How to Draw BUTTS!!!
Ass-ignment
Your assignment is to give Skelly a butt! I’ve included 3 photos of Skelly posed in the description below, or you can use the Skelly app to make any pose you’d like! Think about where each muscle originates and inserts. You can keep the lower leg as a simple cylinder. Or a bloated cylinder. Think about how the forms of the butt muscles are distorted by the pose.
Post your work in the Anatomy for Artists Facebook group.
Download Ass-ignment Photos
Butt-Muscles-Assignment-Images.zip
It’s time to draw butts. This lesson will explain the three major butt muscles, and how they’re covered in fat and skin.
The first step in drawing magnificent butt muscles is to understand where they attach. Let’s take a look.
Butt Muscles
Butt muscles originate on the pelvis, which if you remember we constructed using a bucket tipped forward. Check out the pelvis lesson if you need a refresher.
But there’s more to it than that. They also insert into a long stretch of tape-like tendon that runs down the outside of the leg, called the iliotibial band. The middle portion sits tightly along the side of the quads. Sometimes its so tight that you’ll see it clearly pinching the muscles. But we’ll cover that in the quads lesson.
The 3 butt muscles we’ll study in this episode are the gluteus medius, gluteus maximus and tensor fascia latae. There’s also the gluteus minimus and a few others, but they’re hidden deep inside, so we’ll ignore them.
These 3 butt muscles can be simplified to a tire. Or a croissant! Whichever you prefer. It’s amazing how much butts and croissants have in common. Similar shape, filled with fat, and they’re delicious.
On a female butt, there’s a thicker layer of fat, but that butterfly doesn’t fly away. In fact, it gets bigger if the top part merges with the obliques. The love handles keep this rhythm going all the way through the narrow part of the waist and connect the two sides. Use this rhythm when you’re practicing your gesture quicksketch. It’s very helpful. It’s a slightly more detailed version of the bean.
Of course that’s not always the case, since butts come in all shapes and sizes. A slightly less defined design would be to add a little more fat around the sides for a rounder bubble butt. It really just depends on the fat distribution. You could have the softer rounder cheek, but a defined separation at the iliac crest between the glutes and obliques.
If you draw enough butts, you’ll start learning the patterns. That’s why in an upcoming episode, we’ll learn how to draw butts from every angle. Don’t miss that one.
Gluteus Medius
The gluteus medius is a lot like a muscle you already know: the deltoid. Both pull the limb away from the body. Both have multi-directional fibers to pull the limb forward and backward. They’re even similar in shape!
It originates from the front 3/4 under the lip of the iliac crest, though a part of its origin is covered up by the gluteus maximus. Its fibers converge like a fan into a thin flat tendon which inserts on the outside surface of the greater trochanter.
Gluteus Maximus
The gluteus maximus is the biggest muscle in the entire human body. The latissimus is wide, but it’s thin. The gluteus maximus is thick! It’s the famous butt-muscle that allows us to stand strong.
We’ll study the fat after we learn the glute.
It extends the femur. It also laterally rotates the femur. It also abducts the femur. And its lower fibers adduct the femur. But we may be tempted to think of the gluteus maximus only as anchoring at the pelvis to grip and move the leg, when it often does the opposite.
Anyway, fat makes up about half the width of our hineys, and it’s not all equal. It gathers toward the center, so it’s heavier medially – between our legs. Also, gravity’s a thing, so it’s heavier at the bottom. Sometimes you might even see a transition between the muscular form and the squished fat when the model is sitting. We’ll talk more about how it affects the surface in Premium.
This horizontal crease is called the Gluteal Fold. It’s obvious when the weight is on one leg, but it disappears when the leg flexes forward.
The gluteal fold is lower than the actual gluteal muscle fibers on the inside. It extends outwards horizontally cutting across the muscle fiber.
Artists love the gluteal fold because it’s a natural cross-contour line around the form of the leg. We can use it to show whether the leg is coming toward us or going away from us. It’s a rhythm line for gesture drawing. As the leg goes forward or back, the gluteus maximus and fat pad will react to the movement.
Every butt is different, with varying amounts of muscle and fat… The Premium version of this lesson has an extra section on physique variations for this reason. But if you want the reliable landmarks, seek the bones. That’s why we studied pelvises before putting on muscles and fat. And there’s one more muscle to study… the tensor fasciae latae.
Tensor Fasciae Latae
The tensor fasciae latae is a muscle located around your pockets. Almost the shape of your pockets.
Btw, I don’t want to keep saying this long-ass name. So let’s use TFL. Which stands for Too F*cking Long. Just kidding, it’s tensor fasciae latae.
The TFL and gluteus maximus are antagonists. They both insert on the iliotibial band and pull it from opposite directions. The gluteus maximus did a number of tasks. So does the TFL. It flexes the leg forward. It abducts it out to the side. And it medially rotates the leg.
On females there’s a thicker layer of fat softening the hips. It’s reserve to feed the baby. Even on someone very skinny, there’s a layer of fat hiding the muscle definition.
The hips vary a lot based on the gender, age, and most of all, physique.
Physique Variations
Available in the premium section… and not just physique variation. Premium Proko people get assignment demonstrations, extended critiques, 3D models, a downloadable ebook, and premium fart jokes. Even if you don’t get premium, I still care about you! I hope you participate by doing the assignment and posting in the anatomy group.
Ass-ignment
Your assignment is to give Skelly a butt! I’ve included 3 photos of Skelly posed in the description below, or you can use the Skelly app to make any pose you’d like! Think about where each muscle originates and inserts. You can keep the lower leg as a simple cylinder. Or a bloated cylinder. Think about how the forms of the butt muscles are distorted by the pose.
Post your work in the Anatomy for Artists Facebook group.
Download Ass-ignment Photos
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Great job. As a personal trainer and artist, I loved it!
Bz-z-z-fu-u-blouh-pow. Simply amazing. I spent four years in an accredited University Fine Art/Art Education program with some skills before entering bu-u-ut upon exit (graduation) I still had the very same skills I went in with. Nothing was taught except express yourself. I do not believe one Professor actually knew how to draw much less knew what anatomy was or what role it played in developing ones skill. I am currently enrolled in an on-line drawing program that cost 1/8 of your courses. Its not bad butt nothing compared to yours. wish I could afford to purchase even just your anatomy course butt that is a rather gassy proposition for me on a controlled retirement. Thanks for your free stuff. I deeply appreciate as I am sure thousands of others who subscribe. Thanks Stan, thanks an awful lot.
Tom