It's been a while since I've updated this thread. I really need to figure out and curve out a time and day for just posting and keeping my profiles up to date.
Earlier this year I did some arm studies as part of my anatomy study series that I have planned for this year.

The intention of these studies are as follows:
1. an understanding of the skeletal anatomy and building the muscular anatomy on top
2. make observations about the motion of the anatomy which include the overlaps, contraction and extension and the overall shape and gesture
3. Value rendering as means of understanding both the form and also how light interacts with anatomy

In this first piece I was pushing the values just a little bit too much in the shadows. I was definitely struggling with the subtle changes of the values in the skin. The drastic difference in each value in some areas gives the anatomy a semi-realistic look. It's great with muscular people, as the contrast in values separates the forms of each muscle really well, but it doesn't work well otherwise, especially with females. I found when working with anatomy that has muscle definition, it was easier as there were more shapes to work with as opposed to female anatomy where there's not a lot definition but to make up for the lack of it, I needed to work on making my values blend correctly to represent the skin tone so that the arms don't look like simple cylinders.

[Study] Arms.jpg3885x2914 1.34 MB

I was constantly reminding myself of the observations that I made on the first set of studies when approaching these ones, as you can see I have started to pay more attention to the shadows and how much of I push in terms of value. The use of reflected light really sold the 3 dimensional aspect of the arms, especially when the reflected light is on the side of the shadow.

TB Arm Studies 1.jpg3809x2857 918 KB

There's nothing new to add to this set aside from the fact I started softening out the reflected a little bit more to add the illusion of subsurface scattering that occurs in the skin due to its translucent properties. I also started to put effort in the mid tones and blending them to properly indicate the roundness of the forms. At this point, I've started noticing patterns in the forms and the motion and which allowed me to work a faster in pace when drawing and rendering.

I've gotten better at noting the subtle value variations in the mid tones, but there's still work to done in defining the forms of the muscles. But at the same time, I really need to focus on gesture as well, as I've noticed when focusing entirely on the muscular anatomy, they end up looking just a bit too rigid.

Sorry for the late reply. I recommend drawing a box, which has similar dimensions to the bucket before you draw the bucket itself. The problem with drawing spheres or any round form, is being accurate in terms of perspective. I think that is why one ilium is seemingly taller than the other in your case. I recommend you avoid drawing the pelvis in extreme perspectives till you are confident with the overall form of the structure. Having looked at your sketches, I feel like you are rushing into the final phase just a little bit too fast. I really got to commend you on working with a pen, that's something I intentionally avoid (maybe I should get back into it). If you get the perspective right, I think you will get the part where you "squish" the bucket drawing correctly. I did not use proko's method exclusively. I also referred to Atlas of Human Anatomy by Stephen Rogers Peck and Figure Drawing by Michael Hampton to help me figure out the pelvis. One crucial thing I learned was that you really don't need to memorize the entire form, but once you get an understanding of the landmarks (especially where the bone are visible on the skin) you can get away with drawing a very simple form of the pelvis.

Its been way too long since I've posted here and there's so much that's long due to be posted that I haven't gotten around to. Instead of dumping it all in one post I'll make a couple of posts to catch up to what I've been doing more recently.

Moving on from arms (looking at my recent drawings, I need to revisit), I decided to move on to Torso studies. This is probably one that I have avoided doing simply
because of how much overlapping of muscles and the subtle changes to the surfaces caused by those overlaps can make it extremely difficult to nail good design. This is evidently the case in my first batch of studies of the Male where there is clear lack of flow in design. I struggled quite a bit with where the Serratus Anterior meets the Obliques all the while being overlapped my the Pecs above. Another point that stands out is the incorrect values used, as the male reference used (in some examples) had much darker skin than the values make it out to be.

Torso 1.jpg5366x4025 2.91 MB

For the female torso, I feel as though the struggles were more or less the same but not as exaggerated as the male torso. Painting the Serratus Anterior at times feel like I was painting the ribs or a malnourished person. I can see why female anatomy at times tend to be a bit more simplified when it comes to surface details, similarly how we forego drawing wrinkles in portraits to avoid making the person look older than they are. The values, again, could definitely be improved here.

Torso 2.jpg4967x3725 2.07 MB

I'm starting to make corrections to my values while also trying to simplify the how light interacts with the general muscle shapes. I remember having the hardest time with the Abs and Obliques as they seemed way too sharp but also when trying to soften them down, they end up losing their overall shape design.

Male Torso 2.jpg3711x2783 1.36 MB

I noticed here, I'm making a more conscious effort to simplify the shapes. Values are getting better but the highlights/lighter areas seem to be blown out a little bit more than they should be.

Considering the first batch of paintings and these, I'm really happy with the progress I've made. There's room for improvement for values, soft and hard edges. When I do these studies, I start out with the objective of finding flow in my drawing/painting process till I find myself in a position of familiarity and comfort and that's when I know I need to move on. Obviously there's improvements to be made, but I rather move on something else before I get bored and that's when I start making mistakes as I often find myself in autopilot mode and not any conscious effort to problem solving when I'm drawing/painting.

Torso Male 3.2.jpg4000x3000 1.17 MB

Torso Male 3.1.jpg4000x3000 1.08 MB

Torso Male 3.4.jpg4000x3000 1.41 MB

Torso Male 3.3.jpg4000x3000 1.21 MB

thanks!

Moving on to the back, completed back in November 2020. This is definitely something I need to come back to. Currently working on Legs, I'll probably revisit the back anatomy. The back for each individual is so different, I found it really difficult to render the forms.

1.5.jpg4000x3000 1010 KB

Back 1.4.jpg4000x3000 1.12 MB