Drawing a Skeleton Inside a Figure

A great exercise for learning anatomy as an artist is drawing a skeleton inside a figure drawing. By drawing the skeleton as you draw the human figure, you are able to see the connections between the figure and the various bony landmarks, providing a fundamental understanding of how the skeletal structure in a figure functions. Demo led by Art Prof Clara Lieu.

see the finished drawing

Video Walkthrough

  • This exercise requires you to draw the entire figure, don’t leave out any body parts!
  • The purpose of this exercise is to make connections between various anatomical landmarks, so don’t worry about making a drawing that looks good!
  • This is a drawing experience that is all about learning and seeing, how the drawing comes out doesn’t matter at all.
  • Using 2 different colored drawing materials, 1 for the figure, and 1 for the skeleton helps to see them more distinctly as you draw.
  • Start with a quick gesture of the figure, and jump right into the skeleton, even if you don’t feel super established with your figure drawing.
  • Having an anatomy book is helpful as you will be referencing several diagrams at the same time.
  • Prof Lieu recommends Artistic Anatomy.
  • This exercise isn’t about being precise in your drawing. (you literally can’t be!)
  • Approximate what you see in terms of the angles in the bones.
  • Don’t use tone in your drawing, it will be too difficult to see what you’re drawing with the skeleton, stick with line only.
  • Move back and forth between refining the skeleton and the figure so that they are being developed at the same rate.
  • The objective here is to learn how to distinguish between what is bone, muscle, tendon, skin, etc.

Reference Photos

Artists mentioned

Books mentioned

Art Supplies

Anatomy Resources

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