Artistic anatomy: tasks of the month
The skeleton, the torso, the pelvis and the legs, a plaster head and the features of the face. In-depth recorded breakdowns, where the muscles are laid onto the construction rather than on top of the silhouette.
Tasks
28 September — 4 October
The muscles of the back in big masses
Draw the back from behind — not listing the muscles, but in three or four large masses: the trapezius, the lats, the lower back, the shoulder blades. The task is to see how these masses change as the arms move. Make two drawings: arms down and arms raised. Pencil, large format.
5–11 October
The arm: from shoulder to hand
One whole arm, in two states: relaxed and tensed. Watch how the silhouette changes: a tensed muscle is shorter and thicker. Keep an anatomy atlas at hand, but draw from a live reference. One sheet, both versions.
12–18 October
The leg and the pelvis
The leg from the pelvis to the knee in three views. The main thing is the direction of the masses: the thigh is not a cylinder, it is twisted. Find where the muscle goes into the bone and where the silhouette turns hard — those are the places the leg reads by. Any medium.
19–25 October
Anatomy inside a pose
A figure in a complex pose, with the anatomy laid over it in thin line: which masses are working, which are stretched. This is a working sheet, not a showpiece. Notes and labels are welcome. Large format.
26 October — 1 November
The neck and the shoulder girdle
The neck together with the shoulders, three turns of the head. Look for how the neck muscles stretch as it turns and how the shoulder girdle follows the head. A cylinder for a neck is a sure sign the anatomy was skipped. A reference with good light.