#I feel like I used to be more confident in giving tips but ermm I am relearning how to draw actually

[viv-url]

Hey Viv! Do you have any tips for drawing anatomy?

weh... not really... after spending most of the year taking a break and only recently drawing again, I've come to the realization that my anatomy has so much farther to go. I will, however, share some things that I think are valuable for me and a part of how I draw:

in terms of the basics: aside from online tutorials, which are a lot of help, I have multiple books that I studied intensely off of. my favorite is this. I've seen artists be able to draw without guidelines and the infamous circles and sausages, but the way I draw is pretty similar to that wherein I draw very basic forms. some examples I can show that aren't too embarrassing:

everyone has their own way of problem solving anatomy/poses. mine is this: start with stickmen, really bad doodles that vaguely capture the essence of what I want to draw. and then I draw a really bad doodle developed off that. then I try a more refined sketch. and I redraw the entire sketch multiple times (as you can see in the examples above). oftentimes I'll duplicate the layer and continue reworking the sketch, and going back and forth to see which iteration works better. I think this would be tedious for many people, but that's what works best for me

sometimes, it's not just about drawing the pose anatomically correct. it's also about drawing it in a way that's convincing and aesthetically pleasing. a pose may be structurally sound, but is it the best portrayal? would it benefit from a bit of angle adjusting? is the way a knee or elbow foreshortened awkward? is there a better way to depict the kind of motion or pose you're trying to express, yet it doesn't totally adhere to logic? ironically, sometimes breaking the rules a little can make a pose more convincing. this only truly works when you have a good handle on the ways the human body can bend and move, though

I did already answer this kind of question years ago somewhere on this blog with different answers involving reference pictures and practice (you can check it out if you feel like it) so there's not much more I think I can say on the subject. but aside from that, I hope any of this was useful!!