Christopher Hart - Drawing Cutting Edge Anatomy: The Ultimate Reference Guide for Comic Book Artists

Thanks to:
Alisa Palazzo, Bob Ferro, Candace Raney,
Ellen Greene, and Bob Fillie.

CONTRIBUTING ARTISTS:

Ron Adrian:

Darryl Banks:

Will Conrad:

Kerone Grant:

Christopher Hart:

Adriano Melo:

Pop Mhan:

Nicola Scott:

Cover color: MADA Design, Inc.
Cover art: Darryl Banks
Interior color: Brimstone

Senior Editor: Candace Raney
Project Editor: Alisa Palazzo
Designer: Bob Fillie, Graphiti Design, Inc.
Production Manager: Ellen Greene

Published in 2004
by Watson-Guptill Publications, an Imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc, New York
www.crownpublishing.com
www.watsonguptill.com

Copyright 2004 Starfire, LLC

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Hart, Christopher.
Drawing cutting edge anatomy : the ultimate reference guide for comic book artists / Christopher Hart.
p. cm.
Includes index.
ISBN 0-8230-2398-2 (pbk.)
1. Human beingsCaricatures and cartoons. 2. Figure drawingTechnique 3. CartooningTechnique. 4. CartooningVocational guidance. I. Title.
NC1764.8.H84H37 2004
741.5dc22
2004012864

All rights reserved.

eBook ISBN:978-0-7704-3486-1
Trade Paperback ISBN: 978-0-8230-2398-1

v3.1

The trend in comics today is toward more extreme figures whose muscles are bigger and more defined than ever. While this creates powerful, exciting comic book characters, it can present a problem for the artist, who needs to become more familiar with stylized, cutting-edge anatomy.

If theres one thing above everything else that comic book artists must know, its how to draw the human figure. Therefore, many comic book artists stock up on anatomy books but are often disappointed with their purchases. Why? Because anatomy books typically illustrate the muscle groups on mannequinlike figures, standing at attention; the moment you draw a figure in an action pose, the positions of the muscles changeand the example in the anatomy book is of no use to you.

You need a book that gives detailed examples of anatomy as it appears in all the typical comic book poses you might draw. And, you need enough examples so that youll start recognizing the correct placement of the muscle groups. Thats the point at which understanding takes the place of memorization.

In addition, most anatomy books show the muscles on figures on which the skin has been removed. Thats great if all you want to do is draw cadavers. But in the real worldand the comic book worldpeople walk around with their skin on . And the skin and fat layers have the effect of masking the deeper and less-defined muscles. Why should you have to guess which muscles show through to the surface? This book lays it out for you in black and white so that you can compare the muscles without the skin to the muscles with the skin (referred to as surface anatomy ). Youll even learn how to draw the muscles as they appear through clothes and costumes.

This book is highly readablemaybe the first highly readable anatomy book. Most only use the Latin names of the muscles, making things hard to remember and even harder to understand. In this book, youll not only get the Latin names of the muscle groups, but also the regular, everyday terms for them, as well. For example, if a muscle is labeled scapula , Ill also tell you that this is the shoulder blade .

Youll also learn how to draw a variety of body types and how to adjust the posture as the body ages. And so that youll have plenty of examples on which to practice, this book has many step-by-step illustrations of original, exciting comic book characters that incorporate the muscles and anatomy youll be learning.

The book closes with two invaluable sections: The first describes the steps to take to get published in comics so that you dont have to invent the path to successits all explained to you, in detail; youll learn exactly how to capitalize on each success in order to reach the top strata in the business. The second features three amazing interviews with editors from two giants of the comics industry: Marvel Comics and Dark Horse Comics. Youll get insider viewpoints on how the comic book business works, how to approach editors, and what the most important qualities are in a comic book artist.

The skeleton is the foundation of the body. Observing it will show you why the bodys contours are where they are. To be sure, not all artists sketch out the skeleton before roughing out a pose (although some do). But all accomplished illustrators have enough basic knowledge of the skeleton to have an intuitive sense of the bodys framework. Take a look at the underlying structure of the body, and just keep this stuff in the back of your mind as you progress toward mastering anatomy.

When you take a look at Mr. and Ms. Bones , do the following: Notice how the rib cage actually widens toward the bottom before tapering back in a little. Observe how much space there is between the lowest rib and the pelvis. Note how thick the joints are at the elbows and knees. All good things to be aware of.

The male skeleton is slightly larger than the female skeleton, with thicker bones. The main difference is in the pelvis (hips). Mens hips are taller from top to bottom, but narrower from side to side than womens hips. Womens hips are widest where the femur (thighbone) meets the pelvis. Thats where a big ball-and-socket joint (the outermost point of which is the great trochanter) is located. Okay, so the bones have complicated names. Relax. This isnt biology class. You dont have to memorize a thing. No ones going to quiz you. What you want to notice is the angle of the bones and their basic shapes: Notice how the collarbone dips at the center where it meets the sternum (breastbone). Note how the femur (thighbone) angles inward as it approaches the knee area but the tibia (shinbone) travels straight down. Also note how large the shinbone is at the bottom. Thats what gives the ankle its mass.