Anatomy has always been a daunting subject for me. I’d like to be able to create some of the amazing art you see on social media and movies. Almost every professional I admire and research says learning the fundamentals are important.
Everytime I have gone to learn it in the past I’ve been deterred by the complexity, lack of good resources for 3d sculpting and in my personal opinion odd pretentiousness around the subject. Not to mention some of the courses can cost thousands.
I’m happy to say after my most recent attempt I feel like I have actually made some progress and it has ignited a passion in me to improve.
In this article I would like to share some of the really helpful resources I’ve found that have spurred me alone in my journey to improve.
Video Tutorials
There are 2 tutorials in particular I would like to mention that really stand out targeting a beginner level anatomy sculpting and are Extremely great value!! They are Niko’s Female Anatomy for Artists Course and Raf Grassetti’s Design and Anatomy Tutorial Package.
Female Anatomy For Artists Course
After taking this course I would have to say it’s the first time I’ve had that light bulb moment when attempting to learn anatomy. It gave me more understanding of its importance than any free tutorial I have tried to date and I would attribute this to three main factors.
Firstly it is not super technical. Niko explains it in a way that is relevant to sculpting without forcing you to remember copious amounts of muscle groups and bones. After following the tutorial I can see the purpose of learning these and it has spurred me into further research. I think it is great that you are not required to learn lots of theory from the start.
Secondly Niko is very relatable. Nikos turns what is somewhat of a dry subject into an entertaining, informative and at times funny style. What is 12 hours worth of videos seemed to fly by as you learn a lot and laugh at his constant encouragement to touch yourself (I swear it isn’t as bad as it sounds).
Finally the pacing is really good it is all in real time so you can follow along all 12 hours worth.
While it is a Female Anatomy Tutorial Niko also touches on the Male Anatomy but changing the Female Sculpt. I found this approach helpful as it outlines the differences
My only word of caution with this tutorial is it assumes some knowledge of sculpting. While you don’t need to use Zbrush as Niko does, this tutorial will not hold your hand with the basics.
Raf Grassetti’s Design and Anatomy Tutorial Package
This is another tutorial I see recommended throughout the community and perhaps I’m a bit biased on this one as I love Rag Grassetti’s work. At the very least I encourage you to follow its YouTube Channel.
This tutorial is not quite as long as the Niko’s Female Anatomy for Artists but it is very well paced and informative. It is very well set out and Raf does a really good job at explaining things. This is something I foresee myself referring back to regularly in the future
Best of all its reasonably priced for a beginner and if you really enjoy it I encourage you to check out Raf’s Female Anatomy Tutorial.
Book Resources
As I have come to realise sculpting anatomy and drawing anatomy can require a very different perspective. This is part of the reason I have struggled in the past with anatomy as much of the resources are geared towards 2d artists.
I still think these books are great as it teaches you the theory but as such I’d recommend two books.
Firstly Anatomy for Sculptors. This is a great book and I shortly bought it after taking Niko’s course mentioned above as he uses a lot of reference material from this book. It has been a great resource as I’m practising.
Not only does it simplify things a little it also gives practical examples of how to achieve some of the forms while sculpting. This is something that I have found missing in other resources.
The second book I would recommend would be a very theory heavy book when you’re looking for some light reading (Note the sarcasm). These have a lot more detail you can use to study and great reference images to go with it. In this regard you have some great options some popular options include.
Human Anatomy for Artists: Elements of Form
Reference Resources
By reference resources I’m referring to images or 3d models that you can use to understand how muscles look in different poses and angles. You can find a large amount of free images all over the internet however they may be single images of a pose hiding detail not seen on other angles. Thankfully there are some resources you can use.
Anatomy360.info is a great place to start. They offer some free references, but also a very large library of 3d scanned models. Along with this they also have a viewer you can use so there is no requirement for other software that allows you to save out reference photos for later use.
This is an invaluable tool especially for 3d sculptors. Not only can you dictate the perspective of your model you can also be assured a 3d scan is more anatomically correct then an artists interpretation.
In regards to reference images you can find these all over the place from Shutter Stock and other photo services. One resource I actually found that was really cool was a product that Jazza Studios produced called the Anatomy Reference Pack.
The Anatomy Reference Pack is really good value for money. It has hundreds of high quality Photos of the Male and Female forms and the various body parts in isolation. On top of that what I found particularly useful is there are photos of in various poses with and without props this really helps to pose your characters and get them looking just right.
Free Resources
If you really are on a small budget there are plenty of tutorials on Youtube you can find and a plethora of images you can pull from google images. I’m not going to go into detail on these here as I couldn’t find one definitive resource that helped me out.
Better yet the best free resources you have is yourself. You have a body and anatomy so take pictures, look in the mirror and touch yourself…
In the past I have shied away from paid tutorials but I can say from experience that I personally failed trying to piece together free content around the web (Not that I’m saying it cant be done).
For as little as about $100 USD using my above recommendations you could easily save yourself loads of time.
Conclusion
I hope you have found this article helpful as this is something I’ve personally struggled with and spent a lot of time trawling through forums and different websites.
Sculpting anatomy is hard and I have now found a passion for it and I hope you find one to. It has changed my perspective on life as I constantly find myself creepily staring at people to better understand.
I wish you the best of luck and good luck with your studies.