How do you use an anatomy manual? (another stupid question)

[Koguma]

My personal methods for learning human anatomy are as follows:

Tips:

- Focus on one subject a day, your memory can't hold the entire human anatomy and it's individual pieces in one day

- work on bits/individual/focused areas of the body to start off. Example: focus on just the humerus and the muscles on/around it. Learn the entire human anatomy starting off with small pieces and then put them all together when you've learned them individually.

- build from the skeleton up. You can do this by working in layers or with different colored markers.

- Learn the front, side, and back of each bone/muscle.

- after doing a page or so of focused drawings of individual limbs or set of bones/muscles, do the same thing but instead a page of 60 second gestures, and then do a page from memory only.

- work from many references for bones and muscles you find on the web and not just from one source. You want to make sure you're getting an accurate representation of your subject here.

Important Steps:

1. Understand the skeletal structure and individual bone names and shapes. This takes time yes, but is invaluable knowledge as the skeleton is the foundation for the rest of the human body.

2. Learn the names and shapes of the muscles and how they fit onto the skeleton.

3. Do a focused study from a photograph or real life and try to compare how these bones and muscle shapes compare to the real thing covered with skin.

4. Do gestures and memory drawings to apply this knowledge constantly.

The thing you want to do here is to ACTUALLY grasp/understand what you're doing when it comes to drawing from your mind without reference, and not to guess or blindly copy.

Hum, that makes sense. I mean, by reading through a bunch of anatomy books you realize that's the sort of method they use to teach anatomy. Like focusing on the skeleton at first and then  focusing on smaller pieces of the human anatomy, like breaking them down into smaller pieces, therefore easier to understand. All and all I guess it's just a matter of memory and a lot of practice xD

Here's my method:

I try to draw a specific region (or part) of anatomy, without reference, many MANY times. Then, I look online or in the mirror for reference for the thing I'm trying to draw. I notice the difference between the reference image and my own iterative series of drawings, then I apply the missing bit of info to my next drawings.

This helps me because I am drawing A LOT and gaining mileage, plus, it's easier for me to retain knowledge learned.

I prefer this way oppose to copying an image then trying to replicate it; studying this way forces you to remember a lot of information at once. It's harder to focus on weak points. It's harder to IDENTIFY weak points.

Yeah.

SO:

1. Draw many iterations of the thing you're trying to learn, WITHOUT reference. Try to figure shit out on your own.

2. Pull up reference, compare your series of iterative drawings with the reference, identify the lapse of information, apply the learned bits to your own drawings.

It's a tedious approach, but I like it because my brain is dumber than most and it helps my dumb brain learn.

*Draw a fuck-ton and check your work as you go. Basically the crux of my explanation.

Pop tons of adderall.

It reminds me to this . I guess if you can make some mistakes at first it's easier to see your weaknesses and therefore you can actually approach any subject blending your on experience (what you've leraned from your mistakes) and the actual knowledge of a study together.

Oh dear, my art is way too shitty to even attempt  to showing it off But one of these days I'll maybe open a sketchbook, when I feel more confident I'd say that I'm just starting, so there's no much to show anyway xP

Post it anyways! I see people acting like uploading a picture they drew has some kind of stakes involved. As if you have so much to lose showing people markings you make with you hand. Oh no their hand markings are fancier than my hand markings! XD I really think you'll progress way faster if you change your mind set.

Trust me my mindset is ok. Don't get me wrong, I'm not like "oh, my sketches are not a master piece,they shall not see the light of day". But it's just that I don't feel comfortable at my actual level, that's all.

Thank again guys for your opinion <3