hide💡July 26 marks the anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Accessibility and Inclusion is at the heart of what we do, learn with Amara.org about the role of captions in ADA compliance!

< Return to Video

Anatomy Quick Tips: Arms

  • 0:05 - 0:07
    Hey everyone, Sinix here.
  • 0:07 - 0:10
    It's time for another episode of
    Anatomy Quick Tips,
  • 0:10 - 0:14
    the series that is here to give you
    some useful observations
  • 0:14 - 0:18
    and help you feel more comfortable with
    drawing people from imagination.
  • 0:18 - 0:23
    Today, we'll be talking about arms -
    and also, don't be alarmed but
  • 0:23 - 0:27
    this all-arm video puts
    us near the end of this series,
  • 0:27 - 0:29
    only two more videos remain.
  • 0:29 - 0:34
    Regardless, for now let's just focus
    on these upper appendages.
  • 0:34 - 0:38
    This probably won't be the funniest
    video in this series or anything,
  • 0:38 - 0:40
    but it will be definitely be the
    most humerus -
  • 0:40 - 0:43
    so roll up your sleeves
    and let's get to work.
  • 0:43 - 0:48
    Starting out with structure,
    we've already covered both shoulders
  • 0:48 - 0:51
    and hands in other videos,
    so we just need to make sure we
  • 0:51 - 0:53
    can bridge these things together.
  • 0:53 - 0:59
    I'm sketching a quick front, side and
    back view of a shoulder to start.
  • 0:59 - 1:01
    Seeing a shoulder
    and torso without the arm
  • 1:01 - 1:05
    always reminds me of a little
    lamb or something, but anyway,
  • 1:05 - 1:10
    we're going to focus on the
    skeletal breakdown of the arm first.
  • 1:10 - 1:14
    Of course we have a
    single major bone in the upper arm
  • 1:14 - 1:17
    and two in the lower arm,
    connected at the elbow.
  • 1:17 - 1:21
    But as i draw that, the first thing
    I actually want to point out
  • 1:21 - 1:24
    is that things aren't
    in a perfect straight line.
  • 1:24 - 1:28
    You can even take a moment
    and try to see this yourself;
  • 1:28 - 1:32
    just hold one arm out straight
    and close your opposite eye.
  • 1:32 - 1:36
    Now do your best to
    look directly straight down
  • 1:36 - 1:39
    the barrel of that massive
    gun you call your upper arm.
  • 1:39 - 1:42
    If you line up your
    sight from shoulder to elbow,
  • 1:42 - 1:47
    you'll notice the lower arm doesn't really
    line up as much as you might've thought.
  • 1:47 - 1:51
    To get really good at
    drawing any organic forms,
  • 1:51 - 1:56
    it's important to try and identify
    these types of subtle offsets
  • 1:56 - 1:58
    as much as possible.
  • 1:58 - 2:00
    Anyway, let's get back to these bones.
  • 2:00 - 2:03
    The humerus is of course
    the bone of the upper arm,
  • 2:03 - 2:06
    meanwhile the lower arm has the ulna,
  • 2:06 - 2:09
    which I would consider
    the primary lower arm bone.
  • 2:09 - 2:11
    It's the one you would
    be hitting someone with
  • 2:11 - 2:13
    if you elbowed them.
  • 2:13 - 2:18
    And then the radius, which originates
    on the exterior side of the elbow,
  • 2:18 - 2:21
    A.K.A the side that's further
    away from your body -
  • 2:21 - 2:25
    and always connects to
    the thumb-side of your hand.
  • 2:25 - 2:28
    So we can do a bit
    of a rotational twisting
  • 2:28 - 2:29
    around the lower arm.
  • 2:29 - 2:31
    Hence the name 'radius'.
  • 2:31 - 2:33
    The last skeletal thing I want to mention
  • 2:33 - 2:35
    is the funny bone.
  • 2:35 - 2:37
    This is just an extension of the humerus
  • 2:37 - 2:40
    which protrudes on the
    inner side of the elbow,
  • 2:40 - 2:42
    closest to the body.
  • 2:42 - 2:45
    It's called the funny bone
    because of an exposed
  • 2:45 - 2:48
    nerve ending next to it
    that will send a shock up your arm
  • 2:48 - 2:51
    if you hit this part of the
    elbow against something.
  • 2:51 - 2:55
    So if you ever see a chance
    to whack your friend's funny bone
  • 2:55 - 2:58
    with your pencil or stylus, it's
    you know, free comedy.
  • 2:58 - 3:01
    Alright, I added some
    hands to these drawings,
  • 3:01 - 3:04
    and I know this isn't the hands video
  • 3:04 - 3:08
    but since wrists and organic
    offsets are so important,
  • 3:08 - 3:11
    let's do a quick look at
    that connection anyway.
  • 3:11 - 3:15
    Now keep in mind by the time
    the radius and ulna get to the wrist
  • 3:15 - 3:20
    they'll always be side by side,
    and therefore the lower arm connects in
  • 3:20 - 3:23
    a much flatter and wider way
    into the palm and back of hand,
  • 3:23 - 3:26
    and thinner from the
    side view of the hand.
  • 3:26 - 3:31
    Basic stuff, but the fun part is
    any time you're adding a hand to an arm,
  • 3:31 - 3:36
    make sure to give it a bit of
    an offset and step over toward the
  • 3:36 - 3:38
    thumb/radius side of things.
  • 3:38 - 3:42
    Similarly, from the side view
    the hand should always
  • 3:42 - 3:47
    take a noticeable offsetting
    step toward the palm side.
  • 3:47 - 3:49
    By the way when I say the word 'offset'
  • 3:49 - 3:54
    it usually just means not lined
    up evenly with surrounding things.
  • 3:54 - 3:57
    Anyway, always make sure
    the thumb side of the hand
  • 3:57 - 4:02
    feels more chunkier and substantial
    than the pinkie side of the palm.
  • 4:02 - 4:06
    With all of these ideas in mind,
    you should be able to develop a quick
  • 4:06 - 4:09
    shorthand for getting
    from the arm into the hand.
  • 4:09 - 4:14
    In fact, you should be able to
    quickly deduce everything about the bones
  • 4:14 - 4:17
    and orientation of the
    wrist without ever seeing
  • 4:17 - 4:20
    the thumbs or fingers or
    any interior information.
  • 4:20 - 4:23
    So maybe see how quickly you can determine
  • 4:23 - 4:28
    where the radius and the ulna are
    in any of these rough sketches I'm making.
  • 4:28 - 4:32
    Hopefully that seems easy enough.
  • 4:32 - 4:35
    Let's get back to structure and
    talk about the muscle side of things.
  • 4:35 - 4:39
    We're going to make it really
    easy for our drawing purposes
  • 4:39 - 4:42
    and only focus on three muscle groups.
  • 4:42 - 4:47
    The biceps are on the front of your upper
    arm and allow you to curl up your arm.
  • 4:47 - 4:52
    They insert under your shoulder
    muscles and chest muscles on one end
  • 4:52 - 4:56
    and connect to the radius and
    tissue around the ulna on the other end.
  • 4:56 - 5:02
    The triceps are on the back of your arm
    and allow you to pull your arm straight.
  • 5:02 - 5:06
    They also come out from under your
    shoulder muscles and similar back muscles
  • 5:06 - 5:09
    and connect to the end of the ulna.
  • 5:09 - 5:13
    And yes, the deltoids are
    of course the shoulder muscles,
  • 5:13 - 5:17
    but the third muscle that we're
    going to be fixating on in this video
  • 5:17 - 5:20
    is going to be the brachioradialis.
  • 5:20 - 5:24
    You must learn to
    love the brachioradialis,
  • 5:24 - 5:28
    it will be a pivotal part of
    this video in more ways than one.
  • 5:28 - 5:32
    These insertions points are
    important, so keep them in mind.
  • 5:32 - 5:36
    It connects from
    the lower back of the humerus
  • 5:36 - 5:39
    under the triceps and
    it wraps around a bit
  • 5:39 - 5:45
    over parts of the lower biceps and
    connects to the radius on the other side.
  • 5:45 - 5:50
    I will be exaggerating this
    muscle heavily throughout this video,
  • 5:50 - 5:53
    so be aware of that strategic inflation.
  • 5:53 - 5:55
    We are going all in on the bray-ray.
  • 5:55 - 5:58
    I think that's enough structure though, so
  • 5:58 - 6:01
    let's get into some drawing practice.
  • 6:01 - 6:06
    A big theme in the land of arms
    will be controlling our organic curves.
  • 6:06 - 6:10
    So I guess I will do a quick recap
    on s-curves and c-curves.
  • 6:10 - 6:12
    Don't let the names
    throw you off too much,
  • 6:12 - 6:15
    most of the s-curves and
    c-curves you'll be drawing
  • 6:15 - 6:18
    are going to be extremely subtle.
  • 6:18 - 6:21
    Just a whisper of curvature
    going on most of the time.
  • 6:21 - 6:24
    And it's good to practice
    that level of control
  • 6:24 - 6:27
    but an even more
    important thing to practise
  • 6:27 - 6:30
    is your ability to weight your curves.
  • 6:30 - 6:33
    Weighting a curve means
    changing up the harshness of the
  • 6:33 - 6:35
    curvature through the line.
  • 6:35 - 6:39
    So if the curve stays
    consistent from start to finish,
  • 6:39 - 6:41
    that would be a weightless curve.
  • 6:41 - 6:45
    You can have the curve be
    increasingly strong at the start
  • 6:45 - 6:49
    or the end of the line to
    give it weight in a specific direction.
  • 6:49 - 6:52
    This is very, very important to
    practise because we spend our
  • 6:52 - 6:59
    entire childhoods writing letters and
    shapes which curve in a very balanced way,
  • 6:59 - 7:04
    but the more you can break away from that
    the more organic your drawings will be,
  • 7:04 - 7:06
    so warm up with these often.
  • 7:06 - 7:10
    Alright, let's get into those
    simplifications and reductions.
  • 7:10 - 7:14
    Or, rather maybe mention
    another little side thing...?
  • 7:14 - 7:17
    Sorry, there's a lot of
    ways to think about arms.
  • 7:17 - 7:20
    Such as the chain,
    a common trick for approaching arms
  • 7:20 - 7:26
    is to imagine a giant linking chain;
    the idea being that since the upper arm is
  • 7:26 - 7:31
    wider from the side view than from
    a front view, and meanwhile the forearm is
  • 7:31 - 7:35
    the opposite, it will generally
    create a nice little back and forth
  • 7:35 - 7:40
    between wide and narrow, which is
    definitely good for aesthetic purposes.
  • 7:40 - 7:43
    So you can use that as a little
    mental note when applicable.
  • 7:43 - 7:47
    Meanwhile, to go back to
    what we've just talked about
  • 7:47 - 7:51
    with curve weight, the most
    important mental note I fixate on
  • 7:51 - 7:55
    is usually just where to weight the
    curve for each part of the arm.
  • 7:55 - 8:01
    On the bicep side of the upper arm, the
    curve weight is further toward the elbow.
  • 8:01 - 8:06
    Whereas on the back or tricep side of
    things, the curve weight is
  • 8:06 - 8:07
    closer to the shoulder.
  • 8:07 - 8:12
    The brachioradialis is definitely
    weighted toward the upper forearm,
  • 8:12 - 8:16
    but is more rounded and gradual than
    the opposite side of the forearm.
  • 8:16 - 8:21
    All of these things relate to the
    actual muscle bodies of each muscle group,
  • 8:21 - 8:24
    the tricep being the most
    important one to always remember,
  • 8:24 - 8:29
    because the muscle bodies are
    located in the top half of the upper arm.
  • 8:29 - 8:32
    Okay so let's sum up the
    straight arm simplifications
  • 8:32 - 8:34
    a bit more directly.
  • 8:34 - 8:37
    Back view of the arm, pop
    forward, minimal twisting.
  • 8:37 - 8:41
    The upper arm might as well
    just be a simple cylinder
  • 8:41 - 8:42
    with minimal tapering.
  • 8:42 - 8:47
    But the lower arm is going to feel
    closer to an upside down bowling pin.
  • 8:47 - 8:52
    The important part is that the
    exterior side, with the brachioradialis
  • 8:52 - 8:56
    is going to not only curve
    outward more than the interior side,
  • 8:56 - 8:58
    but also come up a bit higher than it.
  • 8:58 - 9:04
    It should definitely feel like
    it starts its s-curve above the elbow.
  • 9:04 - 9:09
    If we raise the arm up out to the side,
    yes you'll get a bit of the chain concept,
  • 9:09 - 9:13
    but since you'll probably
    not be drawing massive bodybuilders,
  • 9:13 - 9:16
    it can become pretty minor.
  • 9:16 - 9:20
    You do want to make sure that you're
    thinking about weight and gravity though.
  • 9:20 - 9:25
    Obviously this gets a lot more
    extreme with age, but on any body type
  • 9:25 - 9:29
    you should still be using these
    ideas to give you at least a little
  • 9:29 - 9:31
    bit of subtle curve weight.
  • 9:31 - 9:35
    Another useful reference point to think
    about comes from the shoulder muscle.
  • 9:35 - 9:41
    The deltoid comes down to a bit
    of a point on the exterior of the arm.
  • 9:41 - 9:46
    While not exact, this can still be used
    as a good way to indicate a break
  • 9:46 - 9:51
    between the front bicep side of the arm,
    and the rare tricep side.
  • 9:51 - 9:56
    Especially when you're dealing with
    more complex poses and off angle views.
  • 9:56 - 10:01
    If I draw a quick arm over here
    on the left from a slightly awkward angle,
  • 10:01 - 10:06
    adding the deltoid and letting it point
    a line towards the elbow can at least
  • 10:06 - 10:11
    help us visualise the
    tricep and bicep sides of the arm.
  • 10:11 - 10:15
    If this drawing looks weirdly
    off to you at first, that's good!
  • 10:15 - 10:19
    The brachioradialis was not
    coming from the correct spot.
  • 10:19 - 10:23
    Let's first recall that the
    brachioradialis should come from
  • 10:23 - 10:28
    under the triceps and over the biceps,
    and using that line from the deltoid
  • 10:28 - 10:32
    we can visualise this
    insertion much more clearly.
  • 10:32 - 10:35
    Moving along, some of
    these straight armed elbows
  • 10:35 - 10:39
    might be looking a bit wonky,
    so let's briefly mention them.
  • 10:39 - 10:44
    The most important part of
    simplifying the elbow will definitely come
  • 10:44 - 10:49
    from seeing the triceps and
    humerus, all come together in a mass
  • 10:49 - 10:52
    that leads straight down
    through the elbow and into the ulna.
  • 10:52 - 10:57
    The funny bone and radius both
    become a bit indented on a straight arm,
  • 10:57 - 11:02
    so you'll mostly see these little
    pockets of depth off to both sides of the
  • 11:02 - 11:07
    triceps and ulna, with the
    forearm muscles pulling the forms back out
  • 11:07 - 11:09
    and really solidifying those crevices.
  • 11:09 - 11:13
    There's definitely a lot
    of skin going on in this area,
  • 11:13 - 11:16
    so it tends to become quite wrinkly.
  • 11:16 - 11:18
    There's even
    a slang name for this
  • 11:18 - 11:21
    folded up skin - it's called the wenis.
  • 11:21 - 11:24
    So, everybody should draw the wenis,
    the wenis is not a dance,
  • 11:24 - 11:27
    and I'm happy to tell you this in advance.
  • 11:27 - 11:32
    [laughs] Anyway, wrinkles are tricky. The
    general rule is to fold the skin with
  • 11:32 - 11:36
    c-curves and s-curves in a way
    that squishes the curves together
  • 11:36 - 11:40
    without ever feeling like they're
    going to cross each other, or pass through
  • 11:40 - 11:43
    the extended implied
    lines of other curves.
  • 11:43 - 11:46
    You can compress a bunch
    of them into a small space,
  • 11:46 - 11:51
    or just a couple, but I recommend
    wrinkling things up a bit above the elbow
  • 11:51 - 11:55
    with perhaps some more
    drapery style folds hanging underneath.
  • 11:55 - 11:59
    You can definitely develop your
    own stylistic approach to wrinkles,
  • 11:59 - 12:03
    and they should feel
    similar in theory to clothing folds,
  • 12:03 - 12:05
    but more organic with the lines.
  • 12:05 - 12:08
    Just keep in mind,
    like with clothing folds,
  • 12:08 - 12:11
    doing less is usually
    better when learning.
  • 12:11 - 12:14
    Alright, a little bit
    more drawing in this section,
  • 12:14 - 12:19
    because I want to also just quickly
    mention some size relations.
  • 12:19 - 12:23
    I'm a serial offender of
    making my deltoids too small in drawings,
  • 12:23 - 12:28
    so I'm trying to correct that. I think it
    can be useful to think of the upper
  • 12:28 - 12:32
    arms as a length that goes from the top
    of the shoulder to the elbow.
  • 12:32 - 12:36
    The top third of that length
    can be the distance of the
  • 12:36 - 12:37
    deltoid going down the arm.
  • 12:37 - 12:40
    I barely mentioned it
    before, but the triceps
  • 12:40 - 12:45
    really have two main visible muscle
    bodies on the back of the arm.
  • 12:45 - 12:48
    While they both have
    those high up muscle bodies,
  • 12:48 - 12:52
    the interior side one is a bit
    longer down toward the elbow,
  • 12:52 - 12:56
    while the exterior one is even more
    focused at the top.
  • 12:56 - 13:00
    The bottom of these muscle bodies
    and strong separation of them
  • 13:00 - 13:04
    occurs roughly halfway
    down the upper arm unit,
  • 13:04 - 13:07
    that we mentioned going
    from top of shoulder to elbow.
  • 13:07 - 13:12
    You can kind of indicate this with a
    little butt shape on the back of the arm,
  • 13:12 - 13:15
    especially if it's being flexed.
    The arm... not the butt.
  • 13:15 - 13:19
    Okay, moving along
    to the world of movement,
  • 13:19 - 13:25
    the elbow is basically just a fancy hinge
    joint with the funny bone on the interior,
  • 13:25 - 13:30
    the ulna being the king in the center,
    and the radius on the exterior.
  • 13:30 - 13:35
    When the arm is straight, they somewhat
    line up with the ulna sticking out a bit.
  • 13:35 - 13:39
    From the interior view though,
    once we start curling the arm,
  • 13:39 - 13:42
    obviously the funny bone
    isn't going anywhere.
  • 13:42 - 13:47
    But the ulna is going to hinge around it
    and form a very boxy and angular
  • 13:47 - 13:52
    silhouette, by letting your brain fixate
    on the line from funny bone to ulna.
  • 13:52 - 13:57
    All of the tissue of the arm is going to
    crease at the insertion of the bicep and
  • 13:57 - 14:02
    form a bit of a line that points mostly
    toward the funny bone side of things.
  • 14:02 - 14:08
    The important take away is that interior
    arm equals boxy shape and long crease.
  • 14:08 - 14:11
    Also, when you raise your arm
    with your bicep toward the sky,
  • 14:11 - 14:15
    that means the deltoid is going to be
    pulled to the back of the shoulder.
  • 14:15 - 14:20
    As it, once again, needs to be pointing
    towards the exterior line between
  • 14:20 - 14:21
    bicep and tricep.
  • 14:21 - 14:25
    Anyway, the exterior elbow
    view is a bit interesting.
  • 14:25 - 14:28
    You'll of course be seeing the
    deltoid a lot more in this view
  • 14:28 - 14:30
    where the exterior is facing back,
  • 14:30 - 14:33
    but the interesting part
    is that you're now seeing
  • 14:33 - 14:37
    both the radius and ulna
    in the straightened arm view.
  • 14:37 - 14:40
    This means that when you
    curl your arm, those two lower
  • 14:40 - 14:43
    arm bones are going
    to be traveling together.
  • 14:43 - 14:46
    Even though the silhouette
    will fundamentally be the same,
  • 14:46 - 14:51
    I find it very useful to acknowledge
    this anatomy by making the elbow
  • 14:51 - 14:54
    feel like it just rounds up
    to and around these bones,
  • 14:54 - 14:56
    instead of feeling boxy.
  • 14:56 - 15:01
    You might also remember that the
    brachioradialis is on the exterior side,
  • 15:01 - 15:05
    so that will create a mass in form
    that will squeeze from upper arm
  • 15:05 - 15:06
    to lower arm.
  • 15:06 - 15:10
    Because of this mass, the exterior
    crease here becomes a lot more
  • 15:10 - 15:11
    chubbier and compressed.
  • 15:11 - 15:15
    I like to use a shorter and
    splitting crease to hint at this
  • 15:15 - 15:16
    thicker form.
  • 15:16 - 15:19
    And you should try to hint
    at these things in any body type.
  • 15:19 - 15:23
    From a different view, you can
    get some idea how all of these bones
  • 15:23 - 15:27
    and muscles are working,
    but for now let's jump over to the
  • 15:27 - 15:31
    forearm movements, because
    we have rotation to deal with.
  • 15:31 - 15:35
    If you stick your right arm out
    in front of you, palm side up,
  • 15:35 - 15:38
    this is the least twisted
    view of your forearm.
  • 15:38 - 15:42
    The muscles and bones just carry
    forth to the hand in a linear fashion.
  • 15:42 - 15:46
    This represents one extreme
    of your rotational movement.
  • 15:46 - 15:50
    As we rotate the hand,
    the elbow won't be changing much,
  • 15:50 - 15:54
    but the radius and brachioradialis
    will start twisting a bit
  • 15:54 - 15:56
    to line up vertically at the wrist.
  • 15:56 - 15:59
    The best thing you should
    observe on your own arm
  • 15:59 - 16:03
    is how the s-curves adjust
    as you rotate your hand.
  • 16:03 - 16:06
    I'm not in love with
    the drawing on the right here,
  • 16:06 - 16:10
    but the interior ulna side of
    things definitely changes up its
  • 16:10 - 16:15
    s-curve the most, whereas the
    exterior side just shifts weight a little.
  • 16:15 - 16:19
    Once your palm is facing downwards,
    the full range of motion is complete.
  • 16:19 - 16:21
    This is as far as things can twist.
  • 16:21 - 16:25
    The radius and ulna are now
    on opposite sides from the elbow.
  • 16:25 - 16:28
    You might be thinking,
    "what if I want to give a thumbs down?'"
  • 16:28 - 16:33
    Well, physically you can't. So be sure
    to remember that and like this video.
  • 16:33 - 16:36
    If you do really want
    to point your thumb down,
  • 16:36 - 16:40
    it requires you to actually
    rotate your entire arm so that your
  • 16:40 - 16:42
    elbow is facing a different direction.
  • 16:42 - 16:46
    Lastly, here I'll just mention, when
    your arms are at rest at your sides,
  • 16:46 - 16:51
    the default comfortable state
    is that central, half-twisted state,
  • 16:51 - 16:54
    not the completely untwisted state.
  • 16:54 - 16:58
    Alright, let's go back to reducing
    information and recap what we've learned.
  • 16:58 - 17:02
    Of course, it's pretty fun
    to draw giant musclebound arms,
  • 17:02 - 17:05
    especially when you're trying to
    commit all these concepts to memory,
  • 17:05 - 17:09
    but we also want to be
    able to simplify these things down
  • 17:09 - 17:11
    into little anime stick arms.
  • 17:11 - 17:15
    When you start out in art, it's fine
    to just think of the upper and lower arms
  • 17:15 - 17:19
    as just cylinders, and as
    you get more comfortable,
  • 17:19 - 17:22
    you can introduce some
    tapering into these forms.
  • 17:22 - 17:25
    Eventually you will want to
    be capable of some level
  • 17:25 - 17:29
    of form complexity. These cross
    sections are never just round.
  • 17:29 - 17:33
    They have weird oblong
    shapes and blobby looking contours.
  • 17:33 - 17:37
    I like to practice these things with what
    I would call "skinny muscle forms".
  • 17:37 - 17:41
    Maybe it's just my Samurai
    Champloo roots coming through again.
  • 17:41 - 17:44
    A quick example though,
    starting with a deltoid and shoulder,
  • 17:44 - 17:49
    letting it point toward an elbow, think
    I'll twist the bicep to the bottom on
  • 17:49 - 17:54
    this one, bicep means curve weight
    closer to elbows, so we can even dive in
  • 17:54 - 17:56
    with some angular shapes.
  • 17:56 - 17:59
    With the bicep facing forward,
    that means the deltoid
  • 17:59 - 18:03
    can be a bit further on
    top instead of on the back,
  • 18:03 - 18:07
    and we can even hint at some
    tricep form above the separating line.
  • 18:07 - 18:11
    That line will let us know
    where to pull the brachioradialis from,
  • 18:11 - 18:16
    and then we can decide on the
    hand rotation and make everything line up.
  • 18:16 - 18:20
    Design wise, it's good to play
    around with the ratios of rounded
  • 18:20 - 18:22
    shapes and angular shapes.
  • 18:22 - 18:25
    We alluded earlier to the
    exterior side feeling more rounded
  • 18:25 - 18:29
    and the interior feeling more angular,
    when discussing the elbow hinge,
  • 18:29 - 18:31
    so let's just run with that a bit more.
  • 18:31 - 18:35
    What if we just always
    simplified things around the elbow
  • 18:35 - 18:40
    by playing up rounded exteriors
    and angular interiors in the forearm?
  • 18:40 - 18:45
    I just noticed that that letter pointing
    towards the tricep is a D instead of a T.
  • 18:45 - 18:47
    Clearly getting a bit
    delirious at this point.
  • 18:47 - 18:49
    Regardless, let's keep sketching.
  • 18:49 - 18:54
    Here's a quick side view, still mostly
    practicing curve weights and that
  • 18:54 - 18:59
    brachioradialis. Some slightly
    more exciting things we could try
  • 18:59 - 19:02
    would be playing around
    with perspective and dynamic angles.
  • 19:02 - 19:06
    If we imagine a Spiderman
    type arm pose, we could still
  • 19:06 - 19:10
    think about where we could
    exaggerate our forearm muscles.
  • 19:10 - 19:12
    I'll be honest though,
    I sort of got distracted
  • 19:12 - 19:17
    right after starting this one, because I
    thought of some more stuff to mention.
  • 19:17 - 19:20
    Such as, what does it look like
    if you just have your elbow
  • 19:20 - 19:24
    sticking up in the air with
    your arm curled behind it?
  • 19:24 - 19:27
    A lot of tricep weight at
    the bottom, but it really thins out
  • 19:27 - 19:30
    into a very skeletal look at the elbow.
  • 19:30 - 19:34
    It does give a nice look at
    the radius, ulna and funny bone.
  • 19:34 - 19:37
    This becomes instantly
    obscured by the forearm once you
  • 19:37 - 19:40
    straighten the arm out a bit,
    with those forearm muscles just
  • 19:40 - 19:43
    taking both sides of the elbow.
  • 19:43 - 19:45
    But, this made me
    think of another scenario,
  • 19:45 - 19:50
    how about when you're resting your
    weight on your elbow at a desk or table?
  • 19:50 - 19:52
    Where do those forearm muscles go then?
  • 19:52 - 19:56
    Well, since the brachioradialis
    connects to the humerus,
  • 19:56 - 20:01
    it actually sits up higher, away from
    the elbow on the exterior side of things.
  • 20:01 - 20:03
    I guess that's obvious enough,
  • 20:03 - 20:06
    kind of like how it would look
    if you were drinking something.
  • 20:06 - 20:10
    Just always be keeping track of where
    the thumb is, and where the exterior
  • 20:10 - 20:13
    and interior of the elbow are,
    and you'll be fine.
  • 20:13 - 20:17
    Now, we always have a common mistakes
    part in these videos.
  • 20:17 - 20:22
    But, I think I've gone over things so much
    that we can try a pop quiz instead.
  • 20:22 - 20:26
    I'll show a quick drawing with some
    weird mistake, and we'll see if
  • 20:26 - 20:28
    you can deduce the problem.
  • 20:28 - 20:31
    Like this. What's wrong with this?
  • 20:31 - 20:37
    Well, you have two possible answers on
    this one, since we can't see the shoulder.
  • 20:37 - 20:42
    We seem to be looking at the front of an
    arm, so either the brachioradialis
  • 20:42 - 20:46
    is on the wrong side, or the hand
    should be mirrored.
  • 20:46 - 20:49
    How about this one?
    Anything seem off to you?
  • 20:49 - 20:52
    Well, I'm messing with you a bit,
    because it's the same thing,
  • 20:52 - 20:57
    except this time you can see the deltoid,
    so there's only one answer.
  • 20:57 - 21:01
    The brachioradialis is
    on the wrong side again.
  • 21:01 - 21:04
    It should be on the
    exterior, not interior.
  • 21:04 - 21:07
    Alright, I promise this
    one will be different.
  • 21:07 - 21:09
    What's wrong this time?
  • 21:09 - 21:15
    Doesn't seem too far off, the deltoid
    and forearm stuff seem okayish,
  • 21:15 - 21:18
    this might be a subtle one, but I
    reversed the weight on the
  • 21:18 - 21:20
    bicep and tricep curves.
  • 21:20 - 21:25
    Remember the tricep should have mass
    closer to the shoulder, and the bicep
  • 21:25 - 21:27
    curves closer to the elbow.
  • 21:27 - 21:28
    That's a bit better.
  • 21:28 - 21:30
    One last one.
  • 21:30 - 21:32
    What's wrong now?
  • 21:32 - 21:36
    Hmm, the brachioradialis is on the
    exterior, so that's fine.
  • 21:36 - 21:39
    But it still looks a little strange.
  • 21:39 - 21:43
    Well, that's because it needs
    to go over the bicep, not under it.
  • 21:43 - 21:47
    And with that, I think
    we're done learning.
  • 21:47 - 21:50
    You have graduated to the part of the
    video where we just take everything
  • 21:50 - 21:54
    we learned and try to draw and paint
    arms from imagination.
  • 21:54 - 21:57
    Hopefully they wind up looking alright.
  • 21:57 - 22:02
    I will be using a simple flat brush for
    these lines, with pressure sensitivity
  • 22:02 - 22:05
    mostly on size, but with a bit on opacity.
  • 22:05 - 22:08
    That should make it feel
    pretty comfy and natural.
  • 22:08 - 22:11
    One big concern I had
    going into this final section,
  • 22:11 - 22:15
    is trying to make sure
    it stays focused on arms.
  • 22:15 - 22:18
    Shoulders are a bit unavoidable,
    but I tried experimenting
  • 22:18 - 22:20
    with ways to make
    the hands get less attention.
  • 22:20 - 22:23
    Literal disjointed fingers and whatnot.
  • 22:23 - 22:27
    Unfortunately, that
    actually made them stand out more,
  • 22:27 - 22:29
    in rules of focus
    and contrast and whatnot,
  • 22:29 - 22:32
    so eventually I'll get rid of that idea.
  • 22:32 - 22:35
    What actually wound
    up being the biggest issue
  • 22:35 - 22:38
    is just trying to come
    up with a good variety of poses.
  • 22:38 - 22:42
    Once again, I considered crazy
    foreshortening, but then the page might
  • 22:42 - 22:46
    feel less cohesive with the
    more traditional perspectives.
  • 22:46 - 22:50
    I don't know. But I'm definitely
    enjoying the line art quality.
  • 22:50 - 22:52
    There are a couple of
    disjointed lines here and there,
  • 22:52 - 22:56
    but I tried to hit a good number of
    the c-curves and s-curves
  • 22:56 - 22:58
    in single strokes.
  • 22:58 - 23:01
    That can result in a lot of putting
    something down and then undoing it,
  • 23:01 - 23:04
    redoing it, until I figure out what
    I want it to look like,
  • 23:04 - 23:07
    but I'm mostly okay with that method.
  • 23:07 - 23:11
    I can't be too chaotic with styles, but
    I did try to at least vary up
  • 23:11 - 23:14
    the muscularity
    levels a bit as it goes on.
  • 23:14 - 23:18
    My brain was pretty drained
    from all the previous arm drawings,
  • 23:18 - 23:21
    so there are definitely a couple of
    moments where I've made up an arm
  • 23:21 - 23:25
    and then moments later realised it was
    almost identical to one that was
  • 23:25 - 23:27
    already on the page, like this last one.
  • 23:27 - 23:31
    But I just decided to adjust the
    angle of it a bit and move on.
  • 23:31 - 23:35
    For colors, I don't know how
    much I can really say that would be new,
  • 23:35 - 23:40
    the skin video as well as the other videos
    have really covered the general stuff.
  • 23:40 - 23:44
    But you can see I've lightened the
    line art into a lighter reddish tone,
  • 23:44 - 23:47
    and then threw in my normal dull
    minty background.
  • 23:47 - 23:51
    I like to mask out everything in order
    to watch transparency, which can
  • 23:51 - 23:54
    be a bit tedious, but usually worth
    it in the long run.
  • 23:54 - 23:58
    A big piece of advice is to make sure
    you don't instinctually start
  • 23:58 - 24:01
    pressing hard with
    your stylus when blocking.
  • 24:01 - 24:04
    This is always the most dangerous time for
    your hand and wrist health,
  • 24:04 - 24:08
    because we tend to dig in harder when
    filling things in.
  • 24:08 - 24:09
    Pressure is bad for your tendons.
  • 24:09 - 24:13
    Anyway, once everything is blocked in,
    we can try out a variety
  • 24:13 - 24:16
    of skin tones across the page.
  • 24:16 - 24:20
    This is also a great time to introduce
    some hue variety by air brushing
  • 24:20 - 24:24
    in reds on areas that might catch more
    sun damage, and things like that.
  • 24:24 - 24:28
    The next step is form rendering, and I
    know some people like a more
  • 24:28 - 24:32
    smooth gradiation and some people like a
    more chunkier chaotic painting approach.
  • 24:32 - 24:37
    But, I'm going to try out some
    weirder ideas, and just try defining forms
  • 24:37 - 24:40
    with blocky, contour tracing strokes.
  • 24:40 - 24:44
    Honestly it's a bit weird at times for
    these videos, because I don't find myself
  • 24:44 - 24:46
    with a strong preference.
  • 24:46 - 24:50
    In my mind, as long as you have some
    understanding of the forms
  • 24:50 - 24:53
    you can always either step up how
    abstract and chunky things are,
  • 24:53 - 24:56
    or step it back into
    hypersoft air brushing.
  • 24:56 - 25:01
    In any case, the important part is
    just knowing where the hard edges
  • 25:01 - 25:02
    and soft edges should be.
  • 25:02 - 25:06
    Now, how do you know which
    edges are hard and which are soft?
  • 25:06 - 25:11
    Well, it's simple. If you would be okay
    with seeing an actual line at a specific
  • 25:11 - 25:15
    spot in your drawing, then that can be
    a hard edge in your painting.
  • 25:15 - 25:20
    If you think a line would look bad in your
    drawing, then stick to soft edges there.
  • 25:20 - 25:23
    I already made pretty much all of the
    lines I wanted to make
  • 25:23 - 25:26
    in the drawing stage, so those will
    be the only hard edges.
  • 25:26 - 25:31
    Anyway, I started out pretty experimental,
    with some of the painting stuff early on,
  • 25:31 - 25:36
    but I wasn't that into it this time, so
    I'm slowly going to be dialling that back
  • 25:36 - 25:40
    as we go. Almost all of these arms
    are going to be out of direct light,
  • 25:40 - 25:44
    you know, just ambient light for the
    most part, aside from the one on the right
  • 25:44 - 25:46
    that is reaching toward us.
  • 25:46 - 25:50
    Doing this somewhat makes the whole image
    a bit darker and more saturated than
  • 25:50 - 25:55
    I wanted, so I'll be desaturating and
    lightening it a bit as we go.
  • 25:55 - 25:58
    Other than that,
    I definitely kept the line art in play
  • 25:58 - 26:00
    for a lot longer than I normally do.
  • 26:00 - 26:04
    It's not until most of the form
    rendering is complete that I actually
  • 26:04 - 26:07
    flatten things down and
    start painting out the lines.
  • 26:07 - 26:11
    This is also when I start playing with
    slightly more interesting shapes
  • 26:11 - 26:12
    in some of them.
  • 26:12 - 26:15
    The rim light is going
    to be pretty subtle today,
  • 26:15 - 26:20
    I definitely made it more limelight than
    I usually recommend to people,
  • 26:20 - 26:23
    but still trying to at least taper
    those lines and find some
  • 26:23 - 26:25
    chunkier shapes with it.
  • 26:25 - 26:29
    To bring back some of the other fun stuff
    from the skin rendering video,
  • 26:29 - 26:33
    I decided to put in some
    body hair on the top left arm.
  • 26:33 - 26:37
    Just a bit of fun with desaturating colors
    and pattern-based brushwork.
  • 26:37 - 26:41
    This was also when I decided to at least
    connect the fingers that I had there,
  • 26:41 - 26:45
    but we're almost done, so the last
    thing I want to have fun with is bringing
  • 26:45 - 26:48
    some of that body hair into the rim light.
  • 26:48 - 26:51
    It makes the rim light a lot more fun.
  • 26:51 - 26:54
    Definitely recommend
    trying it when you can!
  • 26:54 - 26:59
    And, with that, this monster
    of a video is finally complete.
  • 26:59 - 27:03
    It has been a journey, and while the
    drawings and paintings might
  • 27:03 - 27:07
    not be perfect, hopefully you
    at least feel a bit more confident
  • 27:07 - 27:11
    about being able to draw
    some fun arms from imagination.
  • 27:11 - 27:15
    As always, the best way
    to fully learn is to mix in equal parts
  • 27:15 - 27:21
    of drawing from human reference, doing
    master copies of other artists you like,
  • 27:21 - 27:23
    and drawing from imagination.
  • 27:23 - 27:28
    No matter how good or bad you might
    feel about one of these three parts,
  • 27:28 - 27:31
    do them all evenly regardless.
  • 27:31 - 27:35
    We only focused on
    three main muscles in this video,
  • 27:35 - 27:38
    so if you find yourself
    wanting to build up more complexity,
  • 27:38 - 27:42
    just go check out one of the other
    amazing art YouTube channels that dives
  • 27:42 - 27:44
    a bit deeper.
  • 27:44 - 27:49
    Alright, I want to thank you all so much
    for at least giving this video a chance,
  • 27:49 - 27:53
    I'm not a frequent uploader,
    so be sure to subscribe if you don't want
  • 27:53 - 27:56
    to miss out on the handful
    of videos I put out each year.
  • 27:56 - 28:01
    Of course, if you want some fun,
    specialised content the brainstorm classes
  • 28:01 - 28:05
    have been going really well and
    its definitely worth your time and money
  • 28:05 - 28:09
    if you haven't tried them out yet.
    Info is down in the description.
  • 28:09 - 28:12
    I also, of course, do want
    to give an earnest thank you
  • 28:12 - 28:16
    to the Patreon supporters that chip in
    money to keep these videos coming.
  • 28:16 - 28:18
    You guys are wondeful.
  • 28:18 - 28:19
    See you, everyone.
Title:
Anatomy Quick Tips: Arms
Description:

more » « less
Video Language:
English
Team:
Captions Requested
Duration:
28:19
cmwhite published English subtitles for Anatomy Quick Tips: Arms Mar 20, 2025, 6:40 PM
cmwhite edited English subtitles for Anatomy Quick Tips: Arms Mar 20, 2025, 6:40 PM
mawi lingo edited English subtitles for Anatomy Quick Tips: Arms Mar 12, 2025, 11:00 PM
mawi lingo edited English subtitles for Anatomy Quick Tips: Arms Mar 10, 2025, 10:46 PM
mawi lingo edited English subtitles for Anatomy Quick Tips: Arms Mar 7, 2025, 11:00 PM
mawi lingo edited English subtitles for Anatomy Quick Tips: Arms Mar 7, 2025, 10:32 PM
RyanHughes edited English subtitles for Anatomy Quick Tips: Arms Feb 28, 2025, 12:42 AM
mawi lingo edited English subtitles for Anatomy Quick Tips: Arms Feb 19, 2025, 10:12 PM
Show all

English subtitles

Revisions Compare revisions