Anatomy Practice

[Zizka]

I also did a new attempt at the woman:

[MysteryMeat]

Getting closer! Your arms are still way too skinny and flat, and you're treating the breasts like inflated balloons strapped to the chest.
Think of them sorta like a balloon filled with sand instead!
Here's a guide, by Iahfy:

And one on arms, by Brandon Mckinney:

http://img.scoop.it/M2Dy7zSEJg_1hR1SNUrB1zl72eJkfbmt4t8yenImKBVvK0kTmF0xjctABnaLJIm9
(a link, since it doesn't want to embed for whatever reason. Bleh.)


Note especially the shape breakdown in the upper middle, arms curve a bit and it's very noticeable when they lack that curve given how often we look our hands and forearms.

[dpixel]

Also keep in mind that the hips are generally the same width as the shoulders, if not bigger.

[skittlefuck]

Hi zizka,  I would really recommend that you go bigger with your current study. I feel like when you're learning fundamentals like anatomy, especially when using pixelart as your medium, you ought to go bigger. Right now I feel like when you're working at such a small scale, it becomes more about managing which pixel will symbolize a certain body part, and removes putting form into practice.

I think a good example of this is Ashcrimson, he has a massive thread on pj about his anatomy/sprite studies, but I feel like for the time he has been working on it not much has changed as I would have hoped (no hate to him ofc).

Even just upscaling by a little bit would make it less about managing each pixel- it makes it more about learning anatomy instead of learning how to pixel tiny sprites. If you do enjoy working at the size you currently are then keep on going!

quick edit to demonstrate.

[FelipeFS]

Hi, Zizka, I hope you are practicing with shapes.

I do these the same way I would do a drawing with pencil and paper. Learn the shapes of the body. Each part represented by a shape. I wouldn't recommend learning anatomy throught pixelart, though. Making pixelart involves knowing WHAT not to include in the pixelart, that is present in the real object, but it's too small or is too complext for the image resolution.

There are mediums for learning anatomy: book, youtube videos, photo references. Some are specific for drawing some not. For example, I have digital books of medical anatomy, and they are great when I want great detail about a specific region of the body. Books/magazines/tutorials specific for drawing are good too, expecially for beginners (like your case).

Keep going with the practicise and let us updated! 

[Zizka]

Much appreciation for all the comments. Really. Tell yourself you're really making a difference!

@dpixel: I'm not sure if hips are bigger than shoulders generally. I tried it with my version and it makes her look fat (which is fine but not what I'm looking for).

My reference (just for the boobs):


@mysterymeat: Your message made me check more references in order to better understand how boobs work so to speak. I think it's the best improvement on my last version.

@skittlefuck: Ok, I increased the size significantly. I approach every learning experience on a step by step basis. Start very small and slowly increase. I find this helps for motivation tremendously. Basically, once I feel more comfortable at a certain canvas, I increase size a bit, which is what you'll notice if you check from version to version. Basically, I try to understand the general shape than increasing the size allows me to understand in a more definite fashion what I'm doing.

I think the progress in a couple of days from version 1 to version 7 is encouraging to me anyway. I'm not there yet but it's on the right path.

@FelipeFS: Trying to do both at the same time to be honest. Drawing shapes on the side on paper and practicing my woman there.

Some issues I'm aware of:
-torso too short
-feet not defined

[Seiseki]

The breasts are constantly too high up. Compare to your reference.
Make more measurements if you need to, look at which parts line up.

[dpixel]

Measure from the yellow lines (basically the bones).  The hip is the widest part of that area...feel them in your own hip.


I said the same size generally, and sometimes bigger than the shoulders.

[Zizka]

Gotcha!

Today's version:


I used heads as a measurement unit. Investigated the bones for the leg a bit further. Face is still off to me.

Any comments?

[Zizka]

This morning's progress. This is about 2 hours in. I'm actually happy with myself on the progress made in that time comparing the first version with the last one.

Reference: