly misshapen heart, the shoulder muscle looks like that. The back and chest muscles extend from the top of the heart and the bicep. The triceps are attached to the bottom of the arms. On the other hand, the inner and outer forearm muscles go down the arm and connect to the hand near the pinky finger.
● Legs
Anatomy of the leg muscles should be drawn from the top, where the leg attaches to the pelvis. Following the arms, the legs have a similar general form and function following the arms, although there are a few more muscle groups in the legs. Three main muscles run parallel to each other down the front of the leg and reach the knee. There is a large glute muscle in the back of the leg, located above the hamstring muscle and extending to the back of the knee. The lower half of the leg is heavily dominated by the calf muscles, although you may want to add in a muscle across the shin as well.
● Hands and Feet
Even though drawing hands and feet may seem less challenging than drawing arms and legs, they are still challenging to draw. It is especially important if you want a realistic and anatomically correct drawing.
In order to identify the basic shape of the hands and feet, it can be helpful first to identify a reference photo. The palm of the hand could, for example, be drawn as a pentagon, and then the fingers could be drawn as long rounded rectangles. Adding knuckles and fingernails are important details once you’ve completed the basic shape.
Step 3: Establish the final figure
In conclusion, you will need to decide how much detail you expect to see in your final drawing and make the necessary adjustments. It is now essential that you determine if and how you need to reduce the size of the original drawing. Yes, it is likely that every muscle definition will be visible if your character is a bodybuilder. Other characters, particularly those drawn in a cartoon style or with fewer details, can be drawn strategically depending on how much detail you wish to include. To arrive at your final drawing, it may be necessary to eliminate some of the detail and muscle definition from the original drawing.
Flex Your Drawing Muscles
You’ll soon become more adept at drawing the human form and becoming more familiar with its anatomy, making it easier for you to illustrate figures in different poses without taking reference photos. You will become a stronger, more versatile artist, and your characters will become more realistic and believable.
Pro Tips: Human Anatomy Drawing
How to draw a human face is one of the most common questions asked by students and beginner artists. Anatomy drawings, in general, are tough to get right, but it’s even more difficult when it comes to figures because you can’t always see all the details on a model that you’re trying to draw.
Drawing the human anatomy can seem intimidating at first. By breaking down the body into sections, you can better understand where to place your pencil. Sketching and Drawing human anatomy can be a lot easier than you think, especially once you know the tricks. Let’s learn some pro tips that can make your drawings look more beautiful.
01. Think Before Drawing
Drawing anatomical drawings correctly and incorrectly is a very precise process, and the difference between the two can be quite subtle. Drawings that are scribble-like and you do not commit to any one line will not catch anatomical mistakes because your brain is busy processing the image. It’s important to use the basic drawing skills you already have if you’re studying anatomy.
02. Gesture
Every figure drawing begins with the gesture. Gestures should be expressed in a new way through anatomy, not by replacing them. A new way of using anatomy should allow gestural expression to be revealed.
03. Observe the Skeleton
If you take a look at their fully fleshed figures, you can tell when an artist doesn’t know the skeleton. Muscles will point in the wrong direction. Though the skeleton is complex, it varies much less than the muscles and fat of an individual. The skeleton helps build the body, understand its functions, and position the muscles correctly. You will benefit for the rest of your career if you spend the time learning it.
04. Remember the Simple Forms
Humans are organic beings. There are lots of bumps, curves, and mushy-looking things on it. You shouldn’t make your drawings look mushy. It is possible to copy exactly what you see, but if your perception and accuracy are off, then it shows.
To better understand the body, it is best to learn to divide it into simple forms. It is for this reason, we teach simple forms for the whole body. Forms are simple enough to memorize, so you can easily pull them out when you need them.
05. Correct mistakes
Look at your drawing critically after you’ve finished it to see where you can improve. You can ask your friends, mentors, or anyone online for feedback. Afterward, correct your drawings based on what you noticed.
06. Take Action, Not Just Read About It
Although you may be able to understand anatomy by reading or listening to an explanation intellectually, that does not mean that you will be able to draw it. Artists are creative people. It is more than just understanding anatomy that they are responsible for. To draw it believable and interesting, you have to learn how to draw it. That can only be accomplished by drawing. Do a lot of it!
07. Steer Clear of Snowmen
Do not draw symmetrical bulges all over the place. This will make your drawing appear stiff and boring. Body contours tend to flow in a zigzag pattern. Muscles typically work in pairs, so when one side flexes, the other rests.
08. Don’t Include Everything
Please keep in mind that not every tendon, bone, and muscle must be depicted in every drawing. A drawing that includes anatomical details will appear stiff and fake at the wrong places. Choose details that contribute to the overall picture, and let these be sufficient. Generally, you will choose details that flow into a gesture or composition and are at or near the focal point.
09. Ensure Your Practice Is Goal-oriented
Anatomy has many aspects, and there is a lot to learn about it. For example, anatomy is important when you practice gestures. Focus on making the anatomy dynamic by matching the form to the pose. You can add dimension to your study of forms by using cross contour lines and shading. Avoid organic forms you do not understand and use simple forms to construct the body parts. Identify a goal and work towards it. Use your practice time as effectively as possible.
10. Have Patience
It takes time to learn anatomy. Study each drawing and each part of the body carefully. It’s impossible to learn everything in your first attempt. You will need to revisit all the parts and add to your understanding every few years for the rest of your career. There is no magic button that will instantly make you a master. Keep learning at all times.
Final Words
These human anatomy drawing tutorials are for those who are novice artists, people who have always wanted to learn how to draw. It is also a great resource for pencil sketch artists to get ideas. Even if you can’t draw or don’t know how to draw, there is no need to be discouraged. Anyone can learn the fundamentals of drawing, and the trick is to keep practicing.
We hope that this guide has been useful to you and that you are able to get a good idea of where to start in drawing human anatomy. Remember that the most important thing for an artist to do is to practice! Drawing human anatomy can be difficult, but all it takes is practice, practice, and more practice. Even if you don’t think you’re good at it, keep practicing, and you should improve.