Mannequinization – Structure of the Human Body
Mannequinization – Structure of the Human Body
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Figure Drawing Fundamentals

Mannequinization

Mannequinization – Structure of the Human Body

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Mark as Completed

Mannequinization – Structure of the Human Body

45K
Mark as Completed

When you’re doing these mannequin sketches, always start by establishing the gesture. Find the flow, major angles, and check your proportions with measurements. Then as a second layer, start adding the 3d forms of the mannequin.

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Avşin
here are my mannequinization studies from half imagination. Do you have any tips to approach drawıng from imagination or how would you show the 3d form? All the critiques halp me a lot to improve appreciate yall
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aeyt
19d
Here is my third set for this assignment! Previously i had drawn a lot of side/back profiles so i focused on the front on this one. I think proportions are now my biggest issue since especially the first couple ones seem to suffer from long torso and/or leg syndrome.
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Dwight
Hello, if you'd like my advice, I'd try to make the torso/pelvis slimmer. I think the leg and torso lengths are okay, but if you're really worried, do more gesture. I've attached my gesture to mannequinization that may help with keeping the flow as you think in 3D. It also has the torso reduction that I started this comment with. The negative space between the arms and ribcage is the correct shape, I'd just trim the body even more down. Hope I help. - Dwight
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Marco Sordi
2023/5/11. Good morning fellow artists. Trying to get better in drawing muscular bodies. I decided to practice quick sketches 30 mins every morning (1 pose 10 mins) until the end of summer. Let’s see what happens. Thanks for any comment or advice. Have a good day.
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arthur whelan
I say this often, sorry if you’ve already heard it elsewhere, but write the date on each drawing and store them, it is really helpful for motivation when you can see proof of improvement
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Marco Sordi
2023/5/8. Good morning everybody. 30 mins of mannequinization for my daily warming up exercise. Thanks and have a good week.
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aeyt
27d
Here is my second set of characters for this assignment! These are some of my first digital drawings as well since i just got my drawing tablet. Occasionally finding the angle of the pelvis box is challenging. Probably could use a re-watch of the landmark and robobean videos.
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Eveline Rupenko
Hello! Here is what I've done for this assignment! The blue ones are direct tracings from the photo where I've tried to figure out the placement of the torso and limbs. The hardest part for me right now is finding the correct planes of knees and shoulders. On the bright side, it feels like I've made an improvement in combining gesture and structure because before this course it was either one or another for me. 
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Marco Sordi
2023/4/25. Good morning everybody. Here’s a quick preparatory study for my next pencil (or Conte) drawing. Thanks for any suggestion or advice. Have a good week.
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Paul Schlösser
pretty god so far. I would relax her obliques on both sides, thats at least, what i see, when i look at the negativ shapes... i think her belly looks a bit round and the forearm muscles start higher, i think... hm.... ah... and maybe the neck... i think its a bit of center. her traps....
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draft_al
Marco, I enjoy very much everything you submit. You definitely have a keen eye.
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aeyt
1mo
This has definitely been the most challenging but also the most fun part of the course so far! I feel like I am struggling with turning some of the body parts such as shoulders into simpler forms. Also the back is especially challenging as it can feel like it is somehow giving too much and too little information at the same time.. Here are some of the exercises I've done in the last couple of days. All critique/feedback and or tips would be appreciated!
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aeyt
1mo
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Samuel Sanjaya
my first attempt, i think i take drawing the form too literal, it messes up all my proportion. Need some feedbacks on how to handle this, especially the proportion.
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John Harper
Pretty good for a 1st attempt. Did you watch the bean/robo-bean and gesture videos? Your core focus should be there. Don't worry so much about the proportions right now. If you don't have the line of action right, the whole drawing will feel stiff. Also, I would pick the first photo over the second. It's difficult to "see" the line of action in static poses. I hope that helps.
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Dwight
Hey Samuel, it's me again. My advice for good proportion is to make a lot of comparisons across the body. After finding the gesture, try to find the angles between specific places on the reference, then compare them to what you have drawn. Eventually, you'll get intuitive proportion where you don't have to measure, but for now, I'd highly recommend taking your time and making sure all portions are the correct size. In terms of what things you should think about, here's what I do. For measuring (the lines that look like the letter "I" in my example), I measure things that I think are about the same size, to see if I guessed right. For the "plum lines" (the arrows in my example), I see where symmetric parts of the body compare to each other. For instance, the hands are far apart vertically, as well as the feet. I also use these for horizontal placement, such as the left edge of the head being over the left leg. Finally, the "negative space" (the shaded areas in my example). Wherever you see the background between the figure is a good place to study the shape. This is usually between the legs or between the arms and the body. Tell me if you want more detail. - Dwight
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Dwight
Don't really know what's wrong with the center one, but feel free to critique any of them. I also tried drawing the knee differently each time, so let me know which one you like. - Dwight
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John Harper
Hey D. You've made the arm and head too small on the middle drawing. My drawings tend to do the same thing. I'll either grow or shrink the figure as I go from head to foot. Try to see the envelope of the figure first, then draw the gesture within that envelope, taking care to note the mid points and key features. Then, once you have a good gesture, fill in the mannequin. Correct your drawing when you sense that your "volumes" have taken over the gesture.
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Vera
2mo
Hello. Here are some of my mannequinization drawings. I struggled describing the back part of the body. I also had difficulties drawing and connecting the elbow and knee to the arms and legs. Advice and critiques appreciated.
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pmak22
Ok I swear this is the last time I'll post here, I've really got to move on to the next lesson, even if I'm really enjoying this one.
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John Harper
Fun poses, fun drawings. Good job! I agree with Jesper. Priority 1 (gesture lines), Priority 2 (the bean in all its flavors), and Priority 3 (proportion/volume). I catch myself doing the same thing you have done, putting priority three ahead of the other two. I think about the construction and pieces more than the overall figure. When I'm done, I find those drawings rigid. Usually, it takes me a couple of tries to get it right. On the first try, I crumple and throw the drawing away with the scrap.
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Jesper Axelsson
Hi @pmak22, nice work! Yeah, moving on to the next lesson sounds like a good idea👍 - I would keep an extra eye on the proportion and symmetry of the body. As you move down the body, keep the avarage proportions (Human Proportions – Average Figure) in the back of your head. In the first 3 drawings, the upper body feels a bit stretched out. Also note the symmetry from side to side. In the 4th drawing, you've made the shoulders of almost equal distance from the centerline, whereas in the reference, his right (our left) is closer to it (graphically) because it's receeding back in space, due to the torso being rotated. - Some of the crosscontours give me the feeling that you could work a bit on your boxes and cylinders. - Before you start drawing, try to figure out what part of the body is closest to the viewer and which one is furthest. This is something I'm trying to work on myself, and it really makes a difference in the clarity of space in my drawings. In the 4th drawing his right hand appears to be behind his right knee, when it's in front of in the photo. In the 2nd pose, her left foot is closest too us. You got the placement of the shapes correct in the drawing, but I don't really feel the space. It feels a bit flat, like her whole body is on the same plane. Being aware of the space allows you to communicate it. - I think you would benefit a lot from mimicking Glenn Vilppu's approach to figure drawing. I like how he strats with a flow, then contains it with forms. He explains this at 21:00 in Drawing Demo by Glenn Vilppu. Hope this helps :) Keep up the good work!
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Low Horvath
If anyone has any advice or tips they can give to me I’d appreciate it!
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pmak22
Hi @Low Horvath, I love the number of different types of angles and attempts at the assignment. Something I am noticing is you are using a sort of horizontal line to define the tube/organic shapes when I think you could benefit from also using vertical lines. I'm not 100% sure that my vertical/horizontal description is helping, but I also attached an image of what I was meaning. Overall I think it would better define the shapes, I'd also recommend watching the critique video of this section which goes over the same advice.
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pmak22
Still getting back into Mannequinization, up to 10 at this point, probably will do at least 5 more before hitting balance.
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Low Horvath
These are great! Also Where did you get the reference photos at?
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Marco Sordi
2023/3/19. Good morning everybody. I draw objects from reality at least three times a week. Even though for 30 mins only I have to say that among the several and different exercises I do to improve my drawing skills this is the most effective way to enhance my ability to “see” things the way they are. Thanks and have a good Sunday.
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pmak22
@Marco Sordi I like your approach of drawing items from reality a few times a week. I would however recommend you try to at least apply some of the concepts from this lesson. I mean this on two levels. 1. To define more of an actual person's anatomy and flesh out where muscles and major parts of the body are. This helps you build a good foundation for figure drawing. 2. That being said if you are not looking to draw realistic figures as a goal I think at least applying some of the foreshadowing or volume lines could do you good as well. This helps the viewer understand better the shapes they are looking at, what directions they are facing and helps with things like shading/rendering later. Attached is what I mean.
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pmak22
After a 3 month hiatus I'm picking back up where I left off last time. The rust is coming off but it maybe a few days before I get back to where I was.
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Dwight
Hey pmak, I think you did pretty good on this assignment. I'd just watch out for losing gesture, especially in the shoulders. Notice how both of your mannequins are very straight and stable, and how the references aren't. I've drawn along with you, showing what I mean. Hope this helps. - Dwight
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Marco Sordi
2022/2/24. Good morning everybody. Here's my latest assignment. It's not a "real" mannequinization exercise but I used many concept and the general idea behind the mannequinization approach to build the structure properly. Thanks and have a good Friday.
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Petra Brandström
Ok so I'm going to try to actually follow through on this course, it's really helpful! Here's my version of the example poses.
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burningbryce
Hi guys, just finished a study. Couldn’t find the original reference, sorry. Tear it apart, criticize all you want, it would be appreciated.
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fefelix
Hi there! I think you did a good job on the structural, mannequinization part :) The underlying simple forms you used to express the anatomy are readable and solid in most places. Only area that to me looks like you didnt really think about constructing it three-dimensionally is her left thigh. The overall form of the upper leg isnt clear anymore, instead you have two complex organic forms that arent easy to comprehend. Maybe try showing the anterior and lateral planes of the upper leg's box a little better with your cross contour lines. The plane change should be visible. Right now, it looks like youre using the s-curve between rec. femoris and add.s as plane change, which doesnt make sense (try imagining a shaded version of this form: it wouldnt look real). All other critique I have for this drawing is regarding line quality and proportion: Especially in the hips the individual forms are hard to read. I think you did construct them well enough, but because of all your cross-contour and x-ray lines having the same strength as the lines seperating the forms the latter are harder to find. You designed the lower legs and esp. the ankles to be unnaturally thin. If thats what youre going for, take heed that both lower legs have the same proportions. Her left lower leg feels a little thinner even than the right. Maybe that's just because the medial portion of that leg's gastrocnemius is too small/ ends too high. Her right leg is about 1 cu longer in your drawing than her left. For me at least it looks like that because I feel that her right toes are touching the ground which would mean that both legs have the same distance to the viewer. Of all of these points there werent really any major complaints, I think youve made a structurally and anatomically solid drawing. Maybe youll find it helpful to re-do this exercise sometimes while thinking of even simpler forms and then adding anatomy "on top". Thats always a good idea, anyway. Have fun drawing and until next time!
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teetree
Some of my mannequinization studies. Having trouble sometimes knowing how to simplify the joints especially the shoulders. Any advice would be appreciated!
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