shoulder blades: most of the upper back muscles attach to them directly, placement is affected by the arms. They can get obscured on very muscular backs, but most people these are the most dominant features!
7th cervical vertebra: neck bone that sticks out in most people, it sits in the center of that diamond shaped tendon in the middle of the trapezius
Also, obviously always keep the general shape of the ribcage and spine in mind, it was too much of a pain to draw them all in lol.
BACK MUSCLES
Erector Spinae: make the column-like structures around the spine,
they extend all the way up to the neck, but you really only see the
bottom part.
Latissimus Dorsi: are very thin, so most of the time you only see the structures underneath (such as the erector spinae). But when flexed, (for example, when climbing), you can see here on Jimmy Webb’s back that swooping curve it makes under the armpits.
The lats are also responsible for most of a person’s upper body strength and are the “V” shaped part of the back. For example, it’s how Bruce Lee was so strong despite being a small guy. Just look at those wings, man.
Infraspinatus, Teres Minor, and Teres Major:
sit on the shoulder blade itself, and connects it to the top of the arm
bone. These are responsible for a lot of the crazy shapes you see in
bodybuilders’ backs.
Underneath them is the serratus anterior, which technically isn’t a back muscle but sits on the side of the ribs. These form that zig-zag pattern on the ribs that makes people look super ripped when visible with the external obliques, both wrapping around the sides of the torso. They’re not technically back muscles but fill out the silhouette, so it’s good to keep them in mind.
the glutes/butt muscles… they go farther up the back than one might assume and they, along with the pelvis, do affect the surface appearance of the lower back.
Rhomboid: simple shape, attaches from the inner edge of the shoulder blades to the middle of the spine at the 7th cervical vetebra to about the 4th or 5th thoracic vetebra. It does not overlap with the latissimus dorsi
Trapezius: divided roughly in the top, middle, and bottom sections. The top is quite thick and cylindrical and makes the sloping shape from the neck to the shoulders.
The bottom part is very thin; like the latissimus dorsi, the forms underneath it are visible when relaxed, making the rhomboid visible if it is flexed and the traps are not. Also not where the bottom part’s tendons attach to the shoulder blades; it outlines the curve of the shoulder blades even in people who are covered in brains muscles.
When fully flexed, it doesn’t taper into a point, but makes a small “w” shape at the bottom.
The 7th cervical vertebra sits at the center of the diamond-shaped tendons between the first and second sections of the trapezius. This part appears recessed in very muscular people.
Deltoid: not really a back muscle, but they overlap with the Infraspinatus and insert into the upper ridge of the shoulder blades, so it’s good to see how they interact with the others.
Ah, now for an example, featuring Thor himself. Note the curve where the traps meet the shoulder blades, the diamond-shaped tendon, and the rough “w” shaped contour of the lower back. Also note the two dimples, which is formed by the pelvis bones. They tend to be more prominent in women, although they are found in both men and women.
Try to find the back muscles on other people yourself, and then GET DRAWING
(PS, Generally it’s best to be able to simplify the forms instead of trying to render straight away - that’s how you know you really internalized the anatomy! I… honestly still don’t understand the back enough to do that yet, hence the lack of examples, unlike with the forearms post. But nonetheless, I hope that this is still useful as a general reference. I know it’s helped me at least remember what the different parts are, even if I don’t yet have a grasp of how they interact in motion!)
Animation smears lecture from Chapter 3 or FULL VERSION of my Complete Introduction to 2D Animation which you can find on https://gumroad.com/stringbing
Very cool!!
Some peeps asked about animation! I’m going to make you guys a masterpost but here’s something to tide you over!
Anónimo asked: Would you ever do a simple tutorial of how you draw horses? I want to make centaur OCs but lord horses are difficult creatures to doodle ðŸ˜
Mmmm there are so many guides that cover what I do, and I really
don’t do anything more than those. Still use the whole blocks and sticks and
form building and whatnot. And a buttload of references. Anything I could say different would kinda step beyond the stage of simplicity?
To offer something though I would like, suggest tweaking the use of circles when
it comes to drawing horses. Or anything, really. Circles are great and highly accessible for fast, general
drawing, but few natural things are perfectly round. Look at a horse from the
front or back - it’s square and flat and meaty and saggy too, depending on your
angle.
So like, I dunno, if you wanna step it up a notch, try
changing your use of building-circles into something like this
And especially practice being able to see these shapes in
dimension
And then piece them together. The triangle will really help guide the line up. Highly recommend.
Honestly I just follow the same gist of Hubedihubbe’s quick
tut (please check it out, very good points made, much cleaner, actually labelled) so I kind of feel like I’m parroting here but.. I break down the rest in
lines and diamonds.
As a personal preference, I like marking in the shoulder
blade to elbow and the hip to knee, as they create pretty important shapes towards
horse recognition. If something keeps looking off, check your leg length. A super rough way to get a close idea of what you need can be found in using most of the shoulder block for a landmark? It’s not perfect maths, it’s a rough tell. The hind legs are then worked out via the red line, setting the hocks above the intersection across the knees
And uh, it goes on from there. You gotta look at pictures, do
the study, and learn the meats. No real other way around that part.
There’s a horse bod.
But the reason of learning how to see those shapes in
dimension is so that you can push your poses further! Try piecing it together with your front-view knowledge. And
look at references, always!
Shoulders are pretty narrow compared to the belly and hindquarters, unless you start looking into the draft breeds - then both ends more or less square up together. But moving on, more leggies are slapped on that thing
And fleshed out with all that meat knowledge :P (I know I haven’t gone into heads but this was about centaurs anyway. This guy just felt like he needed one)
And when it comes to practice
and learning, don’t be afraid to simply draw
these shapes directly over an image. It will help familiarise you with how
these base forms interact with one another, how far they can squash and stretch
and look at a whole variety of angles. It’s just practice!
Doing that helps to gain a
solid concept of the subject, so that when you do set out on your own you can
find that convincing territory.
So hey, this has been a very long and terrible not-tutorial. More like insight or something, and would only be helpful if you’re somewhat familiar with horses and already got the fundamentals of drawing down pat, since I skipped over a lot.
Haven’t drawn a horse before though? I recommend you the Shrimp method
historietista
