2D Art - Term 6
In term 6, we had to study & draw the anatomy of the male body. We were taught how the human body works, how the skeleton is built and why muscles are attached and shaped the way they are.
Personal Goals
I have never really drawn the skeleton or muscles the right way, so this was completely new for me. It was important for me to understand everything, pay attention and draw an anatomically right proportioned body. Making things look pretty and being a perfectionist is step 2.
Assignment 1: The Skeleton
In week 1, we were taught how to draw a skeleton the right way with the right proportions. I drew this first assignment on paper, because it was easier to follow along with the video our teacher gave us, and I could use this sketch in the next 2 assignments.
Assignment 2: The Muscles of the Upper Body
In week 2, we had to draw the skeleton of the upper body again, and then draw the correct muscles on top of the sketch. So I made a digital version of my skeleton from week 1 and followed the tutorial of week 2 to draw the muscles right.
Assignment 3: The Muscles of the Lower Body
In week 3, we had to do the same thing as in week 2, but draw the muscles for the lower body instead.
Assignment 4: Skull & Muscles
Week 4 was different. Instead of using the tutorial video from our teacher and drawing everything from scratch, we had to find our own reference picture and use that head as a guide to draw our own skull & the muscles on the head. I chose a random actor I liked; Ryan Reynolds. So first off, I drew the skull.
And after that, I used my drawing of the skull to draw the muscles on the head. I did this one in more of a sketchy style, because it was important to show the direction of which way the muscles were bending.
In week 5, we had time to finish these 4 assignments before starting the final assignment after the Christmas vacation. So I made sure everything was done and looking pretty.
Final Assignment: Make it your Own
For our final assignment, we had to use the knowledge we gained from drawing the male body anatomically correct, to make concept art for our own character. I started out with brainstorming, and came up with the idea to make a half-dead character, like a zombie or a ghost, so you can still see parts of the skeleton or muscles. So I started out by making a moodboard and making a bunch of reference pictures of different poses.
But it was way too difficult for me. I had no idea how I was going to draw an anatomically correct male body in a different pose and with clothes. I've only ever drawn female bodies, and I draw in a cartoon-ish style. But to draw a body with all these rules in mind, like making the body 8 heads long, it was too difficult for my brain, and I just couldn't draw it.
So I decided to start off with drawing the skin on top of the body. That was explained in the video of week 3, but I skipped over that, because it was too difficult. Below is my first attempt from that week.
So I just put the upper body & lower body together, and drew a layer of skin on top of everything. That was incredibly ugly, but a few days later I picked up this project again and tried drawing the shadows on top of the skin.
To make the character look a bit more like a real character and not just a body, I attempted to fix the head and hands. Drawing the pants/shoes was impossible for me, I struggled with that way too much. I didn't want to draw a real head and hands, because I simply didn't have enough time for that, so I tried to think of ways I can still draw these parts. Eventually, after adding more inspiration to my moodboard, I came up with this.
And this was the end result. I struggled a lot with making a drawing look like I sketched it with pencil, while working with a drawing tablet, but then I saw a classmate use the Opacity option and set it back to 15%. So I tried it out, and it worked really well.
Because I drew this 1 day before the deadline, I decided to stop here, because I really didn't have any time left to make an entire character out of this.
Evaluation & Feedback
This project had its fun sides and difficult sides. I feel like I learned the most from assignment 1, drawing the entire skeleton with the right proportions and stuff. Assignment 2 & 3 were pretty easy and fun to draw. But drawing the skull for assignment 4 was really difficult for me, because my skull didn't look exactly the same as my teacher's example, and I'm quite the perfectionist. But here's the thing: we all had to find our own reference photo, so everyone chose a different person, and every person is unique. So of course my skull isn't going to be exactly the same as the skull my teacher was drawing, it makes sense. But it was still the least fun drawing to make.
And like I explained above, the final assignment was incredibly difficult for me. I was scared that I was going to have to hand something in that, in my eyes, wasn't good enough. But I got some help from school, and gathered up a little bit of motivation to draw the skin so I at least had that to hand in. It's unfortunate that I couldn't really design my own character, but I hope that this head and hands idea I came up with, is still good enough. I'm just going to try again next term and hopefully make something great for the next project.
My teacher gave me a G. "Very good work Anouk, clean lineart and good proportions. Your presentation is very clear and uncluttered."
