Shoulders and Torsos

well, I've been pulling out my pencil and paper lately, but I need help overcoming a big problem... Every single torso I make looks like a box, almost, and every single shoulder I make looks FAR too feminine! Well, I've searched for a few hours for a "how to draw shoulders" or torsos, but cannot find any (I'm sketchy at shoulders too, it takes me a few tries to get half decent looking ones..) So, mind hooking me up with a link? thanks!

Get "Constructive Anatomy" by George Bridgeman. It's like $7.

Or, if you really don't want to, try www.fineart.sk - there are some anatomy/drawing books scanned in, by Andrew Loomis.

that's really helpful Jac...

Sticky please.

icbm1987

http://www.wc3campaigns.com/showthread.php?t=7955

fineart.sk is in that list (which is already stickied).

Here's a mouse drawing I made to show you. Red is some major muscles. It may not be anatomically exact, but it's pretty close. Blue dots is where the arm can rotate or bend.



Notice the big shoulder muscle. That is really what defines a shoulder (well in my opinion at least). Big muscles shows that it's a strong dude, kinda small or nonexistant shows that it's a weak little wiener.

this should help me too... i dont really know enough about anatomy to be a really good artist. Right now i kinda just copy what i see (not works, but muscles and such) and work until i think it "looks right"

I think Bridgman's books might be a little too advance for you.
Defitnetly go with Loomis.
Loomis books doesn't cover anatomy as much as bridgman but he covers most of the basic stuff values, poportions, composition etc..., and he makes everything so damn simple.

You can go with Bridgman or Hogarth books if you want to go anatomy crazy, but if your just starting out Loomis books is the best way to go =).

I didn't see a pdf file download at fineart, but you can get it here

http://www.sundownmedia.net/loomis.htm

Figure drawing for all it worth and Creative Illustration is the one your looking for, but all of them are good too :D

I don't know if this will help with your torso problem, but best way to think of the torso , is 3 sections:the head, top part of torso (ribcage), and bottom part (pelvis).

You twist, bend, forshorten these three parts to make all sorts of poses and action moves. Pretty simple heh. Shoulders bah I have hard time with shoulders too, its easier for me when I think of them as clothes hangers lol kinda hard to explain > . <

Hey kuramaRoze. You should really show some of your pictures so we can see whats wrong with them and give hints how to make them better.

well, for muscles, I'm plain lost to placement on anything but buff male arms..

I'm dling some of those PDF's, and Beam's pic really helped me (also my skinning too, since I can go more freelance on muscles now :-D) with that problem... Well, if these don't correct my problem, I'll post an example :)

As for torsos, is there any "tricks" to them, such as the lines you draw on chests/faces/etc for placement? I tend to find mine oddly shaped and look very dull transitioning to the legs...

OMFG Jac, I clicked that link and saw some super-muscular man-like women. *shudders*

beam, out of all the tutorials that i have seen

you make the best and the easiest to understand.

great for anybody starting out

Yup. That is really helpful. Thumbs up for you :D !

Yes, there are muscle pictures at fineart.sk, but there are also Andrew Loomis drawing books scanned in. Don't just look for the quick and easy explanation, look for the thorough one that will take you a few times through to really understand, because without it you won't have a true (and therefore useful) understanding of anatomy. I didn't.

Bridgeman might not be terribly easy to read, but it's very easy to understand what most of the pictures are illustrating - or at least I think so - and they break down all of the muscular anatomy for the entire body, as well as pointing out a lot of things to 'keep in mind' while drawing the figure that I haven't yet found in any other anatomy book. One such is the "step down" joints from knuckle to fingertip in hands... but you'd have to check out that section of the book to understand, because I couldn't explain without illustrating. -_- Another is the way that the muscles of the arm "lock" together, so that a muscle seen from one angle will be narrow and the next wide, while from another angle the first will be wide and the second narrow.

If you have no idea what I'm talking about, then it might be a good idea to get that $7 book. If you can't use it for the thorough explanation, at least use it for the drawings. Later you'll be able to tackle the text again and really learn how things work.

I also like Burne Hogarth's books, but please don't draw in his style - it's so uuuugly. >.< They're also a lot more expensive.

well, reading these will take me a bit... esp cause of the fact of all the nudes in it (my parents dont understand the line between porno and art...) so... dont expect anything from me till im done reading most of em :-P

yeah, i'd like to take a longer look at fineart.tk too.... but its got more naked chicks than a porn site and this computer is in the middle of my living room! o_O


have to wait till later i guess... :(


but i think i understand the muscle anatomy on the body well enough for now... the thing that i am still totally lost in is the face/head.