Deliberate Practice – The Secret of Getting Good Fast
Check out the Premium Anatomy course to see more assignment examples from this lesson, a Spine eBook and all other Anatomy premium videos.
Deliberate Practice: The Secret of Getting Good Fast

When you make a mistake, (not if, but when you make a mistake) like I did with these drawings, analyze the mistake. Don’t ignore it. Figure out exactly what you did wrong and imagine in your mind what it would look like if you did it right.

So, I’m going to take my own advice and redo these drawings correctly.
Example 1
Ok, so the relationship of the pelvis and rib cage is really important in this one, so before I do the spine, I want to find some gesture lines and a rough shape for the rib cage. This will help me with placement of the spine.
Now Ill add the lumbar section with the extreme curvature pointing back.
Add the thoracic section. And that continues into the cervical section.
That hole in the top of the rib cage isn’t visible from this angle since we’re looking up at the rib cage. So this cylinder is going to be really flat.

Forgot about some cross contour lines at the section divisions to help show which way the spine cylinder is pointing.
Finally the skull. It’s almost side view, but we’re looking up at it, so we will see a little bit of the bottom of the jaw… Side plane… Divide the front plane into thirds… And side plane of the jaw.
Now that looks much better than my first attempt. Definitely more dynamic gesture.

Example 2
That looks pretty good. Now let’s add the lumbar section of the spine. Starts out pointing forward and then curves up to get that back extension. Notice how I’m showing the top and bottom caps of the cylinder. This forces me to think about it as a 3d form rather than just curvy lines.
Finding the relationship between the pelvis and rib cage. A really important angle in this pose is the left edge from the pelvis to the ribcage. See how the muscles stretch tight there? This angle is really important to get right, otherwise I won’t capture that dynamic gesture.

Imagining the bottom rib swinging around the spine. And then add the thoracic arch to the bottom of the sternum… And completing the shape of the rib cage.
The cervical section leans to the right Start the construction of the head using the Loomis method. When doing this, I like to compare the cranium to the sternum. They should be about the same size. Remember to consider foreshortening. If the heads is leaning toward the camera, the cranium might be bigger than the sternum. And if it’s leaning away, the cranium might be smaller than the sternum.
Extreme up tilt on this one. So, the brow ridge will be all the way up here. nose here. and chin here. Then I can connect the jaw shape to the chin. Clean up some contour lines. And add a center line.

Ok, I think that looks pretty good! If you did the assignments last week, go back and see if there’s anything that you can improve. Do them over and over again until they seem easy!

Critiques
For additional help, watch my critique session on the spine. I go over student submitted work and provide insights on how they can improve their assignment examples.
If you’re posting your drawings, use hashtag #proko and don’t forget to follow me on Facebook and Instagram. If you like this video, share it with your friends, and if you want to be updated about new videos subscribe to the Proko newsletter.
This was such a great video! Thanks for posting it. When you first said that you got the original drawings wrong, I thought you were crazy lol The tiny changes you made in the second drawings made a HUGE difference though. Really good lesson. Can’t wait to take your anatomy course! Have a great day Proko 🙂
You are an amazing teacher Stan. You explain everything in thorough detail, and cover absolutely everything but in a sequential, logical way that makes sense and does not overload the student. I am SO happy and excited I found this site while randomly looking through YouTube tutorials to get back into drawing for the first time in over 20 or more years from when I was a teenager. I am extremely inspired by your work and teaching style. The best part about it is that you make it fun and are encouraging. Your style and engagement with your audience makes me feel like I can accomplish anything I can dream of artistically as long as I am willing to commit and practice. I feel like a kid with a pencil and big dreams again with no limitations while drawing with you. Thank you for that, it is invaluable 🙂
Great practice on Skelton. Now how about shading
Ive been doing the repeat method for a while. Every time you copy a referance you learn something new. However i like doing my own stuff, but for some reason really struggle with shoulder placement on both genders… can you do a video about that or do you have one? I like your videos better then anyone else on youtube, your way is understandable and its like a real class. I get more important information.
Lol thanks. C:
Greetings proko!
I have a some questions. Are you going to release each of the anatomy courses on CD-ROM or Blu-ray?
I would love to know more about shading.
Greetings prokoYou are an amazing teacher Stan