How to Draw Shoulder Muscles – Form
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Anatomy of the Human Body

Torso(163 Lessons)
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Shoulder Muscles

How to Draw Shoulder Muscles – Form

137K
Mark as Completed

How to Draw Shoulder Muscles – Form

137K
Mark as Completed

Assignment

Invent the back muscles! Draw the rib cage, scapula and humerus as simple planar forms. Then add the shoulder muscles. Try out different poses and angles. If inventing is a bit too challenging for you, start by using photo reference or the Skelly app, and ease in to invention. I also have premium model photos available, or you can get a free model sampler pack by subscribing to the Proko newsletter on the home page.

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Karas Rijji
Shoulder muscles assignment
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Sita Rabeling
While studying the pecs (again) I wondered about the muscles in the armpit region with the arm raised. With a slight alteration of the pose the position/visibility of the muscles also change - so I hope my drawing is correct.  The second image is what helped me figuring it out.
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@palyo
Hi everyone! These drawings are for this lesson's assignment and personally i didn't find it that hard even though i didn't use any kind of reference. The only thing i would say is that i scribbled a bit too much when i draw from imagination so i should be more careful next time .Anyway , i would really appreciate any kind of advice/critique.
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Peter Tinkler
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.
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Sarvesh Gupta
Tried to trace the shoulder muscles, hard to figure out where they are placed because of so many other muscles, any help is appreciated
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Benjamin Green
When I first looked at these, it was hard to see what you were trying to trace because the muscles you're trying to draw are typically covered up by other muscles in the back, delts, traps, and latissimus dorsi in some references.. I would say that following a procedure of first identifying and drawing in the bony landmarks such as scapula, 7th cervical vertibrae, connection between scapula and clavicle (prominent bump) will help with placement of the teres major, teres minor, rhomboids, etc. Then figure out what goes on top of what. A good reference such as the one I use, "Anatomy for Sculptors - Understanding the Human Figure") is helpful, but you can also search images online for free. Since you're working digitally, take advantage of the layers.
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Sarvesh Gupta
Another one
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Sarvesh Gupta
Did another one. Still very hard
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Mike Karcz
Hello, I would very much appreciate a critique of my muscle placement for the shoulder. Additionally, I struggle a lot with mentally imagining the box around the hip bone. Like, where do the corners of the box go? Would love and appreciate some tips.
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Samuel Parker
Shoulder muscles from imagination + Skelley
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Kimi
1yr
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TK
1yr
Shoulder muscles assignment.
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Margaret Langston
I promise: I will do this assignment over. Many more times. Not happy with my drawings but posting them anyway.
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Madelyn Kuipers
Assignment - Shoulder Muscles This was a complex one with the movement of the shoulder blade! Feedback and critiques welcome and appreciated.
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Ria Kumo
All critiques welcomed! Thank you
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@hiflow
My homework! I kept in mind which muscles are flexed and which are relaxed (tried to express this through their mass and contour lines), as well as their connections relative to the arm rotation. Every critique is welcome!
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Tony Vu
I had a go at filling in the skelly photos. I apologise if they are quite messy and hard to understand. I had quite a hard time wrapping my head around the forms when they're twisted or distorted. This is going to need more study.
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Luke Ng
Nice work!! I would recommend using cross contours when describing the forms instead of shadows if you're having a challenge with them. In all your drawings the teres major originates from the bottom of the scapula (like it should) but this is not the case in drawing "E" Also, in drawing "A" the head looks too big for that body Hope this helps. Keep up the good work!
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Tony Vu
I'm not really sure If I'm stretching or compressing the muscles correctly relative to how active they are. I think I got the overall forms right. I feel a little more confident now so I plan to try some from imagination.
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cathy hayes
There isn’t a lot of muscle bulk to help identify but I gave it a go on the first one. I find the muscles you are putting in around the scapula confusing, not sure what they are supposed to be. I always find it helpful to crack open an anatomy book or 2 to try to figure out what is what. This is a really helpful one
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CHARLES DEIGHAN
Here's my Shoulder Muscle Assignment. The first three using skelly as a model. The next two I used pictures and the last one was my invention.
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Luke Ng
More shoulder invention studies. Any feedback is greatly appreciated
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Luke Ng
Shoulder Muscle Invention drawings. Any feedback is welcome
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Gannon Beck
Good work! Fantastic forms.
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Jon Passig
Started with using the skelly app for poses and perspective, moved onto the assigned model images, then did some from imagination.
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squeen
Looks great to me! Those are some of the toughest muscles to get right for me.
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Jon Passig
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David Gutmann
Could I get a critique on those? Ive struggeled a lot with this lesson so I hope it turned out decent.
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@kiff
Hello! Here goes: Anatomy - The rear delt goes *over* the infraspinatus, making the top portion not visible. If you still want an indication of the insertion of the infraspinatus I suggest making the lines less dark/visible. The bottom of the trapezius should be on top of the latissimus. Finally, the triangle of the trapezius isn't that big. Don't be discouraged, I like your drawings! Other - I suggest working on structure a bit more, ignore anatomy for a few seconds and just focus on the shape of the shoulder (it's 2D silhouette) and making it feel interesting. Keep at it! Nice work.
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H H
2yr
These seem to be very well done! I would say that drawing number 1, I think the lat would be getting pulled more and would be stretched a bit more toward the humerus (left side). This would also work better with the gesture of the pose. In drawing number 5, it seems as though the lats are following the shape of the rib cage too closely. In this case indicating that the muscle is being flexed could more accurately depict the pose (like showing where the muscle meets the aponeurosis to indicate the muscles bulging). Otherwise good job! Hope this will be of some help!
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Kadin Lane
Ha-cha cha cha!
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Founder of Proko, artist and teacher of drawing, painting, and anatomy. I try to make my lessons fun and ultra packed with information.
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