Leg Muscles Study

[Flying Ball]

Hello everyone here are my studies of leg muscles. Any criticism will be highly appreciated. Thank you :)

[JosephCow]

Hi welcome to the forum!

I'd be happy to give some feedback if you like! I've also been studying the muscles, so It's a good opportunity to refresh my own knowledge as well.

I have a couple resources that could help. I use the book Anatomy for Sculptors. There are pdf's available if you search for it. Plus they post a lot of pages on their artstation right here: https://www.artstation.com/search?sort_b...0sculptors

I use this for diagrams with muscle names and to see artistic simplifications.

And then I also recommend using a 3D reference to visualize what muscles go where. 2D diagrams are super flat and are hard to understand when translating that to a drawing of a posed person, so something like this helps me a lot. https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/ecorche-...f4ec908d66 this one by chris fischer is really good. It costs money to download, but you can just look at it and rotate it for free.


As for critique, I think you should spend more time sketching the general shapes and form without any specific muscles first! Get the gesture and proportions down first, as this is truly more important, and then it's much easier to divide that into specific muscle groups. On this drawing, the left leg especially doesn't seem very accurate, even though I'm sure you don't intend to make it exactly like the photo. The lower leg is just not really that wide. Spend some time getting the big angles and proportions, and I do a little shading to give it some structure. If this stage feels challenging, it might be that your time is better served working on just those general drawing skills than learning anatomy, though it definitely helps to have that knowledge. Try to think more 3D as well, even if you're doing a line drawing, imagine the lines going around a 3D form, not just a flat shape. I think the very last drawing is the best in this regard.

For the specific muscles, I would label them because it helps your memory, and it clarifies what you do know, and what you don't. Even if you put a question mark next to some muscles, then you know what to look up. Your muscles are generally placed right, but there are some issues with their individual shapes and flow. For example you draw the Sartorius like a really thin string, but it's actually flat and wide more like a belt. Every muscles has a place where it starts, where it ends, and it's own signature shape. Try to study that more and capture both the flow and form of the muscles.

[darktiste]

More of a suggestion and opinion.

3d model is great if the person know what they are doing otherwise it questionable as reference but how would you know that the issue.I suggest working as much from life as possible.Find yourself a victim and take photo of there leg it best to utilize the summer time since it at that time that you get the most chance to catch a leg in is natural habitat.For normal leg ambush i suggest to hunt them down at school during launch time or before class start if your a student.But always make sure to ask permission DON'T BE A CREEP.You can always compensate them in your own way for the service of providing you with reference.

When build your reference gallery don't forget to take many picture of the same pose and to move around to get different angle and ask if they can do certain pose.Obviously if you can find a fellow artist to be a live model for you i am sure they will have no choose but to do the same for you and it a great way to always have fresh tailor to your need reference.You can also torture your family with reference request in exchange of doing some chore around the house.It sure is more work then working from content found on the internet but it much more valuable because it custom made reference.
Plus you learn an other skill which is photography.

Dissecting and understanding is just half of the work applying what you just learn to a new drawing using as little reference as possible is how you solidify the information to your memory.This is why as JosephCow said in is own word you get more out of learning construction because you want a big shape first to add or remove from the shape because you get closer to the real shape much quicker.When you look at the negative space ask yourself why is there bump or a straight line. Is it because there a bone underneath poking to the surface or is because the muscle is getting activated? Why is the curve strong or relaxed? What is the leg doing that the kind of thing that make you understand the action if you don't ask those question you get static pose that feel unatural almost robotic.Some muscle are only showing in specific scenario it up to you to find why is it happening(it probably a muscle that is underneath other muscle group)

One thing i suggest you remember is that the join where limb bend is generally where you will find bone nearest to the surface so there is not much chance that you get strang bump but the shape vary greatly because it a join.When a muscle contrat there also a muscle group that relax.

When you invent figure you want to have a picture of the land mark of the body to establish your proportion.

[JosephCow]

I should clarify that I don't recommend drawing figures from 3d models. I suggested the 3D reference as a 3D version of this type of diagram that are often consulted during this kind of study. While a 2D drawing is useful, I find it easier to spin the model around and look at the muscles on the sculpture from any angle for this kind of thing.