Proko - Anatomy for Artists
Anatomy
When I tried learning anatomy from other anatomy-focused decks (mainly geared toward students of medicine), I found it hard to extrapolate that information to drawing because the material included extra muscles not really useful to an artist, and the muscles did not clearly show attachments and insertions.
The Proko website (https://www.proko.com/library/) is incredibly useful for artists learning anatomy so I created a flashcard deck to help me learn the material. To increase the utility of the cards for this purpose, I included cards which force you to try draw (with your finger/ with your mind) the muscles in question.
Notes about the deck:
- This deck uses the Image Occlusion add-on, which meant creating any card without the Image-Occlusion add-on produced bugs. Hence, all cards involve Image Occlusion.
- Cards that were excluded include: landmarks of the human body (there is a low-quality image available on the Proko site for free users, but unfortunately it was too large and also too blurry to make useful cards out of), and all the breast cards (I initially made this deck for myself and it's incredibly awkward being asked to draw breasts on your phone when commuting via public transport).
- Some muscles are missing as they are not a part of the freely available Proko materials. It is up to you to find material to study in these cases.
- I added labels to every card (e.g. a01). This is to make it easier to report issues with cards, but if it interferes with learning let me know and I can make a new version of the deck without them.
- The backs of cards are copy-pasted from the Proko site, with some additions from Wikipedia in certain cases where the insertion/attachment is not included in the text.
- I am not affiliated with the Proko site and none of the image material belongs to me. I just compiled it into a flashcard deck. All material was sourced from the Proko website: https://www.proko.com/library/
Please report any broken cards, and I am open to suggestions. I may update this deck in future with some extra 'try draw this piece of anatomy' cards, or as the Proko website updates with more free lessons.
Sample Data
| ID (hidden) | 2a385055a0924a92939a3c310c337f29-ao-3 |
| Header | Proportions of the Human Body pr02 |
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| Question Mask |
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| Footer | What are the measurements in cranial units for the occluded region using the Robert Beverly Hale system? |
| Remarks | The unit itself can be measured from the back view by taking the width or height of the cranium. From the front you can use the width or the height down to the bottom of the nose. But, keep in mind that the bottom of the nose will only align with the cranium if the head isn’t facing up or down. So, the width is more reliable from the front. From the side you should use the height of the cranium, since the width is too long. An additional quarter of a unit is added on to the front. This cranial unit can be measured with the width or height from any angle even when the head is foreshortened because the shape of a ball isn’t affected by foreshortening. A ball is a ball from any angle.So, we’ll take this cranial size and think of it as a box unit. We’ll use this box to find 3-dimensional placement of the landmarks on the skeleton.One unit down brings you to the pit of the neck. For the torso let’s use a width of two units. The sternum is one unit long not including the xiphoid process. One more down to the corners of the ribcage at the 10th ribs. So, notice how the width the rib cage doesn’t quite reach the edges of this 2×2 box. And the top plane of the rib cage, indicated by the oval of the first rib, faces towards the front as you can see from this side view. So, the back of the ribcage is up higher than this 2×2 box.The length of each clavicle is 1 unit. Keep in mind that these units are slightly separated because of the gap at the pit of the neck.In the back, the width and height of the scapulas fit into the box. In a relaxed position the distance between the scapulas near the bottom is also 1 unit.One more unit down takes us to the corners of the pelvis, known as the ASIS. And one more down just past the bottom of the pelvis. On a male, the distance between the greater trochanters is two units. The width of the pelvis is equal to the ribcage. The 10 rib and ASIS points also line up. On a female the width of the Pelvis is 2 units and it no longer aligns with the rib cage. The distance between the greater trochanters is wider too.On the pelvis there are also some convenient alignments using half units. The top of the iliac crest is at the halfway mark of this box and the top of the pubic bone and greater trochanters is at the halfway mark here. So, when drawing the front of the pelvis, look for these 5 points and remember their distances.From the side, the pit of the neck and the ribcage align with the edges. Then the sternum comes out forward and the cartilage continues to come forward past the sternum about half a unit. The depth of the pelvis is conveniently 1 unit.We’ve already found the placement of the greater trochanters relative to the pelvis. 3 units down ends at the connection of the bottom of the femur and top of the tibia. Another 3 units to the heels.The foot from the side is 1.5 units long and half a unit tall.Finally the arms. The length of the humerus is 2 units. And from the elbow to the knuckles of the hand is another 2 units. The hand itself is a bit longer than 1 unit.That’s it! Since this system uses a 3-dimensional box for measuring, one of its advantages is that it’s manageable when something is foreshortened, as long as you are capable of drawing a box in perspective. If not, then you might need to go back to the structure lesson and practice that again.So, for example with this foreshortened leg. We know from the top of the greater trochanter to the bottom of the femur is 3 boxes long.So, if we can draw these 3 boxes in perspective, we can then fit the leg into those boxes. |
| Sources | https://www.proko.com/human-figure-proportions-cranium-unit-hale/ |
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| Answer Mask |
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| Original Mask |
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| Tags | pr02 proportions |
| ID (hidden) | ebf7e56a608a4b53b2fb45f14ece3662-ao-1 |
| Header | The Shoulder Muscles shm06 |
| Image |
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| Question Mask |
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| Footer | Label the occluded. |
| Remarks | P = posterior, L = lateral, A = anteriorEach muscle head originates in a continuous line on different sides of the shoulder girdle.The Anterior head comes from the clavicle. It originates on the lateral third, starting here at the dip in the S curve. The Lateral head comes from the acromion, from the rectangular bone’s front, side, and back planes.Finally, the Posterior head originates on the spine of the scapula, like the trapezius. But while the trapezius attaches to the top plane, the deltoid attaches to the bottom plane.The backplane is subcutaneous and usually visible on the surface, which is why the spine of the scapula is such a great landmark when tracking these muscles. |
| Sources | https://www.proko.com/how-to-draw-deltoids-anatomy-for-artists/ |
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| Answer Mask |
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| Original Mask |
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| Tags | muscle origin-insertion shoulder-muscles |
| ID (hidden) | 870b84d7525c46dc87523a30163811f4-ao-1 |
| Header | The Shoulders sh07 |
| Image |
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| Question Mask |
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| Footer | Name the occluded part. |
| Remarks | The scapula is all one bone, but for artists, it has two distinct sections. The body of the blade is here, mostly deep below the surface, except this medial ridge. The spine of the scapula is almost a bone of its own. It sticks out like a trowel handle that you can tap along the surface. That’s the spine of the scapula… Sub-cutaneous and super-important. |
| Sources | https://www.proko.com/anatomy-of-the-shoulder-bones/ |
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| Answer Mask |
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| Original Mask |
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| Tags | shoulders skeleton |