How To Improve Your Anatomy Drawing FAST

How to improve your drawing skills?

This is a question that most beginners really struggle with. Because you really don’t know where to start and how to learn.

But there’s a question that’s even more mind boggling than this one.

How to improve your anatomy drawing skills?

It’s so hard to understand how to summit this seemingly unsurmountable mountain of impossibility.

But it doesn’t have to be this way.

Yes, learning anatomy will be hard. Super hard.

It’ll take plenty of time, patience and a LOT of practice. However, you will come out surprisingly confident about your new skills.

So, be prepared to take on this large chunk of your art education.

But, don’t worry.

I’ll break down EVERY single thing you will need to know to start this learning journey. This way you’ll be aware of every practice you will need to go through to master this topic.

And you’ll have all the information about any courses or books or any further learning material you would require to extensively study this topic.

So, without further ado, let’s get started with the very first thing you need to learn BEFORE attempting to study anatomy.

Figure drawing.

Learn Figure Drawing First

Rather than jumping straight away into complex muscles such as coracobrachialis and brachioradialis (and yes they are two different muscles), you need to start small.

You need to start with figure drawing.

Think about it. How can you master cake decorations WITHOUT learning how to make icing?

You can’t.

You need to go step-by-step and slowly ease in to the complex stuff.

So, you NEED to learn and practice figure drawing first.

How to Learn Figure Drawing?

Figure drawing is also quite difficult to learn. It’s the topic you NEED to study constantly as it’s going to help you a LOT in your career.

Fortunately, there’s an insane amount of content on the internet to help you with learning to draw the figure.

Start With Gesture Drawing

First of all, you need to start with gesture drawings.

They will breathe life and movement into your drawings. But, they do take quite a while to master.

TIP: Don’t expect to be amazing at it immediately. It takes practice to see results.

But, practicing gesture drawing will give you SO much confidence and clarity in your drawings. You’ll also get 167% better at drawing figures.

Therefore, you CANNOT skip out on this step.

Use any of these resources to start learning gesture drawing right away:

Figure Drawing

Once you’ve grasped the basics of gesture drawing, you’ll want to advance to the next step.

And naturally, it’s learning more about the human body.

It’s time for figure drawing.

The way to learn figure drawing, is to find a resource that will explain all the basics to you in thorough detail.

My favorite way to learn is through reading books. These figure drawing books are written by highly experienced artists and contain a wealth of information in them.

They go over everything in a very EASY and beginner-friendly manner that will surely help you if you’re starting from scratch.

To know more about which figure drawing books are best suited for your level of learning, you can read this post here.

TIP: The best books to learn figure drawing are:

Figure Drawing: Design and Invention by Michael Hampton
Figure Drawing For Artists: Making Every Mark Count

But, if you learn better with visual content, then you can always opt for learning through YouTube.

They are absolutely free and easy to understand.

Some of the great videos on this topic are:

Proko

If you want further detailed instruction on figure drawing, then you NEED to check out Proko.

Proko is a learning resource for artists that was created by Stan Prokopenko. They also have a YouTube channel offering free content which is insanely valuable.

Their premium content can be accessed with a fee. They have a solid curriculum that will teach you figure drawing every step of the way. And their quality is brilliant.

Gesture Drawing Sites

Just watching videos and reading books on figure drawing is not enough.

You also need to extensively practice it on a regular basis.

You can do this by attending life drawing classes.

They will teach you to draw from observation and will provide a lot of art instruction as well. You’ll also get friendly critique which is important while you’re starting out.

However, if the option of attending life drawing classes is not available to you, you can always use gesture drawing sites.

TIP: Gesture drawing sites are an online version of life drawing classes. You can use the pose references to practice your figure drawing skills.

Some of the best gesture drawing sites are:

Anatomy Drawing

Once you’re done learning figure drawing as well as gesture drawing, it’s finally time to step into the land of anatomy.

However, don’t be under the assumption that you can simply forget everything you’ve learnt about figure drawing.

This isn’t like school, where you can just chuck the textbooks out of the window once you’re done studying them.

No, this is a life long process of constant self improvement.

You’re going to have to consistently practice figure drawing for a LONG time. If you have any hopes of being a professional artist, then this isn’t really an option.

Now that I’ve scared you enough (just kidding), let’s get into learning anatomy.

Anatomy Learning Material

Anatomy is a SUPER complex subject.

There are a lot of anatomical terms and muscle placements that will be quite hard to study by yourself.

Therefore, I highly recommend you to study it through an online course.

An online course will go through the entire journey of teaching you the anatomy of the human body.

Plus, these teachers are experienced and at masters at their craft. They know EXACTLY what they’re doing.

So, it’s much easier to let the pros explain the entire process to you.

1. Proko

Like I’ve mentioned before, Proko is a seriously amazing resource.

Stan Prokopenko is a wonderful teacher and he teaches in an entertaining manner that is particularly memorable. His (sometimes) cliche jokes make learning the tedious task of learning anatomy SO much easier.

His course, ‘Anatomy of the Human Body‘ is HUGE and incredibly detailed.

He has a separate chapter for every single body part and explains everything in great detail.

Stan explains everything, from the types of joints to the various bones in the body, and finally the muscle makeup of each body part.

You will learn EVERYTHING you will ever need to know as an artist and more!

This is a brilliant resource that is reasonably priced as well.

TIP: However, if you’re not too sure about it, you can check out his free content on YouTube. He uploads the same content as in his premium course but it is obviously not as detailed.

Anatomy Books

Online courses are not the only way you can study anatomy.

Another route you can take is through anatomy books.

While I recommend learning through a video format as you will remember everything much better, this is the next best thing.

Learning everything about anatomy through anatomy books may be too challenging so you can take a small step at first.

You can read Figure Drawing: Design and Invention by Michael Hampton first.

This book will explain the basics of anatomy in a simple manner that’s perfect for beginners. It will also lay emphasis on the construction of the figure that’ll be really helpful for newbie artists.

This book will be the perfect intro to anatomy and I highly recommend you read it first.

After you’ve completed it, you can go further into the realm of anatomy.

Once you’re ready to study anatomy in-depth, you can read Human Anatomy for Artists by Eliot Goldfinger. It is an AMAZING resource that will provide thorough information on everything to do with the anatomy of the human body.

How To Learn Anatomy By Yourself

If you don’t have the option of learning through an online course or through anatomy books then not to worry.

You can always learn it by yourself for free!

You can learn anatomy by yourself solely by using the internet and the amazing free resources that are available on it.

But, you do need to learn in a structured manner. It’s way too easy to get distracted or demotivated. So you need to have discipline to pull it off.

The way to mastering anatomy by yourself is going to be complicated.

There are just SO many things to remember and its hard to figure out what to learn first.

And that’s why I’ve come up with a list of steps you NEED to go through in order to understand anatomy thoroughly.

Without further ado, let’s get started!

Step 1- Collect As Much Anatomy Material As You Can

The first step is to find as much free anatomy material as you can online.

This is the research phase and you’re going to need to capitalize on this as much as you can. This is just so that you can get the best head start you can without buying expensive courses.

An amazing free resource is, Proko’s YouTube channel.

They have an entire playlist dedicated to learning the anatomy of the human body.

TIP: I highly suggest you watch every single video. It’s going to really come in handy for later.

If you can borrow any anatomy books from the nearby library, then I suggest you do it. It will be quite helpful in case you need some reference material while studying.

Using these materials, start finding out more about the placement of the bones. Knowing the bones’ names will certainly be helpful, but be careful not to go overboard.

It’s not the main priority.

Step 2- Trace The Muscles

Once you have a general knowledge of the bones of the body, it’s time to step into the fun part.

Learning muscles.

In beginning, you don’t want to push yourself too far. You don’t know anything about the structure of the muscle and are just beginning to get familiar with it.

You can start by learning all the names of the muscles.

Unlike the bones, this is quite crucial.

It’s going to play a HUGE factor while designing a character from scratch.

It’s only when you know the muscle that you can actually start stylizing and creating original characters.

Note down the placement of the muscles as well. You need to know where it’s placed to draw it accurately. Also, you need to know how the muscle stretches and compresses.

Learning all of this at once is going to confound you completely.

Therefore, you NEED to begin tracing the muscles over an image.

Doing this will get you familiar with the muscles as well as build up your confidence.

TIP: This exercise is recommend for ALL artists. It may seem wrong to trace but you’re not doing this for a commercial project. You’re doing this to LEARN. It’s important you get this right.

Keep tracing the muscles until you’re ready to begin the next step.

Step 3- Start Drawing Freehand

Once you’ve built up the confidence needed, you should start drawing freehand.

At this stage, you should know most (if not all) the names of the muscles as well as their correct position and placement on the human body.

If you’re still not a 100% confident, test yourself. Label all the muscles on a diagram. Make sure you get at least 90% of them right.

If you don’t then it’s simple. Go back to the previous step and learn until you get it right.

Don’t skip this step as you will find it harder. Go back and take the time to learn everything properly. Doing this will really pay off later.

If you’ve passed, then congrats! You’re now ready to start drawing everything freehand.

Use A Photo Reference

Don’t immediately try drawing the figure straight from imagination. Use photo references to build up your confidence first.

Take a few photo references of the body part you’re studying. Try to get references that have several different angles of that body part.

Draw the body part using the references until you don’t need them anymore.

TIP: This will take some time so be patient. It’s not going to happen in a day. In fact, it’ll take you at least a few weeks to get really good at this stage.

Step 4- Break Everything Down Into Simple Shapes

You might be frustrated thinking that anatomy is going to take a few months to learn.

And you would be right. It is going to take a while.

But you can see improvements faster if you just follow a simple rule.

Break everything down into simple shapes.

This is REALLY important. It’s going to help you learn anatomy SO much easier.

TIP: Simplifying the muscles into simple forms is going to help you in TWO ways:

You’ll understand the forms easier
AND you’ll be able to rotate the muscle easily. This will eventually help you draw from imagination. How cool is that?

For example, if you’re learning to draw the deltoid, you can easily simplify it into a pyramid. This way, you’ll be able to rotate the deltoid and draw it from any angle.

So, you NEED to simplify in order to succeed at this.

If you need help, I suggest either buying Figure Drawing: Design and Invention by Michael Hampton.

I know, I know. I said that this would be for free.

However, this book will help you simplify all the anatomical structures into simple forms that will be VERY rememberable.

So, anyway, my point is, you need to simplify as the next step is going to be SUPER hard.

Step 5- Draw Muscles From Imagination

This next step is going to be an insane upgrade.

But don’t worry. If you can simplify the muscles, it really won’t be as big of a step.

Think about it. What is easier? Rotating a pyramid in space or rotating a deltoid?

So, the key to drawing from imagination is to simplify everything.

However, rotating simple forms is also a task in itself. It can get a lot easier with the help of a few videos:

These videos will help you get started with exploring how to rotate forms in 3d space. Learning this will ultimately help you to draw simple forms in ANY angle.

And if you’ve been following along, that means you would be able to draw ANY body part in ANY angle.

And with enough practice, you’ll also be able to draw the figure from ANY angle.

TIP: You can also read How to Draw by Scott Robertson. It’s a hard read, but you’ll understand how to construct any form in space.

This is the last stage of the process.

Just remember that it will take a LONG time to get good at drawing from imagination. Every single professional artists has spent HOURS to get as good as they are right now.

So, you will ALSO have to spend a great deal of time figuring out and experimenting around before you reach that level.

So be patient and have faith. You can do this.

Don’t Omit Hands And Feet

Hands and feet are THE most feared topic in all of anatomy.

Every single beginner either leaves the hands and feet out of the frame, or they try to hide them.

Well, don’t do that.

Hands and feet may appear really hard, but they are actually not once you get to learn the anatomy well. Just studying them will talk away at least HALF of the fear you have.

Also, hands play a HUGE part in the storytelling aspect.

They depict so many emotions and will really bring your drawings to life.

If you’re planning on becoming a professional artist, then I suggest you pay special attention to this topic. You won’t easily find an art job if you keep avoiding them.

So, go out of your way to learn them and master them. You will be greatly rewarded for your efforts.

Get Critique On Your Artwork

If you’re learning by yourself, it’s going to be hard to judge your drawings for yourself.

You’re quite possibly still a beginner and lack quite a bit of knowledge in this field. You also won’t be able to spot your mistakes clearly.

So, it’s always better to get feedback from an experienced artist.

You can do this by submitting your work for feedback. There are several online courses that offer this feature.

TIP: If you can’t find an experienced artist to give you feedback, then ask your art friends for advice. They may be able to point out errors you might have overlooked.

Summary

Learning anatomy is going to take a great deal of patience, hard work and commitment.

You can either follow a curriculum like Proko, or read some figure drawing books.

You can also learn anatomy by yourself. It will be a much longer process as you will be figuring out a LOT by yourself but with the amazing resources readily available on the internet, I’m sure you can do it.

Also, remember to consistently draw from life.

It’s important to NEVER forget figure drawing once you’ve learnt anatomy, otherwise your figures will end up looking really stiff.

To practice drawing figures in any angle, you can use 3d pose references. They will enable you to view the figure from any angle and you can draw the same figure multiple times to get better.

TIP: If you’d like to go a bit hardcore, you can try drawing in ONLY pen. Your drawings will look terrible at first, but you’ll quickly pick up the pace.

No matter how you choose to learn, it’s important to maintain consistency.

It’s better to draw 1 page every day for 50 days than to draw 50 pages all at once. You’ll end up burning out and it’s better to stay away from that.

So, remember that this will take you AT LEAST one month of hard work. In reality, anatomy is a life-long endeavor.

Be patient and trust the process.

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Have fun and enjoy learning!