Anatomy of the Human Body
Torso(163 Lessons)
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Arms(101 Lessons)
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Legs(107 Lessons)
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How to Draw Upper Back Muscles – Anatomy and Motion
Lesson by
191K
Mark as Completed
How to Draw Upper Back Muscles – Anatomy and Motion
Lesson by
191K
Mark as Completed
Newest
Samuel Sanjaya
2mo
My upper back muscle study. I'm forgetting about the existence of the romboids on most of these. Tried to still get the gestures in there, as to not stiffen this pose.
I hope i can get some feedbacks and critiques on these.
Mcfat 10
11mo
I did a anatomy tracing study of the trapezius and looking for critique. I am not the best at these but I hope I did good.
11mo
Hi @Mcfat 10, nice tracing! The anatomy looks pretty accurate😎👍
In your profile description it say that you're a beginner artist looking to improve your art. Anatomy studies are a lot of fun, but I don't think it's the thing that will have you improve your art the most. Anatomy is useful for drawing, but really only after you have pretty solid drawing skills. If you're really interested in anatomy, you can of course continue studying it, but if you're wondering where you should go to improve fast, I would say it would be to study drawing fundamentals.
I would highly recommend joining the Drawing Basics course. It seems like it's going to be a lot of fun and since it has just started, there is a chance that you can get feedback from Stan himself, if you keep up with the assignments. Another place to start is the Figure Drawing Fundamentals course.
It would be interesting to hear what your art goals are? What type of work do you want to create? Concept art? Animation? Illustration? Portraiture? If I know your goals I might be able to guide you better.
I've been giving a lot of thought to what my goals are the last few months, and it has really helped me study more efficiently, and use the skills I already have more succesfully.
Hope this helps :) Let me know if you have any questions!
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@abrahan13
1yr
any feedback is appreciated

Buu Nguyen
9mo
general proportion is not good
Marco Sordi
1yr
2022/8/10. Good morning everybody. Here’s another study from @Patrick Jones e-book “Anatomy of Style”. Thanks for any comment or advice.
Holly Laing
1yr
Here are my assignments for the upper back muscles. Any feedback would be much appreciated.
Great lessons as always! :)

Smithies
1yr
Forms are great! Really reading as 3d congrats
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Rajitmeet Singh
1yr
I don’t have any feedback, I just wanted to say that your drawings are awesome!
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Ria Kumo
2yr
All critiques welcomed
@nothanks
2yr
Thieum
2yr
Upper Back Muscles assignment

Jon Passig
2yr
I've really been enjoying learning about the back muscles. I've been going through and half studying this course, and half going back and studying figure drawing again and knowing where different muscles are and how the body is constructed makes it a lot easier to draw looser forms more dynamically. Pls give critique if available, doesn't matter if you've completed the course or not, still valuable.
2yr
Hi @Jon Passig, I really enjoyed learning about the back muscles too! I think the upper back is a really cool area, it's like a landscape. I think your studies are succesful. The 3D-forms read well and the muscle gesture is great; I can really feel them pulling and stretching.
I'll try to help you further:
THE SKELLY TRACINGS
The tracings are good, but have some anatomical inaccuracies:
- In your first tracing the tendon in the neck looks a little strange. I think it is because you made it higher on the right side. In the 3D model it's symmetrical.
- The tendon of the bottom portion should overlap the corner of the scapula. You got this right in the 2nd one, but in the other tracings it's doesn't seem to overlap
-You seem to be originating the trapezius all the way down to the 4rth lumbar vertebrae, when it should be originating at the 12th thoracic vertebra.
I personally prefer to indicate the muscle striations aswell. It forces me to analyze the function & attachments more thoroughly, which leads to more accurate anatomy and an increased understanding.
FIGURES
SHADING
I think you're making the lights to dark. You can test this by removing the color from the reference photos.
STRAIGHTS AND CURVES
It would be nice if you used some more straights for the contour (while still considering gesture of course). It can help you give the figures more solidity. Some of them feel a little "bubbly" and soft. (I attached a paintover )
I hope this was helpful :) Keep up the good work!
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@sharkhead
2yr
sekond attempt
2yr
Hard to see in photos but looks like you got the C curve for the top medial corner of the scapula down well. I think the W shape of the tail end of the trapezius could be a bit lower down the back. Good work and hope that helps
@sharkhead
2yr
sorry they're so dark. I hope they are not to hard to see

@suntory
3yr
:)
Hossam Haridi
3yr
here is my study i hope to get critique from you guys
3yr
Hi @Hossam Haridi. I like how gestural the figures are!
I have some thoughts that might help:
STRUCTURE
It would be nice if the figures had more defined structure. When doing anatomy studies I like to start by indicating the bones. The upper back muscles attaches to the spine, lies on top of the ribcage and are moved around by the shoulder girdle. The skeletal forms have a huge impact on how things look and helps a drawing look more solid!
SQUASH & STRETCH
Muscles changes shape as they are flexed streched thin. Try to get more of that in your drawings. When the scaupulas are retracted, for example, make sure to show how the muscles bulges up between them as they are flexed and compressed.
Hope this helps :)
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Olha Nevecheria
3yr
Maria J Venegas-Spadafora
3yr
i would very much appreciate if I could get a draw-over note on the third image in the oblique section, if that's possible. Thank you!
3yr
Hey @Maria J great work! Not sure if you were expecting something more specific, but mainly what I'd adjust on that third image is just try to add a stronger sense of roundness and pinching to the obliques. I think I'd also make the flank portion overflow the iliac crest a tiny bit more. Hope this helps.
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parth kapadia
3yr
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About instructor
Founder of Proko, artist and teacher of drawing, painting, and anatomy. I try to make my lessons fun and ultra packed with information.