In Progress anatomy work

No matter what medium I use, one thing that has always been a huge part of my work has been anatomy. Putting together all the muscles, the lines, the right proportions has helped me a lot to get a good basic structure to my work, enables me to get lost in the process.
After getting many requests on my Facebook page to break the process down into a few easy steps I decided to post 3 in-progress shots of some anatomy work.

Step 1:

A very basic and simple basic sketch to take care of proportions and give me an idea how it will look once finished. I already block in some of the main muscles.
Takes about 5-10 minutes

Step 2:

After the initial sketch I erase the darkest lines with my kneaded eraser so that the sketch remains slightly visible on the paper. With my lead holder I just tighten the line to get a clean version of the sketch. 

Takes around 2-5 minutes.

Step 3:

Once the lines are done all I do is block in some dark shadows and render some muscles. And that's already it. Just some random drawing around during University class, but the most entertaining way to keep improving my anatomy.









If you get comfortable enough with it don't hesitate to challenge yourself with new angles, different body shapes and styles, lighting and daring poses. Doodle around in your sketchbook, relax and make anatomy your second nature.

I know there are many artists out there who don't focus much on anatomy or right proportions and still make it work, for myself though I've found that having that foundation gives my work a much more vivid and lifelike feel to it that I don't want to miss and it's a part in the process of creating a drawing or a painting that is actually quite fun.

Gabriela

• Listening to: Little Richard - Tutti Frutti
• Reading: Stephen King "Nightmares & Dreamscapes
• Watching: Criminal Minds
• Drinking: Apple Juice

www.gabriela-baettig.com