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Anatomy for artists

Five steps from the skeleton to the living surface.

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  1. 1

    The skeleton underneath

    Learn only the landmarks you can see on a living body: collarbones, the pit of the neck, the bottom of the ribcage, the hip crests, knees, ankles.

    Albinus skeleton w muscles — McLeod Albinus skeleton w muscles McLeod Albinus skeleton w less muscles — McLeod Albinus skeleton w less muscles McLeod Albinus t01 — Unknown artist Albinus t01 Unknown artist Skelet — Gerhard Ludvig Lahde Skelet Gerhard Ludvig Lahde
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  2. 2

    Écorché: the surface muscles

    You need perhaps twenty muscles, not two hundred. Copy each one following the direction of its fibres, from where it starts to where it pulls.

    Two Studies of a Flayed Man (recto) Study of a Flayed Torso (verso) — Bartolommeo da Arezzo Two Studies of a Flayed Man (recto) Study of… Bartolommeo da Arezzo A youth lower left drawing an ecorché of a standing man — Unknown artist A youth lower left drawing an ecorché of a… Unknown artist Three Studies of Écorchés — Paulus Pontius Three Studies of Écorchés Paulus Pontius A full size écorché study of a hound — Charles Landseer A full size écorché study of a hound Charles Landseer Écorché: Studies of Arms and Shoulders — Eugène Delacroix Écorché: Studies of Arms and Shoulders Eugène Delacroix Houdon Jean Antoine, L'écorché bras levé, Musée Fabre, Montpellier — Jean-Antoine Houdon Houdon Jean Antoine, L'écorché bras levé… Jean-Antoine Houdon
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  3. 3

    Masses and insertions

    Muscles are soft in the middle and hard at the ends. Draw the fleshy mass as a curve and the tendon as a straight line — that contrast is what looks alive.

    Study of a Flayed Torso (verso) — Bartolommeo da Arezzo Study of a Flayed Torso (verso) Bartolommeo da Arezzo A youth lower left drawing an ecorché of a standing man — Unknown artist A youth lower left drawing an ecorché of a… Unknown artist Three Studies of Écorchés — Paulus Pontius Three Studies of Écorchés Paulus Pontius A full size écorché study of a hound — Charles Landseer A full size écorché study of a hound Charles Landseer Écorché: Studies of Arms and Shoulders — Eugène Delacroix Écorché: Studies of Arms and Shoulders Eugène Delacroix Figures from Art Anatomy - Art life of William Rimmer — Internet Archive Book Images Figures from Art Anatomy - Art life of… Internet Archive Book Images
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  4. 4

    The historic plates

    These engravings were the textbooks of every academy. Copy one carefully and label what you draw: naming a form is how you stop forgetting it.

    Study for a Triton (recto); Anatomical Studies ? (verso) — Gian Lorenzo Bernini Study for a Triton (recto); Anatomical… Gian Lorenzo Bernini Anatomical Studies: a left forearm in two positions and a right forearm — Peter Paul Rubens Anatomical Studies: a left forearm in two… Peter Paul Rubens Anatomical Studies of Legs — Eugène Delacroix Anatomical Studies of Legs Eugène Delacroix A. Vesalius, De humani corporis fabrica Wellcome L0021649 — Unknown artist A. Vesalius, De humani corporis fabrica… Unknown artist A. Vesalius, De humani corporis fabrica libri septum Wellcome L0031072 — Unknown artist A. Vesalius, De humani corporis fabrica… Unknown artist
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  5. 5

    Anatomy on the living body

    The final test: find on a real body the muscles you learned from the plates. Draw only what the light actually shows, not what you know is there.

    [Thomas Eakins and John Laurie Wallace on a Beach] — Thomas Eakins [Thomas Eakins and John Laurie Wallace on a… Thomas Eakins [Female Nude from the Back] — Thomas Eakins [Female Nude from the Back] Thomas Eakins Bill Duckett Nude, at the Art Students’ League of Philadelphia — Thomas Eakins Bill Duckett Nude, at the Art Students’… Thomas Eakins Nude — Félix-Jacques-Antoine Moulin Nude Félix-Jacques-Antoine Moulin [Nude Men in the Garden] — Thomas Eakins [Nude Men in the Garden] Thomas Eakins
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