[Mimi]

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[Reason]

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#83064

[Tonus]

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Yeah, you put it exactly right, Mimi. It is only intended as a point to start from, albeit a bit closer to the finish for us than most conventional proportion guides.

I like it for just that reason, it's rare to see anything but the Marvel/Image-style "guide to drawing women" which focus on soft edges and the basic hourglass curve that shows almost no muscle.  The first thing any artist should do is take your guide, deconstruct it in their minds, and substitute their ideas wherever they feel they belong.

That's the whole idea of being an artist, after all. 🙂

[Archangel_Dreadnought]

You know, I have been thinking of doing something like this for quite a while, never got around to doing it though.

[Mimi]

[font=tahoma]This is the only one I found from a few years back.  I’d specifically like to find some that centers on the FBB… I’d love to finish my drawings for my stories someday. 

Many thanks,[/color][/font]

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[Tonus]

[font=tahoma]Hmmm…

Perhaps.  I wonder where some good sites are for the beginner?  Any ideas?[/font]

I would just do a Google search on the term "drawing the human figure" and visit the sites that show up.  One nice thing about this approach is that many sites will have links to other sites, and you can possibly get recommendations on tutorials.  There should even be some links to videos on places like Youtube, which can provide some help even when the video quality is poor.

The key is to look for sites that show the basics about building the human figure.  In particular, look for information on such simple yet crucial ideas such as using action lines, building figures from basic geometric shapes, determining the proper proportions, and perspective/foreshortening.  The best places to start are any pages that are geared towards the comic artist, because they will push you in the direction of drawing muscular male physiques and "feminine" female physiques.  Once you're comfortable drawing large muscular men and thin curvy women, it's not that hard to start drawing large muscular curvy women.  At that point, photo references are your best friend.

If you're already beyond the "basics" stage and can already draw the human form well enough, then it's just time to experiment.  Take that "normal" female physique and start adding bulk to it, until you start to find the shapes that work best for you, then you can work on tweaking the shapes more and more.

I drew your standard 'comic babe' for years (although, since I used fitness magazines for my references, my women were a bit more athletic than the norm), and over time built them up while I learned what worked and what didn't.  Today I consider myself still experimenting and trying to find what works and what doesn't.  I'm still pretty far from being satisfied with where I am, but every now and then I produce a drawing that makes me think that one day I'll be able to produce good work consistently.  It's a process, and if you enjoy drawing, it can be fun even when you know you are far from being as good as you'd like to be.

[Reason]

[font=tahoma]This is the only one I found from a few years back.  I’d specifically like to find some that centers on the FBB… I’d love to finish my drawings for my stories someday.[/color][/font]

[size=14pt][font=georgia][color=navy”>~Mimi[/font][/size]

Hehe, if you liked that reference, you'll love this one…http://vito-excalibur.livejournal.com/114588.html

OK, it would have been a bit better if he had taken more time with the drawings, and without the sultry men section, although that it is extremely funny.

If you really want FBB related how-to-draw material, you should check out Glenn Fabry's books:
Anatomy for Fantasy Artists: An Illustrator's Guide to Creating Action Figures and Fantastical Forms – There's a few pages on a character with a female bodybuilder type physique.
Muscles in Motion – Figure Drawing for the Comic Book Artist – The title is misleading in that it is not a how-to-draw book, but more of an artist's sketch book. It features lots of sketches of fitness models and female bodybuilders though.

There's the odd muscular woman sketch in other how-to-draw comics books I've read, but they are mostly used as examples of "what not to do". Grrr!

Other than that, I suggest following Tonus's excellent advice and just starting with the basics and building up gradually.

Here are some links that I've found really useful.
Figure drawing: Basic Pose and Construction – The FARP tutorials range in quality, but this one is awesome.
Musculature Anatomy Chart – It's male, I'm afraid, but luckily men and women have exactly the same muscles, no matter what some people might say.  😛

I can also recommend a really easy and fun way to learn the simplified figure mannequin and muscle anatomy chart. Start with a picture of a female bodybuilder with proportions you really like and with an interesting pose, then trace the mannequin over the top of it. If you don't have a tablet, you could do this by printing it out and using a pencil. Then you can copy the mannequin drawing to a new sheet and draw the muscles from the bodybuilder in the photo on top, using the anatomy chart as a reference. If you do this enough times, you will find it easier to draw the mannequin and muscles for any pose you can imagine, without needing the references. I've started doing this in the last few months and have already noticed a huge improvement in my drawing skill and visual memory.

[Mimi]

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[Reason]

Cool, glad you liked it Mimi. Another option is use a program like Poser, or it's free cousin DazStudio, so you can easily play with proportions, pose, expression, camera angle and lighting, etc, and then do your watercolor painting over the top. Don't forget that you can post any of your efforts here to get lots of constructive feedback. In case you didn't work it out, I really want to see the artwork finished for "The Conquest of Mawiyah" too.

[Mimi]

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[Author]

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