How to Draw Abs – Anatomy
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Anatomy of the Human Body

Torso(163 Lessons)
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Abs

How to Draw Abs – Anatomy

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How to Draw Abs – Anatomy

403K
Mark as Completed

Assignment: Draw the Abs

Your assignment for this week is to do some quick sketches of models in various poses. Make sure to focus on the motion and form of the abs.

Sometimes to show the forms, it might make sense to indicate some tone. But don’t go overboard. The assignment is not to spend hours rendering a single pose. It’s to do a lot of quick studies. Sometimes an indication of a core shadow with the right shape and edge will be enough to indicate the form. If you’re new to shading, don’t shade for this exercise since it will be a distraction.

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Ezra
13d
Abs!
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Johnathan
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Johnathan
happy to take feedback
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Manuel Rioja
Assigments done my way...
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Michael Bristow
that's really good!
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Karas Rijji
Here’s my assignment
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Samuel Sanjaya
My abs assignment. I also did some quicksketches as a warm ups. Any feedbacks or critiques on either or both of these will be greatly appreciated.
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@palyo
Hi! These are my drawings for the assignment of this lesson and it took me forever to complete(i've done these drawings 2 other times) . I still don't feel that confident with my lines sometimes and i'm working on it . Other than that , i'm still struggling a bit on gesture but i think these are a huge improvement compared to the breast assignment. Anyway,i would really appreciate any critique/advice.
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Tasha
My drawings for this lesson
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Samuel Parker
This was a really fun exercise :3
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Margaret Langston
Abs Assignments, first on my own, then a second attempt with Prof Proko examples :\
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Tsotne Shonia
I wanted to specifically practice *painting* abs because I used to struggle a lot with this, so I went quite heavy on the "shading". Here's my submission for this assignment :
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Steve Lenze
Hey Tsotne, Nice job on these paintings, you were not that far off. The biggest thing that I noticed is that you have too much contrast between your lights and shadows. This is pretty common and requires you to always compare a value to other values as you paint to see if it's lighter or darker. The other thing to keep in mind is that in some of the drawings you lost some of the structure of the figure causing it to look flat and unidimensional. Also, you are adding highlights in areas where they do not exist, causing some forms to look like balloons. I did a quick paint over some of your figures to show you what I mean, I hope it helps :)
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squeen
My suggestion is to avoid the shading and highlighting when starting out. It can be a "cheat code" into suggesting form that doesn't really stretch you as an artist and (truthfully) can turn into very bland and "generic" look in today's digital world. My two-cents.
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Sandra Süsser
Lesson notes abs
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Gannon Beck
Good notes!
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Sarvesh Gupta
Remaining abs assignments! Probably overdid the shading in the first one and I feel the pelvis could have been tilted more backwards in the second one.
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Sarvesh Gupta
Some more abs assignments! Also trying to apply some shading even though I am a novice at it.
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Melissa Cook
Nice job :) one thing I am noticing is you could show on the first one how the squash/compression on the right are affecting the abs. Also show the stretch on the left side. On the second one I would recommend exaggerating the gesture of the pose more, tilting the pelvis more, the centerline also feels too straight near the abs. In the picture is angled more to the right so it would be good to exaggerate that a bit. On the last one you have the placement correct but the abs are too symmetrical and the same. I would vary the design a bit, but not too much that they look wrong. Keep going! you are doing good
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Sarvesh Gupta
Some abs assignments!
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Lucijan Prpić
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Jesper Axelsson
Hi @Lucijan Prpić, really nice studies! You're showing a good sense of form and knowledge of anatomy. - This might be a style thing, so take it with a grain of salt, but I think the sense of structure in the abs could be even stronger. They already read as having form, but they feel a little soft at times. It might help to think more sculpturaly, as if the abs are a block of rock attaching to the ribcage and pelvis, somehow magically able to bend and conform to the torso's movement. Then you can think of each row of abs (or even each rectangle) as a brick. This analogy encourages blocky massconceptions with clear plane shifts. Hope this helps :) Keep up the good work!
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@mathews
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@mathews
thanks Jesper for the corrections!
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Jesper Axelsson
Nice studies! - In some of these you make the rectus abdominis narrow again at the insertion at the ribcage, but I think it should have its widest point at the top. - You might want to bring some more variety into the edges of the shading. It feels a bit too soft at the moment. Look carefully at the reference and see if its possible to capture a rich variety from soft to sharp edges(cast shadow edges for example). Hope this helps :)
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@unpayedintern123
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Jesper Axelsson
Nice! Good sense of structure and form and you seem to be well aware of origins and insertions. I also find the shading to reveal the forms well. - In #2, it would have been nice if the abs conformed more the ribcage on her left side (our right). You captured the tonal shift at the thoracic arch, so the shading is good, but the underlying structure and placement of the shapes is what causes the flatness. - In #3, I really like how you captured the twist (ribcage pointing more to the right.) Though, I think the drawing could have been even stronger if you kept simpler forms in mind; the forms in your drawing feel a bit soft as if they were lacking some underlying structure. - In #4 and #7 I think there is room to show more compression. Shading tip: Before filling in tone I think I would recommend you to first outline shade and shadow with line. This allows you to first focus on strong design and a clear seperation of light and shadow. The line can vary in softness; soft for core shadows (the slower the transition (rounder and larger forms) the softer the line) and sharp lines for cast shadow edges and end of forms. With this alone you'll already get a feeling of form. I learned this from Joseph Todorovitch's course From Painting To Canvas on New Master's Academy ( https://www.nma.art/courses/from-paper-to-canvas ). Hope this helps :) Keep up the good work!
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Alexis Riviere
I am definitely guilty of shading for no reason. But I had fun doing these.
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Jesper Axelsson
Nice studies! The abs read as three dimenasional, have gesture and look anatomicly correct for the most part. Great job! - In some of these it feels like the form of the ribcage could be more present, especially in drawing 2 and 4. Try to use the abs to clarify the form of the ribcage. - In drawing 1, 3 & 4 I feel like it's unclear where the abs insert at the pubic crest; it looks like the abs continue past it. Hope this helps :) Keep up the good work!
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James Paris
Hi ! Here is my first batch of Abs assignments !
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James Paris
And the rest of the assignement ! Must say that I don't think I did a good job with the 3rd one , the shading don't really help the form
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TK
1yr
Abs assignment
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