How to Draw Figures from Imagination

How to draw figures from imagination

In this tutorial, we will continue the topic of figurative drawing and you will learn the upper body anatomy. The knowledge of anatomy for artists and construction of a human body really helps when drawing figures from life and memory. Here's my sketchbook with quick drawings of female figures in various poses. Making such sketches is a great way to practice constructive drawing and refresh your knowledge of various proportions of the body, head and face. In the previous lesson, we covered several proportions and I demonstrated how to draw a ribcage, neck and head from various points of view. I showed how to make a well-proportionate model of a stylised ribcage and how the head connects to the body. I also explained how to draw the correct construction of the neck and which mistakes you need to avoid when drawing portraits. We talked about contours, proportions and alignments of the head and neck and how to draw them in perspective. The Life Drawing Academy students get the model template for doing the tasks on anatomy for artists.

Here's the simple model we have so far and it's time to make it more sophisticated. To sculpt the shoulder girdle, we need the shoulder-blade and the collarbone. Although this part is very small, it is anatomically accurate. The dimensions of this part can be compared to the height of the face. Let's measure this important measuring unit. The height of the shoulder blade is comparable to the height of the face. The length of the collarbone together with the acromion also can be compared to this dimension. Here is how the shoulder blade is positioned on the ribcage. You can see that its medial border is vertical and goes along the costal angles line. The shoulder blade shape is curved to glide over the ribs, being connected to them by muscles.

To make the shoulder girdle more refined, I will make it with metal wire and epoxy material. Here's the wire three-dimensional construction with the needed size, angles and proportions. I double check how it sits on the ribcage. Of course, we need not one, but two shoulder blades in the same size. They mirror each other and are fully symmetrical.

For sculpting, I will use epoxy putty. Any similar material would do. You do not need some particular brand. Epoxy putty is synthetic sticky clay based on epoxy resin. It has two components that have to be mixed together in a one-to-one ratio. Such clay adheres to most materials. It dries in about 30 minutes and becomes very hard, like a stone. Its light gray color is suited nicely for bones of this model.

In the middle, the real shoulder blade is very thin, so thin that it is almost transparent. This bit of clay is already dry and hard. Its surface is also scratch resistant. I like this epoxy putty. It cures chemically without baking. A half kilo will go a long way. I cut bits of clay with the palette knife. Brown and white components should have equal weight or volume. I measure them by eye. Then, two components should be thoroughly mixed together to become light gray in color without any stripes or unmixed bits. As soon as two pieces merge together, they begin to react and harden. The working time for this clay is about 15 minutes.

Here are two shoulder blades with joined clavicles. They are hard by now. I will temporarily disconnect the sternocleidomastoid muscles to attach the collarbones. To connect these bones, I will use a piece of metal wire. You can spot little hinges at the bone ends. Such hinges will allow certain movements. I push this bent wire into the place where clavicles connect to the ribcage. Shoulder blades fit perfectly to this model. Together with collarbones, they are slender and accurate in every detail.

Each shoulder blade with clavicle is joined to the ribcage in just one point at the sternal end, where the pit of neck is. Such construction makes this unit movable. A collarbone can be elevated from its normal horizontal position. Also, protraction of shoulders happens when clavicles are moved forward. This simple model is capable of elevation, depression, protraction and retraction of shoulders.

Here's the glenoid fossa, where the upper arm bone connects to the body. This model also has the coracoid process, a projection of bone where several muscles connect to the shoulder blade. Although very small, this model is very accurate and anatomically correct.

I will now add two upper arm bones. Such a bone is called humerus. A piece of wire will make this model bone more rigid. This bone will be hinged and therefore movable. The length of this bone is such that it ends at the bottom edge of the ribcage. Hinges allow all the movement that an arm is capable of. I will sculpt the humerus bone in clay.

At the top, there is the bicipital groove (also called intertubercular). It is placed between the lesser and greater tubercles. Next to them, there is the spherical head of the humerus, below of which is the neck of this bone. The halfway down of the bone shaft, there is the deltoid tuberosity.

At the lower end of the humerus, there is the round capitulum, the place where the radius bone joins the upper bone, and the trochlea, the joint for ulna, which is another forearm bone. Even though this model bone is only a couple of inches long, it has all the anatomical features and shapes of the real upper arm bone. It is capable of pronation and supination, which is rotation of the bone. You may ask why I need such an accurate model of bones. Later on, we will add muscles to this model and every anatomical landmark will be needed to explain their origins and insertions.

As in real life, the upper arm bone elevates to a certain level before it hits the acromion. Thereafter, elevation of the arm happens by moving the shoulder blade, collarbone and humerus together. This model demonstrates this action very well.

With all the necessary bones complete, we can continue with muscles. Beneath the shoulder blade, there is the subscapularis muscle. It is flat and has a triangular shape. This muscle is sandwiched between the shoulder blade and the ribcage. It originates from the surface of the scapula and inserts onto the lesser tubercle of the humerus. I will push red clay in place to attach this muscle firmly to this tubercle. The subscapularis stabilizes the shoulder joint during movements of the elbow, wrist, and hand. Here is the lesser tubercle of the humerus.

Above the spine of the scapula, there is the supraspinous fossa. This is the place where the supraspinatus originates. This muscle goes under the acromion and inserts onto the highest point of greater tubercle. This muscle assists in the abduction of the upper arm, raising it away from the side of the torso. Here is the greater tubercle of the humerus.

I will now attach the teres major muscle. This cylindrical muscle originates at the lower end of the shoulder blade. Teres major inserts onto the crest of lesser tubercle, on the front side of the upper arm bone. It adducts the upper arm, pulling it from a horizontal position back to the side of the torso. It also assists in the medial rotation and extension of the upper arm.

Just above the teres major, there is a small round muscle called teres minor. It originates from the lateral border of the scapula and inserts onto the lowest facet of greater tubercle. Teres minor assists in the lateral rotation of the upper arm bone. Here is the lower part of the greater tubercle.

Just below the spine of the scapula, there is the infraspinous fossa, a large depression on the shoulder blade. This is where the infraspinatus muscle originates from. It inserts onto the middle facet of greater tubercle. The infraspinatus assists in the lateral rotation of the upper arm, rotating it outward. This is the middle part of greater tubercle.

Here is a projection of the shoulder blade, called the coracoid process. It is rather small and looks like a bird beak. This is the place where the coracobrachialis muscle originates. It inserts in the middle of the medial border of the upper arm bone. The coracobrachialis flexes and adducts the arm at the shoulder joint. It also resists deviation of the arm from the frontal plane during abduction. It is only detectable when the arm is raised. To expose this muscle more, and to show how other muscles change their shapes, I will make this model with its left arm raised.

Now, it's time to add a very important muscle of the shoulder blade - the deltoid. It consists of three portions. This is the spinal (or posterior) portion of the deltoid. It originates from the lower border of the spine of the scapula. All three portions of deltoid insert into the deltoid tuberosity of the humerus. Here's the scapula's spine.

The frontal (or anterior) part of the deltoid is called the clavicular portion. It originates from the lateral third of the clavicle. Here is the part of the collarbone where this portion attaches to. This part of deltoid inserts into the deltoid tuberosity as well.

There is also the acromial (or middle) portion of deltoid. It originates from the outer border of acromion. As two other portions, the acromial part also inserts in the deltoid tuberosity of the upper arm bone.

The deltoid is a powerful muscle. It assists in raising the arm horizontally and raising it in front of the body, as well as moving the arm back. These actions are called abduction, flexion and extension. It has a triangular shape and is "U" curved.

I will smooth out the borders between deltoid portions with the metal tool. I hope this demonstration of the shoulder anatomy is easy to follow and you learn something new here. If you enjoy this video, give your "Like" and subscribe to the channel not to miss when the next part of the anatomy tutorial goes out. Here's the attached deltoid and other muscles of the scapula. There are also other muscles that connect the upper arm to the body. To reveal their points of insertion, I will temporarily remove the deltoid.

At the front, the chest is covered with a big fan-shaped muscle called pectoralis major. It has three portions. The lower part is called the abdominal portion. It originates from the abdominal sheath and inserts into the lateral lip of intertubercular groove. The biggest part of this muscle is located in the middle; it is called the sternum portion of pectoralis major. It originates from the breast bone and costal cartilages of the first six or seven ribs. This portion inserts slightly below the previous one, overlapping it. The last portion of the pectoralis major is called the clavicular portion because it originates from the medial half of the clavicle. At the insertion, it overlaps the previous two portions and is connected to the humerus just below them. You can see how this muscle ends are twisted in this arm position. The pectoralis major muscle moves the upper arm, in the actions of adduction, flexion, and medial rotation.

Now, I can put back the deltoid muscle. At the front, there is a triangular hole between the deltoid and pectoralis major muscles, where they attach to the collarbone. This hole is an important landmark that artists can use for drawing human figures. In the next videos, I will explain how it works. For now, just keep in mind that this hole is located next to the middle of the clavicle.

So far, I sculpted muscles on one side of this model. Let's take care of another half. I will repeat all the muscles explained earlier and this is a good way to memorize their names, origins, insertions and functions.

Here's the subscapularis muscle. It covers all the space beneath the scapula and inserts onto the lesser tubercle of the humerus. This muscle stabilizes the shoulder joint.

The muscle above the spine of the scapula, is called supraspinatus. It goes from the supraspinous fossa to the highest point of greater tubercle. It assists in the abduction of the upper arm.

At the lower end of the scapula, there is the teres major muscle, which inserts onto the crest of lesser tubercle. This muscle adducts the upper arm, and assists in its medial rotation and extension.

The teres minor is located above the teres major. It goes from the lateral border of the scapula to the lowest facet of greater tubercle. This muscle assists in the lateral rotation of the upper arm.

The infraspinatus muscle originates from the infraspinous fossa, which is below the spine of the scapula. This muscle inserts onto the middle facet of greater tubercle. The infraspinatus assists in the lateral rotation of the upper arm.

The coracoid process is where the coracobrachialis muscle originates. This muscle inserts in the middle of the medial border of the upper arm bone. The coracobrachialis flexes and adducts the arm at the shoulder joint.

The abdominal portion of the pectoralis major muscle originates from the abdominal sheath and inserts into the lateral lip of intertubercular groove.

The sternum portion of pectoralis major originates from the sternum and costal cartilages of ribs. It inserts next to the previous portion.

The clavicular portion of the pectoralis major originates from the medial half of the clavicle and connects to the humerus. The pectoralis major muscle adducts, flexes, and rotates the arm.

You can see that when the arm is raised, the overlapping insertion ends of three portions no longer cross each other, but parallel. I will smooth out the borders between pectoralis major portions, so it looks more like one big muscle.

When the humerus bone is raised up, the pectoral major muscle pushes upward the frontal portion of the deltoid, which is called the clavicular portion. It originates from the lateral part of the clavicle. It inserts into the deltoid tuberosity of the humerus.

This spinal portion of the deltoid originates from the lower border of the spine of the scapula and inserts into the deltoid tuberosity as well.

And finally, the acromial portion of deltoid originates from the outer border of acromion. Because the arm is raised, this portion is very much contracted. The deltoid assists in raising the arm horizontally and in front of the body, as well as moving it back.

I will now sculpt the long tendon of the trapezius muscle in white clay. It spans from the base of the skull to the bottom of the ribcage. It connects to the bones of the skull and vertebrae of the back spine and forms the fibrous ligament in the neck region. In this model, I will skip the muscles called rhomboid major and rhomboid minor, which connect the shoulder blades to the ribcage, because they are fully covered by the trapezius muscle.

The trapezius muscle consists of three portions. Here is the lower one. It originates from the spinous processes of the back; from the third to the twelfth vertebrae and inserts into the spine of the scapula. The lower portion of trapezius depresses the scapula, moving it downward.

I will join red and white clay with a metal tool. I made this video for Life Drawing Academy Correspondence Course students who receive unlimited personal tutoring, which includes lessons on drawing, sculpting, and anatomy. There are 100 drawing tasks in this course and this video is just a small part of one of such tasks. In this course, students cover all the drawing topics from how to sharpen and use a pencil to how to draw portraits and figures. This is the middle portion of the trapezius. It originates from the seventh neck vertebra to the third back vertebra and inserts into the acromion and the spine of the scapula. When this portion is contracted, it adducts the scapula, moving it closer to the spine.

In the Correspondence Course, students learn all the topics of constructive drawing, including linear and aerial perspective, contours, intersections, composition, golden proportions, to name a few. Such constructive drawing principles help them to draw whatever they see or imagine in a professional way. Such principles of constructive drawing are no longer taught in depth in contemporary art colleges. The Life Drawing Academy Correspondence Course is the only place where you can get them all for a one-time low fee. Did you know there are 16 types and 21 rules of perspective, 15 elements of composition, 34 constructive drawing principles? If you can't name them all, you definitely need this course. Apart from the drawing tasks, in the Correspondence Course students also get constructive critique of artworks they make within this course. The academy tutors point out their mistakes and advise how to fix them. Such valuable feedback helps to grow their drawing skills from task to task. We actually guarantee that by the end of this course, you will get the advanced level of drawing skills. The reason why every student will achieve the advanced level of drawing skills in the correspondence course is because there is no way to fail. Every task is explained and demonstrated in depth and is easy to follow. As long as you follow your drawing curriculum, you will learn all that is needed to get professional drawing skills. Talking of the assignments, you will get a special drawing curriculum that will be tailored to your level of skills and will take into account your wishes and needs. That is why such a course is suitable for all levels from complete beginners to advanced artists.

Here's the mastoid process at the base of the skull. It is located just behind the ear. This is the place where the sternocleidomastoid attaches to the skull. This neck muscle spirals from the head to the pit of the neck. At the front, it originates from the top of the breastbone and also from the medial part of the collar bone. I will sculpt this part of the muscle in red clay.

Coming back to the trapezius, there is one more portion of this muscle, the upper one. This portion originates from the base of the skull and the fibrous neck ligament. It inserts into the lateral third of the collar bone. This muscle elevates the shoulders, helps in upward rotation of the scapula, and extension of the neck, which is rotating the head upward.

The shoulder blade's spine is not covered with muscles and can be detected on the body.

Check out how the direction of the top portion of the trapezius continues down with the outline of the deltoid muscle.

In the region of the seventh neck vertebra, the tendon has the diamond shape.

The shoulder outline is formed by the top portion of the trapezius muscle.

The middle portion spans horizontally. And the lower portion of trapezius points down, covering a big part of the back.

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