Amiga Computing - Commodore Is Awesome

Play God and master
the art of drawing the
human figure. Steve
White gives you the
head start you need
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Once you ha ve de signe d the sha pe of your subje ct's he a d
you ca n use it e s a te mpla te tor the re st of the body
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as! month I described the principles behind
the design of a human head. To complete
this look at human anatomy, this month I
will be explaining useful hints and tips on
how to create realistic looking figures - that's the
neck down.
The principles undedined last month also work for
designing the humon form, In fact, the head is a great
starting point. The human form is approximately six
The trick to drawing realistic looking clothing is to
understand the fabric and shape of the body underneath.
This all sounds a littie highbrow but believe
me, the more of on understanding you hove of the
subject matter, the easier it will be to emulate it on
the computer.
Clothing will react to the position of the body
underneath. If an arm is raised the clothing will pull
towards that point, and in a relaxed posture the
clothing will sag. If a belt is worn it will pull and
crease the garment it is over. You can add folds in
the cloth by drawing darker shades below and
lighter shades above. Try and think of points on the
figure where clothing would crumple and fold up -
the armpit for example and the groin. If you need
more of an example, stand in front of the mirror
and note the way your clothes fall - tight clothing
will have sharper pulls and thinner folds, while
baggy clothing will hove loose and large folds with
DRESSING UP
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plenty or I f you use the split methoa -
drawing only one half of the body first and then
flipping the other side - make sure you change the
clothing so that it doesn't look like a simple flip.
If you're body is naked or partially clad then
your design work is going to be a great deal harder.
Understanding muscle and bone structure and
how they affect the look of a body is incredibly difficult
and takes a long time to master. However,
we all have to start somewhere and, therefore, I
have outlined the basic muscle form of a somewhat
cliched male form. I will be describing muscle and
bone form in a later article but for now I recommend
you visit your local library and try and find
books on anatomy. Although the subject matter can
be daunting, understanding it will make your
design tasks a great deal easier and more fun. You
will also be able to experiment with movement and
action scenes
The
anatomy
of man
Here you ca n se . the ba sw torso muscle a nd bone structure of a ra the r
cliche d ma le form. Tone down or e nha nce the se fe a ture s ACCOrdiltgiy
and a half heads in length with certain positions used
to mock body features such as the knee, elbow and
waist Therefore, the best place to start is to grab the
head circle and poste it down below the original head
six and a half times.
With frontal views, and providing the subject matter
is not moving, you realy only need to design one side
After finishing the first half you con simply cut, poste
and Rip it to the other side After pasting the circles
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down below the head it is best to trace on outline of the
main torso and legs - arms, bands and feet can be
added later on.
The shoulder ond top of the orm should meet at the
middle of the first circle in the actual body, the groin
should end at the junction between the third and fourth
circle, and the knee should, approximately, be inbetween
the filth and sixth circles. You con adjust these
positions slightly but try and keep as close as possible
to the guides.
Next you con add the arms. The elbow should come
between the second and third circle arid the hand starts
between the third and fourth circle alongside the groin
- if you want proof stand up and try it, A common
mistake with the arm is to bring the shoulder out too
for Keep the point where the shoulder meets the arm in
line with the widest paint on the thigh. If you follow this
procedure you'll find that the armpit point can be
placed accurately, using only the width of the cam as a
reference.
As for the hands, leave them until last. Hands and
feet are certainly one of the most difficult elements or
the human form to design an a computer - making
them look realistic is even harder. Don't get bogged
down in detail. Finish off the main body first and then
odd the more intricate parts at the end
With the main body structure complete you can then
begin to add clothing Of any). Although this article is
realy only concerned with the human form, it is worthwhile
mentioning clothing as it con make or break
figure. The shape of a body is fairly static, but odd
clothing and shape and form become a little more
chaotic.