Photographs of the Figure, Muscles, and Movement

The Schatz-Ornstein Studio website has a gallery with amazing photos of the human body. These pictures would make great sketchbook practice.  You could copy a photo and then label the muscles you see, or you could pick a pose and then draw what you think the skeleton is doing based on your knowledge of the muscles and proportions.

Additionally the action gallery has many photos you could use to practice drawing the figure with an effective Line of Action. The poses themselves are very dynamic, what body parts could you move or exaggerate to "sell" the motion in those pictures?

Regardless of what photos you choose to study, remember to give credit to the photographer-this is their original work.

Arm Movement

This video shows a simple movement of the arm.  Notice the opposing motions of the biceps and triceps.  When one muscle pulls and tenses, the other one relaxes and stretches.  The two muscles are working in concert to move the lower arm in relation to the upper.

Tensed Muscles

As shown in the picture, muscles when tensed form harder shapes under the skin versus relaxed muscles.

One way to emphasize an action in your drawings is to play up the contrast between tensed and relaxed muscles.  I recommend you act out a pose before drawing it to help you figure out which muscle groups are being used.  Sometimes your own body can be a better reference than the model posing in front of you.

from Human Anatomy for Artists by Eliot Goldfinger

Muscles of the Face

from Human Anatomy by Jose M. Parramon

Muscles of the Torso

Note that the Latissimus Dorsi (D on top image, B on the bottom) and the Trapezius (A on the bottom) are two back muscles that are visible from the front of the torso.  Likewise the external obliques (C on both the top and bottom) are muscles that are seen both in the front and the back.

from Principles of Figure Drawing by Alexander Dobkin