I had a time with this horse I don’t think I fully understand structure

Arm bones tests und studies #2. this is really hard

Here are my arm bone studies, which I found more difficult than I expected. I've included two versions for each study- my attempt before looking at the video, and my attempt after watching the video...a few times!!

These are my neck muscle studies, along with the references. Sometimes I didn't literally see some of the muscles I drew, but imagined where they were under the surface. This was tricky, particularly knowing when and where to put in muscles like the capitis, levator scapulae, and the scalene.

Updated version with regards the tonal/shading work. Better I think, but always room for improvement.

This is my attempt at the shading exercise, along with a bit of process....

Good to be back after a little break. I've really enjoyed doing the back muscles. I think I'm getting better at locating them. Although the serratus muscles and the rib-cage differentiation can be tricky sometimes. All good stuff.

2023/8/31. Good afternoon everybody. Here’s some gesture drawings I made today. Thanks for any comment or critique.

These are my efforts for the lower back muscles. They can be tricky to identify sometimes, but I try and place them as best I can when that happens. I definitely feel I'm absorbing more and more with these exercises, but of course there's still a long way to go. I'm really enjoying the process of putting it all together, even when I blunder. It's all good stuff.

I didn't do these out of my head, as Stan suggested, but I did include the reference pics I used for context. I think the studies got better as they progressed, but I need to try a few angles that are perhaps more extreme or awkward.

I just dipped my toe in this exercise, so still plenty more studies to go yet. I was hoping to get some feedback on the study on the right- how would you go about drawing the attachments and shapes of the latissimus dorsi and serratus muscles from this angle of the back? I feel generally confident with the others, but I'm really unsure of those. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Cheers folks.

This is my contribution to the human torso shading exercise. I decided to try my own source material, but I did watch the above video and found it extremely helpful. This is a charcoal sketch of a sculpture, Heracles and the Nemean Lion, from the Barber Institute in Birmingham (one of the local galleries near where I live). The main focus is the torso of course, but I admit I was drawn to the arm muscles as well. There's a bit of exaggeration and extra tonal work for drama and effect, and I did take a couple of liberties with the source material, which I hope is acceptable. I've included my general process, and my reference.

I did a few extra studies of the obliques over the weekend from some sculptures in my local art gallery in Birmingham (UK). The obliques were not always clear or obvious, but I had a go at putting them in anyway. For the last one on the right (the twisted back angle), have I got the obliques curving too far into the middle of the lower back? Gonna try another one of these for my more detailed, toned torso study.

This is my obliques exercise via the model studies. With the references I was using I sometimes found it difficult to see any significant definition in the obliques, but I put them in as best I could anyway. I think I might be making my six packs too uniform? Feedback on these would be useful if anyone gets the chance.

This is the first part of the obliques exercise, I've still to pick my model references and work from those (which I'm looking forward to). I think I tend to make the upper torso area (ribcage) too long, and sometimes, too wide. All good fun though.

These were fun to do, although I think I've made the torso too long on the last figure. I've gone more for tonal structure rather than line, which might get criticized. I'm learning so much on this course.

More warm-up exercises, although again, a few have a suggestion of tone. You can tell the last one is the man on the box, as I got carried away with more tone. You got to know when to 'lift your hand!' I did enjoy these, really trying to exaggerate the pose more, even though it falls short sometimes.

And the final round of poses!

As a warm-up I did a few gestural drawings today with some tone. It's funny, when I'm in the process of putting down my initial structure lines, I feel I'm being really loose and gestural. But as I progress into the drawing and then add some tone, the drawings seem kind of stiff. All good practice though of course. These are done with Conte pencil and pastel.

More hands from imagination, still trying to drill in the structure and perspective to make my hands look expressive and believable. All critiques are welcome!