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Studying male vs female anatomy

Hello,
Im studying male anatomy in quite a bit of depth lately to learn the exact placements of the muscles and bones. I was going to ask a question of those who have already or are currently studying. The reason why I want to know is because there are many more tutorials and learning about male anatomy than for female, so heres the questions:

  1. Do you find that the female anatomy is easier once you learn the muscles of the male, therefore it is not as important to study the female as closely?

2)Does anyone have any direction of learning or tips to help me find the best female anatomy studies?

Thanks very much for any answers I get, if no one wants to answer that is ok too :wink:

-Thanks
-Jason

Ask Zack Petrok…

Well there aren’t really any differences between male and female anatomy other than the obvious ones. Its just relative scale of bones and muscles so dont worry about that. Some muscular things are more obvious with men so that may make your job easier. I’d recommend Human Anatomy for Artists by Goldfinger for a good reference book. Its got photos and diagrams so it makes some sense for seeing the muscles on the surface and the origin and insertion of the muscles. The anatomy sculptures at Freedom of Teach are also really valuable.
http://www.freedom-of-teach.com/products/prod_category.php?sect=products&pid=cat_anatomy
I’ve found that doing anatomy drawings OVER drawings done from life helped to solidify the study in my mind in a more physical way as well.

Here is a link to an amasing sculptor

Bruno Lucchesi
http://www.brunolucchesi.com/BRUNO_LUCCHESI/Welcome.html

If you look under his books section you will find “modelling the human figure”
This book is a step by step of images which document the artist modeling a gender neutral figure from bone to muscle then he applies the fat and skin to make it a female.

Modeling the male and the female is more a mind set (assuming you undersatnd human anatomy)
For example one difference is the skull is more round for female, the male more square…

I have a book called “antaomy for artists” which is text based but explains the differences between male and female. Very good reading.

Observation and research are the best way to improve your anatomy, also many artists will agree a live model is more informative than an illustration.

Even if that live model is someone waiting at the bus stop.

good luck
cheers

Thanks guys, I definitely feel like I’m going in the right direction now. I am aware of Zack Petroc and have been following his dvd’s, I did not know about Luchesi or Goldfinger, we are doing a lot of drawing live models at school also…

Also I had never thought of doing anatomy studies over a live drawing, thats very interesting.

As for male vs female I have been thinking of them as separate entities, as if they were not even the same species, they have the same muscles and bones but your right about the mindset, the poses, soft vs hard, square vs round, I dont know, anatomy is probably the hardest thing I have ever had to learn, I feel like I have to dedicate my life to it…:eek:

Thanks again
-Jason

Iv been working on both for a while now, and found the female form much harder to master due to the fact that the the forms must be in the correct scale, and definition to pull it off. Its very easy to end up with some body parts looking male, even although the anatomy of muscles are the same place. Here are a few things off the top of my head that you should keep in mind.

Head:

Keep the overal curves soft, make the jaw line higher and softer. Keep the chin small and soft. Keep the brow bone less pronounced than the males.

Keep the eye brows thinner and higher. Keep the nose smaller, softer and slightly turned up. Sign of beauty is when relaxed a woman shows her top teeth slightly, make the bottom lip nice a full, while upper lip thiner.

Torso:

Have the scapula showing, but dont add too much muscle definition. I add the back muscles, but then smooth them out just to give a hint of them. his would be true for the detoid, add the natural origin and insertion, but then smooth it out.

Have the beast rest on the rib cage, and slightly to the out side, not stright down. Give them weight, and unless you want beast inplant look, avoid creating a round curve at the tops of the breast.

Dont over do it on the abbs, its rare you see them, but rather add more fat on lower belly button area creating a nice dip. Same for ribs, just slight hint.

Be aware of the pelvis and hips, and how they play a role, there is a slight dip between them. Adding a hint of pelvic crest edge helps the from from the side. Keep the creases of the back of legs light toward the outside of each leg, this is the creases that start the form that wrap around to the under side of the knee. The inner knee bows out more. Add weight and fullness to the buttocks, and do this from all angles. The sternomastoid is more evident at the insertion point to the sternom, keep the clavical slightly curved, and add definition above it. Have the dip between the front deltoid and where the upper pecs cross over that attatches to the humerus.

Theres loads more, but im running out of time, sorry for spelling mistakes, hope this helps.