Anatomy of the Torso {a workshop taught by Robert Liberace}

Hello,

This weekend I attended a workshop at the Art League taught by Robert Liberace. The focus was on the anatomy of the torso, and we covered a lot of ground over the three days. Looking at all the major muscles that make up the torso and their points of origin and insertion.

The workshop was organized with both lecture periods and time to draw. Each day we would focus on specific muscles and the pose we drew would include these muscles.

Here are the drawings Rob drew as demonstrations, totally amazing...

.first drawing of the workshop, where he was emphasizing the basic forms and structure of the torso. Drawn on newsprint with charcoal.


.a breakdown of the significant bony points to be on the look out when drawing the human figure. Drawn on newsprint with charcoal.


.drawing from the second day focusing on the external obliques, the muscles of the scapula, specifically the infraspinatus and teres major. Drawn on newsprint with charcoal and conte crayon.


.With this drawing Rob began by focusing on the chest and abdomen muscles first and then laid in the rib cage and clavicle on top of the drawing.


.Drawn on canson paper with charcoal pencils and white pastel pencil for highlights.


.On the last day we focused on the big back muscles and how they interact with the shoulder muscles. This is the first of three demonstration drawings (though I only got photos of the first two...)



Here are some of my drawings from the workshop {more are posted on flickr}.


.first drawing of the workshop, a quick analysis of the chest and abdomen with the clavicle and sternum drawn in and the massing for the rib cage outlined. The point where the ninth rib meets the rectus abdominis muscle is an important point when drawing this view of the torso as it helps reinforce the direction of the rib cage. Drawn on white drawing paper and charcoal.


.Another drawing of the front torso, this time leaving out the bone outlines. Drawn on white drawing paper and charcoal.


.This is the last drawing completed during the workshop. Drawn on white drawing paper and charcoal.

Working for three days straight was really a wonderful opportunity to learn and apply Rob's recommendations from previous times he had come around critiquing everyone's drawing.