(Part 3) Best figure drawing guides according to redditors
We found 838 Reddit comments discussing the best figure drawing guides. We ranked the 158 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the products ranked 41-60. You can also go back to the previous section.
https://www.amazon.com/More-How-Draw-Manga-Character/dp/4766114825/ref=cm_rdp_product
Your sculpting technique is fine but your anatomy is atrocious.
The rib cage and abdominal musculature anatomy is off. You don't just have abdominal muscles on your lower trunk. Also the abdominals should have a limited width. To the nipple line would work but your nipples are set out too far. They should be in the mid clavicular line but you don't have any clavicles. The 6 pack is nice but the hole in the top one would hurt as it's not present in real life and is where the xiphoid under the bottom of the rib cage should be. So your abdominals are to high and too wide and too bulky. There should also be one long one below the navel which is way too low. The pecs attach to the sternum and manubrium and go to the inside of the arm. That's what forms the axilla (armpit). The lat in the back and the pec in the front. So along the sternum the pecs should go outward not downward. Also that deep line separating the pec from the shoulder would sever the pec muscles from the arms. That is not existent in normal anatomy. People do tend to shift there humerus foward but that is an abnormality caused by bad posture and muscle imbalances. There is no rib cage giving the upper trunk its form. The serratus muscles are just sliding downward and fading out instead of inserting onto the ribs along the lateral side under the axilla. You've created a new muscle under the arm that doesn't exist. The deltoid muscle is nonexistant in the front and top and is in the wrong place on the back. There are three heads to the deltoid. The anterior (front) middle (on top) and posterior (rear). They blend together midway down on the lateral side of the humerus at about your cutoff. The posterior one attaches to the spine of the scapula where your attaches to nothing. The anterior attaches to the lateral aspect of the clavicle (which you don't have) and the anterior acromion. The middle attaches to the lateral acromion. The upper traps also go outward from the nuchal ridge on the skull to the acromion on the top of the shoulder then down the back along the spine of the scapula to the spinus' of the vertebra. The lower trap is also on the spine of the scapula to the vertebra and the lateral aspect goes down diagonally to the 12th vertebral spinus process. So you have no lower trap. The lats sweep up from the lumbosacral fascia which starts along the upper boarder of the illium (which again does not exist) moving laterally and inserts onto the humerus in the same medial groove the pec inserts into. You con't have any lats either. You also don't have any paraspinal muscles along the spine and you have no posterior hip fold where the glut medius is. I could go on and on.
You NEED to read a book on artistic anatomy. I love Bridgeman's books. They would be great for you due to your focus on muscles.
The Human Machine (Dover Anatomy for Artists)
Constructive Anatomy (Dover Anatomy for Artists)
You MUST start with the bones. Get a GOOD inexpensive or free skeleton. Put it in a separate collection and use it as a reference so you know where the bones are and can attach the muscles appropriately. Once you know your anatomy that will be superfluous or only needed as a check. But you really REALLY need to learn anatomy if you are going to do this kind of work. It LOOKS good but anyone who knows anatomy will go "nope, it's not right". When you create art about a subject always keep in mind that somewhere in your audience there will almost always be a content expert. Like me. An an artist, I always strive to impress them. If I make a spaceship, I keep in mind as best as I can the physics involved. You con't need the math. Just like in art anatomy you don't need to know the innervation of the muscles like a doctor would need. You need to know enough that you can sell your art to an expert. Keep that in mind as you do all your art. That is one thing that will separate out the pro from the amateur. There is always artistic license ... but not with human anatomy. Even is you're doing an anime or cartoon, the best artists embed their knowledge in the subtle way they do their linework or design their mesh. That's why we buy it.
I hope that helps. Don't give up or get frustrated. Your sculpting technique is good. Your knowledge must match. One thing I learned doing art is that a good artist researches and expands their knowledge about not only their craft, but their subject matter as well. Do that and you can only get better.
Good luck.
>Meanwhile, Frank Cho is another artist who fancies himself a master at drawing women.
No, Cho doesn't consider himself a master at drawing women, Cho IS a master at drawing women. The man literally wrote the book on the subject
>Given that Spider-Gwen is supposed to be a teenager, this took the tastelessness to a whole new level.
Yep a teenager, a teenager who is in college, so yeah she's a teenager, a 19 year old, so you can stow that attempt to make her sound underagre you disingious fucking moral scold.
>I think it's safe to say that both Frank Cho and Milo Manara are both unrepentant and upset.
Unrepentant of what? Being great artists? Guilty as charged.
>To their minds, this is censorship, plain and simple. Their freedom to draw sexy women in anatomically impossible poses, and to display Wonder Woman's panties, is being restricted.
Yep, impossible poses like this one.
Or this one
Or maybe this one
Hey, wait a second, I can get into all of these poses & I'm a middle age fat guy, with jacked up joints who has the flexibility of a rock: Huh, seems none of those poses were impossible, or even moderately hard.
It's almost like you are utterly fully of shit.
>Milo Manara's Spider-Woman variant was utterly inappropriate for the series; Dennis Hopeless was working on a series that would try to abandon the over-sexualized past of the character, trying to give her a strong arc and a new direction.
Except he wasn't. That direction wasn't something that existed until issue 5 & it was done to try to drum up interest for a failing book. Where as the variant cover was made for issue ONE, 5 months earlier.
>Likewise, I reckon Greg Rucka had realized something that Frank Cho clearly hasn't; that a variant cover is part of the package, and still impacts on how fans view the book as a whole. He wants his series of Wonder Woman to be associated with a certain style and tone — presumably one where the star character isn't being treated as eye candy.
Nope, sorry but you are so full of shit your eyes are brown.
>Let me be clear: this image alone is all the evidence we need that there is no censorship going on in comics.
Actually it demonstrates the exact opposite, since the image is followed by a particular sentiment in the comment, which reads
>I’m so pleased Frank Cho & Milo Manara doubled down on their creepy schtick. Please boys, make it harder to justify your employment #comics
In other words: You created something I didn't like for personal use & so you shouldn't be hired. That's exactly an attempt at censorship you clown.
>Milo Manara has just drawn one seriously NSFW image of Spider-Woman, a character who belongs to Marvel Comics. Marvel would be entirely within their rights to protect their trademark by coming down on Manara like a ton of bricks and telling him to stop abusing their trademark.
Fuck me you are dumb, that's not how trademark law works. Trademark law stops you from profiting on other peoples trademark, it does not stop one from drawing or even displaying a trademarked character, you fucking ignoramus.
>That's not censorship. That's realizing that comic book art has changed.
It hasn't, which is why Marvel comics sales are plummeting like rock.
I'm gonna disagree with a lot of people and tell you to not buy Understanding Comics. I mean, you can, I don't disagree with most of what he teaches, but I disagree with his results. Perhaps it's one of those 'good in theory, terrible in practice' things. The Sculptor, his latest (?) book uses his UC technique 100% and while it makes for an easy read, it's visually boring and the story is just one unbelievable trope after another, complete garbage.
I'm also not going to tell you to copy other comic artists, that's a very common mistake in comics. When you copy other comic artists you learn their mistakes, or shortcuts, or cheats. I still find after I've drawn a page I'll go back and see where I unintentionally swiped a pose or technique from John Buscema (How to make Comics the Marvel Way had a big influence on me as a teenager, which is who it was made for).
For figure drawing you want George Bridgeman. His figure drawing techniques are the foundation for pretty much every other great illustrator in the last 100 years.
Another good source is Burne Hogarth (Dynamic Anatomy, Dynamic Figure Drawing) his stuff is more action and hero based, but his lessons are sound. He founded what became the School of Visual Arts. These were my first art books when I was a teenager, and they still hold up.
For storytelling, I go for Will Eisner's Graphic Storytelling and the Visual Narrative, Sequential Art Principles and throw in Expressive Anatomy, because, why not?
David Chelsea's Perspective for Comic Artists is great, because it teaches you exactly how to do correct perspective, then in the last chapter he tells you how to cheat at all of it.
For classes, take a look at the horribly designed website for http://comicsworkbook.com/ it's run by a guy, Frank Santoro, who's actually not one of my favorite artists, but he knows his shit, for sure, and he's a helluva nice guy who loves comics 100%. I think his full online class is $500 and he runs it twice a year, I think. Also look in your area for a college or art store that might have figure drawing classes, they are invaluable.
Example 1
Here is my red line, the legs was what I think could be improved on. I just put the legs in perspective and fixed it up.
Example 2
Here is the version showing the shapes to think about. Think about shapes and how they wrap around the body.
Another example showing the perspective.
Example 3
I would recommend is to practice drawing form. Here is a video explaining it.
The Basics: what they mean
Also read some books on animal anatomy I recommend :
Animal Anatomy for Artists: The Elements of Form
Science of Creature Design: understanding animal anatomy
Also here is a book about perspective:
Perspective Made Easy (Dover Art Instruction)
I hope it helps :)
He's quite literally written the book on the subject.
Don't start drawing thinking you have to create something beautiful or highly refined. This will leave you always frustrated and feeling unaccomplished. Just allow yourself to freely draw, not concerned with the outcome. Learn to enjoy the action of drawing, and then after that, set goals for yourself.
Here are some easy tips/exercises you can do:
Find Draftsmen you like and emulate their works. The best way to increase the quality of your work is to look at high quality work and strive toward it.
Draw for twenty minutes a day. Anything. Trees, chairs, your cup of coffee, your desk, whatever.
allow drawing to be fun. My girlfriend and I play a game where the one person writes down a word (say "cat") and then the other person has to draw the word using the first letter (C).
If you want some books on drawing, I've found this book and this book helpful for reference with human anatomy.
Let me know if you have any other questions.
Honestly, finding 'good' ones depends on a few factors. One of which includes what genre you're going for. Shonen or shoujo? (Since I fall under the latter I tend to have a good selection.)
If you really want the best of the best try looking for ones IN Japanese. While Google Translate won't be 100% reliable, there's always the possibility someone online translated it. And if not, hopefully the pictures are VERY step-by-step and helpful. I agree with the other user, Mastering Manga is basically THE best you can get right now.
"The Masters Guide To Drawing Anime" series isn't HORRIBLE, but it could be better. However his art has definitely improved in general over the years this artist has been doing these books. So something is working in his favor too here.
"The Complete Guide to Drawing Manga" is one of my favorites! It has a ship ton of information in general AND different artists! While it focuses a bit more on the actual manga part there is a lot of good information. See if your library has it! That's where I first found it and I ended up buying it~ https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Guide-Drawing-Manga-Exclusive/dp/1438002734
​
Other than that check comic/graphic novel ones too, just in case. Quite a few have an anime type style to them as of late so maybe there's something there~ After that it just turns into practice practice practice. Good luck!!
TerribleToadQueen says it's Shojo Fashion Year 2
I'll do my part and try to post more here too. I have some slice of life ideas that would totally belong!
Resources:
Proko
This one is GREAT for anatomy and shading tips
Draw-A-Box
This one is amazing for general construction and perspective practice. There is a discord server and r/artfundamentals is the paired subreddit for community feedback and participation.
One book that kickstarted my abilities in cartooning that I hold near and dear to me is: Freehand Figure Drawing for Illustrators
I liked it because to me it was a "here are some basic shapes that connect into a mannequin that gets you 85% towards a workable figure" then I use stuff I learned from Proko to put the flesh on it and obscure the weirdness of the underlying mannequin.
I highly recommend taking a "life/figure drawing" course if you can. I was resistant to it myself (I'm not a fan of loosely-goosey charcoal nudes for the sake of high art) but it was immensely helpful to learn to start with a 10 second gesture line-squiggle, a few minutes of mannequin construction, then 15 minutes of actual figure rendering.
I don't know how easily I would have learned that lesson outside of the class, and it's helped me a lot in cartooning for sure. It's definitely learnable, especially from a lot of the amazing YouTubers out there, but be open to having things be loosey-goosey, and then use that gestural line as a starting point for iteration of your eventual figure. In lieu of in-person studio models, Line of Action is a useful alternative.
If you havn't already, get a good book - i like this one.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Drawing-Nude-Structure-Anatomy-Observation/dp/184797824X I've been to anatomical drawing classes with this chap: very good teacher and his methods are easy to follow.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0751334413/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_dp_ss_2?pf_rd_p=569136327&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=184797824X&pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_r=067W0FP0AR8HPZJV1KMF
Written by an amazing artist who teaches at my old art college.
If possible, try drawing a willing friend who might pose for you or enroll in a life drawing class through an art store or community college. Also drawing from photographs is a great way to begin learning how to draw the human form.
I recommend this book: http://www.amazon.com/Bridgmans-Complete-Guide-Drawing-Life/dp/0806930152
I say start with /r/ArtFundamentals and this book. Its hard (i think) to go right into manga style and only do manga style, plan to try out lots of different styles, including manga.
I also recommend learning both traditional pencil/pen and paper and digital pretty much at the same time. Some will say learn traditional before you do digital, but I think they are complementary and you do better learning them at the same time.
I started with Paul Neale's CG Academy DVD series. I was fortunate enough to have Paul as a teacher in college and to get to work with him for a few years after. He is a great mentor, and although his DVD series is getting quite old now it is still a great introduction to rigging. Some other good resources are (in no particular order) Maya Hyper-Realistic Creature Creation, Digital Tutors, Stop Staring, The Art Of Rigging, Jason Schleifer.
Personally, I believe you can get something out of anything, so you can come away with any tutorial/resource having learned something. Even if it is a terrible tutorial, you will learn a way not to go about doing something. Instead of just saying "well, that sucked" and then moving on, think it over and try to understand where things went wrong in the lesson and how to improve on it. Figuring out why something didn't work is often almost as good as having a working solution. Sometimes you end up learning even more from it. Always take everything with a grain of salt and be skeptical about what you're learning. Rigging is not about knowing and following recipes. Rigging is about creative problem solving and critical thinking. Even when consulting quality resources, be thinking about how to do it different or maybe even better. In reality, you're probably going to have to tweak that recipe anyway.
Spend some time to go through your software package's documentation and learn the tools that are available to you (constraints, deformers, etc). Try to figure out on your own how to rig an arm, for example, without following any tutorials. I know it seems like a waste of time to re-invent the wheel rather than just follow an arm rigging tutorial, but it is a very good exercise. It will be slower and more difficult, but the extra effort will pay off. Always look for ways to challenge yourself like this, because without challenge there will be no growth. Even the most complex rigs are made up of these same fundamental parts, just put together in different and clever ways. Once you're able to start thinking of your problems in terms of the tools available to you, you're speaking the language and you'll be able to solve things much more easily.
Also, anatomy is super important. So many problems with rigs can be avoided through just proper joint placement. Whenever I see an anatomy book that looks useful, I try to pick it up. Grabbed this one most recently. It goes into great detail and the price is definitely right. These same people did Cycopedia Anatomicae, which I grabbed years ago and is unfortunately out of print now. That book is an amazing reference.
Two resources you need to read on color: http://www.amazon.com/Color-Light-Guide-Realist-Painter/dp/0740797719 and http://www.amazon.com/Light-Visual-Artists-Understanding-Design/dp/185669660X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1419319385&sr=1-1&keywords=light+for+visual+artists
Lots of illustrations and examples, very easy to understand and yet both are no more than 250 pages. I have both of these books and they are great! I would also look at Cubebrush and Ctrl+paint. You need to definitely focus on color theory as well.
Along with learning these, also check out Andrew Loomis' books (Google Save Loomis to find pdf of his books for free). And this one -- > http://www.amazon.com/Human-Anatomy-Artists-Andr%C3%81s-Szunyoghy/dp/3833162562/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1419319599&sr=1-4&keywords=andras+szunyoghy
But once your learn color theory and look at the resources I suggested, you will definitely improve on your coloring skills. Gurney's may be aimed at painters, but it's for everyone really. I can't give much advice since I'm learning color theory but these results have been very helpful.
I picked up Drawing Comic Book Action a while back and it has some good tips for drawing transitions, you should see if a local library has it :)
The Art Models series have really good quality, classic art model nude poses. I've also got a couple of Buddy Scalera's comic pose reference books; they're good if you're looking for more action poses, or if you're going to be somewhere where looking at or drawing nudes isn't appropriate.
A couple of good reference books (that you may be able to find in your library):
https://www.amazon.com/Drawing-Head-Hands-Andrew-Loomis/dp/0857680978/
https://www.amazon.com/Hundred-Hands-Dover-Anatomy-Artists/dp/048622709X/
This is a copied and pasted reply to someone I replied to yesterday wanting to learn anatomy, hopefully it'll point you in the right direction.
If you're gonna invest in any really helpful art books I'd suggest starting with something like Anatomy for the Artist by Sarah Simblet (I know that's the UK link but it gives you a preview that the US Amazon site doesn't). It covers all aspects of both male and female anatomy and it's really high quality, it even gives you transparent overlay pages over photos that show you how muscles lie under the skin. It looks like this but with a sheer sheet between the photo of the limb and its muscles, so you can flip between the two. It also gives you examples of famous artworks in contrast to a photo of a real person in that pose, to show you how anatomy can be distorted/transformed in art without it looking 'bad'. Anything like that will give you a brilliant understanding of how the human body is formed and it honestly will reflect in your artwork. As other people have said, life drawing sessions or even drawing the people you're surrounded with is an essential way to learn natural poses and lessen the 'stiffness' drawing can sometimes convey.
Look at other people's work as much as you can and also try to critique it in your head! What perspective are they using? Where's their lighting coming from? Does said lighting affect their colour palette? Are their proportions right? All of this will become automatic if you do it enough and it's a great way to learn techniques you might not have noticed before, that you can later apply to your own artwork. It's a cliche but the more you look at other people's work/draw the better you'll get :)
Sorry this is super long, I hope it helps. I'm in no way a professional artist but I started drawing with a tablet when I was 12 (I'm now 23) and all I can say is the more you do it the better you'll become. Draw whenever you can using whatever you find, all practise will help whether it's on the tablet or not.
I'm taking a continuing education course in drawing from a local college. In the first class, our teacher recommended getting a copy of Bridgman's guide(s).
Probably Bridgman. George Brant Bridgman. Heard great things about his books, though I can't say I've added them to my collection yet. Here are some links to them on amazon.
Box set of three books(Bridgman's Life Drawing | The Book of a Hundred Hands | Heads, Features and Faces)
Constructive Anatomy
The Human Machine(Has quite a few bad reviews concerning the print quality, I'm afraid.)
Bridgman's Complete Guide to Drawing from Life(This one is kind of a combination of all his other books, taking the best from each of them, though leaving some bits out.)
This book is simply the best book on drawing human anatomy. It is so well done, that no English skills are needed.
Drawing Human Anatomy
http://www.amazon.com/Hundred-Hands-Dover-Anatomy-Artists/dp/048622709X
You want this book. Also, good work.
The heads too big.The nech doesn't seem to be connected to the head.
You need to start studying anatomy. Buy some books by George Bridgman and copy at least three drawings a day every day. Find a drawing class in you area. Learn to measure and draw what you see. Learn basic human proportions. Learn the location and name of every major bone and muscle in the body.
thank you! and yes
I used the book Sketching people: Life drawing basics to learn the fundamentals but what really helped me progress was watching painting analysis on the nerd writer YouTube channel. It helped me understand that it's about representation , drawing an object or series of objects that looks like the thing your drawing, not pain stakingly growing the image line by line in the hopes you make a replica. Once I got that it was all a matter of practice
I'm a big fan of George B. Bridgeman. There are plenty of affordable options.
I also like The atlas of anatomy for artists by by Fritz Schider
But most anatomy books in general are useful. What you want to look for is something that sticks to realism and doesn't distort or cartoon the figure. Learn the rules before you can break them.
And, draw from life whenever possible. Drawing your reflection is a good exercise. Life is always the best teacher. Once you got a hand on realism, it'll be gravy cartooning them however you like.
Here are all the local Amazon links I could find:
amazon.com
amazon.co.uk
amazon.ca
amazon.com.au
amazon.in
amazon.com.mx
amazon.de
amazon.it
amazon.es
amazon.com.br
amazon.nl
amazon.co.jp
amazon.fr
Beep bloop. I'm a bot to convert Amazon ebook links to local Amazon sites.
I currently look here: amazon.com, amazon.co.uk, amazon.ca, amazon.com.au, amazon.in, amazon.com.mx, amazon.de, amazon.it, amazon.es, amazon.com.br, amazon.nl, amazon.co.jp, amazon.fr, if you would like your local version of Amazon adding please contact my creator.
Pencils and Process: Thoughts on Returning to Art, Portraits, and Colored Pencil Painting. Free on Kindle until April 20th at midnight.
Pencils and Process offers an easy-to-follow discussion about drawing and learning to use colored pencil from a beginner's perspective. It covers the use of graphite pencils, measuring grids for controlled proportions, starting with color, approaches to blending, sources of subject ideas, and thoughts about online art communities and copyright. For those who have returned to art recently, or are considering doing so, this book provides relatable experience and tips. For those already immersed in drawing, it shows another perspective and ideas from an unconventional viewpoint.
https://www.amazon.com/Pencils-Process-Thoughts-Returning-Portraits-ebook/dp/B07Q9YQJJ5/
This was my starting point for learning anatomy: http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/158180931X . All I can say is reference books, and more reference books. I appreciated Apesos take on learning and memorizing anatomy, especially helpful if you have a significant other who will let you find and trace the muscles while you learn them. Spend time LOOKING at muscle structure as well. Just realized the post is 3 months old, made any progress?
Great start dude, well done! The one thing that a lot of people get wrong is the eyes. My advice, would be to practice each feature in isolation. Do lots and lots of eyes and then noses and then mouths and slowly build up to putting it all together. The best book I have read that deals with portraiture is this one:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Artists-Complete-Guide-Drawing-Head/dp/0823003590/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1450195911&sr=8-1&keywords=drawing+the+head
This is the book I keep going back to. It deals with anatomy, but it also deals with shadow placement and other techniques, so you will see quick improvements. I found drawing people very disheartening until I read this.
Keep up the awesome work!
Good stuff! If you are serious about getting better, I would really recommend Freehand Figure Drawing for Illustrators: Mastering the Art of Drawing from Memory. It's really good at teaching the fundamentals, and once you learn them, everything else comes along quickly.
"Sketching People: Life Drawing Basics" by Jeff Milern was an absolute godsend for me. It put into plain english what many other books could not.
Also, I highly recommend "The Vilppu Drawing Manual" if you can get your hands on it. It's a bit costly, but might be found in a few public libraries if you're lucky. The Loomis books are brilliant as well, but are even harder to find. Luckily, there is a site that gives out the PDFs for free since they've been out of print for years. I recommend starting with "figure drawing for all it's worth".
The most important part is to never give up, no matter how shit you think your drawings are. It's something everyone goes through, and a real test of character. Draw everyday and the results will speak for themselves. You get out of it what you put into it.
"Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm" -- Winston Churchill
https://www.amazon.com/Principles-Creature-Design-creating-imaginary/dp/162465021X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1482507562&sr=1-1&keywords=whitlatch
https://www.amazon.com/Science-Creature-Design-understanding-anatomy/dp/1933492562/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1482507562&sr=1-2&keywords=whitlatch
This book has served me incredibly well:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hundred-Hands-Dover-Anatomy-Artists/dp/048622709X/ref=sr_1_19?ie=UTF8&qid=1453845460&sr=8-19&keywords=drawing+hands
something like these?
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Comic-Fantasy-Artists-Photo-Reference-ebook/dp/B005XBU8AS/ref=pd_aw_sim_351_2/259-6137500-6412127?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B005XBU8AS&pd_rd_r=f9c225d7-e702-4d1c-8b24-0df51fb4d0f7&pd_rd_w=ODEBl&pd_rd_wg=ylIra&pf_rd_p=ae289644-4811-4c81-ab14-ea5d2b3a4c7d&pf_rd_r=QVJNTAPJBJXG75CVNP7M&psc=1&refRID=QVJNTAPJBJXG75CVNP7M
or just... print out line-of-action.com? lol
This is a really good book on figure construction.
Edit: I studied under this guy, Steve Huston he was really good.
Here are some notes by my friend Kris Anka from when he was going through Cal-Arts.
Not quite on the analytical-level you'd be looking for with zbrush stuff but a good (and free) start.
My favorite book on the subject is not actually the often-cited Loomis or Bridgman but This Book. What I like about it is that it's essentially a quick-reference guide. It is intended for artists but it reads much more like an illustrated anatomy text book with both detailed illustrations and diagrams to show both the internal and external structure of the muscles.
Non-artist anatomy textbooks can be great but the issue is that they (logically) spend a great deal of time on the internal structure of the body. While fascinating I can honestly say that an in-depth knowledge of the liver or endocrine system has ever become useful in a piece of art. For ease of browsing quickly to answer my questions I prefer a reference book without that stuff; hence why I like that book.
Personally I think the mirror is the best teacher though. This may be a motivation to work out more or stay in shape for some but I hardly think that's a bad thing. The quickest and easiest way for me to solve anatomy issues is to look in a mirror or in some cases take photos of myself using a tripod/timer. My computer has embarrassing photos of me to go along with pretty much every large figure-based art project I've done. And that's ok.
My mom is off too!!! yippeee! what are you going to do with yourself and that free day now?
I love short weeks
This fashion draw book!
Thank you for your words of encouragement, I'm guessing studying anatomy and doing many sculpts to burn the knowledge and strokes into my memory is key to success. Zacks anatomy is really great, I love the sleek muscle build he's got going. I guess as a beginner I tend to exaggerate the muscles to give them more form, like this (this I made in an hour):
http://i.imgur.com/GnZHBd3.png
I guess subtlety comes with practice. I actually got a book on human anatomy, this one. I'm cross referencing it with other sources because honestly no single source can be comprehensive enough.
When it comes to topology I've got a fairly good idea of what's needed- nice loops around the eyes, enough segments for the brow area, thunder cloud studio gave me a nice breakdown of the basics:
http://www.thundercloud-studio.com/index.php?page=content/tutorial/ModelingTutorial/headModeling
But first things first- good characters with pleasant features. But the one thing I'm unable to get is this- the low subdivision levels. I'm talking... less than 50k for a good base mesh, because that's seems to be low enough at polycount. I simply cannot do anything with that, I find my preferred range to be around 200k (active points, in zbrush) like that torso and head I linked above. For me its plasticity is enough to mold like real clay, but not enough to go all out with detail work. And it helps me gauge the form way better too. I'm all for heeding advice from people who know better than me, but that one bit of advice seems to nuke all of my sculpting progress (I end up getting frustrated with the base mesh and rushing way too early into detailed work).
Here the book in Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Figure-Drawing-Artists-Steve-Huston-ebook/dp/B01G5WQMH6
I've actually not read too many books on the subject, but I got this one a few years ago and it might be worth a look: https://www.amazon.com/Artists-Complete-Guide-Drawing-Head/dp/0823003590
What he's mainly teaching in that book is chiaroscuro, or how to model the form through light and dark and an understanding of how those principles work to create volume. He does have some valuable advice on understanding the structure of the face itself. It's not a holistic book by any stretch and I think the title is a bit of a misnomer, but it might be worth a look to learn about one particular method.
A book I found immensely helpful in working through proportion and perspective was Freehand Figure Drawing for Illustrators
Might be worth a look. Like $18 on Amazon.
i think the best is Hogarth's Dynamic Anatomy. i think this because it has a breakdown of anatomical landmarks, using other anatomical landmarks as the reference point. i think anyone should study and memorize these landmarks first.
after that its really down to personal preference.
Anatomy for the Artist is good because it uses photographs.
Anatomy for Artists uses a similar idea behind Hogarth's, except your own body is used more. using yourself as a reference point. this is a newer book. i liked it, it was a very straight forward, 'bare bones' approach. good for beginners.
there are dozens of 'Anatomy for Artists' books. Hogarth's is the classic though. all Hogarth books are great. a lot of younger readers will discard them because they are old and look old. but the information is very strong, and straightforward. the drawings may seem odd, but they are designed in a way to make each individual muscle stand out.
Drawing Human Anatomy
Just posted this is a thread asking for book suggestions.
Giovanni Civardi has an excellent style that is not very wordy. He is all examples.
Well drawing for me started out as a coping mechanism when I was a kid and still is for me today (especially these days). I had a lot of problems with depression and anxiety as a child coupled with a fairly ignorant father that didn't recognize these things as mental problems. I was forced to try to find a way to deal with hordes of feelings and emotions that as a mere child I was incapable of understanding and drawing helped me do that. Around the time I was about 13 or so some close friends of mine started drawing and where WAAAAY better than I was, so that pushed me to start working on things like technique and different styles. I really liked Dragonball Z at that age so I started drawing pictures I printed out from the internet regularly and started drawing in an anime style and eventually began coming up with my own characters, my friends were really good at drawing in anime styles so they taught me a lot about it.
When high school rolled around (I'll say sophomore year or so) I took basic art 1&2 but I never really did too much because the course material was SO rigid that it didn't interest me. Ms. Huelett (the art teacher) felt like I had a lot of talent and took me under her wing in a big way. She knew A LOT about art and helped me learn and meld multiple styles together in order for me to create my own. She taught me a lot about anatomy and how to draw people/characters in different poses, how to properly shadow characters and apply light sources to my pieces, creating expressions and applying drama through a characters poses, she poured as much knowledge into me as she could and I couldn't be more grateful for all she taught me.
I know it isn't much (you've also been given some great advice already I see, which is fantastic) but I'll give you a few links to some books that really helped me learn more about various styles and techniques (I still have most of these books and refer to them fairly often, even now)
http://www.amazon.com/How-Draw-sketching-environments-imagination/dp/1933492732/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1404954561&sr=8-9&keywords=how+to+draw
http://www.amazon.com/The-Art-Urban-Sketching-Location/dp/1592537251/ref=sr_1_19?ie=UTF8&qid=1404954800&sr=8-19&keywords=how+to+draw+graffiti
http://www.amazon.com/Street-Art-Doodle-Book-Outside/dp/1856696820/ref=sr_1_28?ie=UTF8&qid=1404954800&sr=8-28&keywords=how+to+draw+graffiti
http://www.amazon.com/Drawing-Head-Figure-Perigee-Jack/dp/0399507914/ref=sr_1_28?ie=UTF8&qid=1404954902&sr=8-28&keywords=how+to+draw+books
http://www.amazon.com/Mastering-Manga-Mark-Crilley-drawing-ebook/dp/B006WUD10S/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1404954990&sr=8-1&keywords=how+to+draw+manga
http://www.amazon.com/How-Draw-Manga-Bodies-Anatomy/dp/4766112385/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1404954990&sr=8-6&keywords=how+to+draw+manga
http://www.amazon.com/Drawing-Cutting-Edge-Anatomy-Reference-ebook/dp/B00G8ELT2K/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1404955084&sr=8-10&keywords=how+to+draw+comics
http://www.amazon.com/Draw-Comic-Book-Action-Garbett/dp/1440308136/ref=sr_1_14?ie=UTF8&qid=1404955084&sr=8-14&keywords=how+to+draw+comics
I think that's most of the books I've got, at the very least it'll give you some ideas to practice with and all of those books together isn't too bad of a price and it's a good way to get experience in the things you want to learn (I think) if you're not able to afford the classes you were suggested.
Good god this post is long as hell and I apologize for that, I'm just trying to be as helpful as I possibly can with what I know (call it a flaw)
I'll leave you with a few pieces of advice that help me out regularly and that I feel have gotten me to the level I'm at now (though I think I'm just ok at best truthfully)
Sorry again for the book, I just hope I was at least a little bit helpful with the advice I was able to give and didn't come off as arrogant sounding or anything
Best of luck and I can't wait to see what you do in the future :)
An Atlas of Anatomy for Artists (Dover Anatomy for Artists) https://www.amazon.com/dp/0486202410/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_rGB2Bb9G5VZ1B
This was first, a little gross but important. With a proper understanding of anatomy you can start to form your own creatures and understand how others work.
I remember this book from high school when I first started. I remember not liking the style that much though. It seems too simple.
I just recently found one that I think is better and covers a variety of styles, anatomy, and different techniques ( digital, hand drawn, paint, ink, etc.) I feel like of all the "How to Draw Manga" books I remember from high school don't compare to what I found in this book after picking it up a couple months ago.
http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Guide-Drawing-Manga-Exclusive/dp/1438002734/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1421722654&sr=8-1&keywords=the+complete+guide+to+drawing+manga&pebp=1421722660210&peasin=1438002734