• Structure of Man: Excellent DVD Set
    16 replies, posted
[U][B]Backstory:[/B][/U] For the past two months or so, I've been putting a huge focus on improving my anatomy knowledge towards my ZBrush sculpts, using whatever method I could find: books, pictures, 3D models, etc., but nothing really [I]clicked[/I] as I went through. I'm a very visual person and learn best when I see the [I]process[/I] behind a piece of art, not the end result. So, about two weeks ago, I came upon this advertisement for [U]The Structure of Man: Learn to Draw the Human Figure from Your Mind[/U], a five DVD set proclaiming over 43 hours of material. As someone who draws very rarely - if at all - I began to wonder if I could use this as an excuse to improve my 2D drawing as well as push forward my 3D stuff. So, somewhat expecting I was unknowingly ordering Indian goat porn, I bought the DVDs. Now, two weeks, one DVD and forty-some-odd lessons in, I've come to tell you why - if you have any interest in learning the human anatomy at all - you should buy this DVD set. [U][B]What it is:[/B][/U] [U]The Structure of Man[/U] is a five DVD set containing 68 hours of everything you need to know to draw the human anatomy from your mind, [I][B]without reference[/B][/I]. The beauty of these DVDs is that it gives you everything you need, and nothing you don't. Only the superficial muscles are covered and the bones are... well... bare-boned - only the proportions and semi-detailed forms are given. Basically, this DVD set is trying to get you to look at the human form as a set of formulas that you can instantly pull from your head. Some of these a lot of us know (eight heads tall, belly button at three heads, crotch at four, etc.), but Riven Phoenix, your host, takes each part of the body and breaks them down into their own, individual formulas. Yes, Riven Pheonix. His name is that fucking cool. However, I can't say for certain if he breaks down the muscles like he has the bones (I'm not that far into the DVDs, yet), but I'd be glad to peek ahead if you're wondering. [B][U]Why You Should Buy It:[/U][/B] Although it's hard to tell from the start, Riven really knows what he's doing, something that'll become apparent about half-way through the first DVD. Everything is taken in slow, gratuitous steps and laid out in an orderly fashion. It'll be slow at first as Riven tries to get you into his methodology of looking at the human body as an invention - a creation - rather than a human body. The connections he makes between formulas can be mind-numbingly cool and often reveal a new way to look at what you've done before. As Riven goes on, he'll kick into a more artistic gear, where the detailed formulas become less and less, and the sketchiness and the organic look of the drawings come in. That's not to say this set is perfectly done, though. I really wish the fidelity of the video was upped a little more. It can be hard to tell what Riven is doing at times - especially frustrating when you're learning something new and he's working at a fairly frantic pace. Also, there are quite a few times where you just know Riven isn't in a professional setting. Riven draws on his laptop, so he'll often accidentally hit a key and cause Windows to chime. In one lesson, the video is cut off promptly after a telephone rings nearby. He was done with the lesson, but it's still disappointing. At least there hasn't been any goat dong. [U][B]Results:[/B][/U] It's what we're after right? As a base line, I found the last picture on my hard drive that I'd ever drawn, saved October, 2008: [MEDIA]http://img13.imageshack.us/img13/6472/wyrmbreakermodelsheet.jpg[/MEDIA] After I'm done with the DVDs, I'll come back and redo this picture with my new knowledge, and make a model for GMOD out of it. But where am I now, after two weeks on the DVDs...? [MEDIA]http://img199.imageshack.us/img199/8404/anatomysketch.jpg[/MEDIA] I've learned the ribs, but they really clutter up the drawing, so I left them off this time. Again, this is done [I]without reference[/I]. I've got a fuck ton more drawings like it in my physical sketchbook, but I don't have a camera or scanner to get 'em on my computer. Maybe later. I'm fucking stoked to see where I'll be in three and a half more DVDs. [U][B]Where to buy:[/B][/U] [U]The Structure of Man[/U] can be found at [U][URL]www.alienthink.com[/URL][/U]. If you want a taste of how the DVDs will look, you can find the first lesson for free there and small previews of every other lesson after that. It's $49.95 after you throw in S&H for the US, but the website says the shipping will change for international customers. Don't know how much. Anyway you price it, it's still a fuck ton of video for your dollar. [U][B]Conclusion:[/B][/U] If you decide to look into these DVDs, I think it would be awesome to have people post some progress updates or works of art you'd made after learning something from the DVDs to see how you and other people are coming along and perhaps offer up some tips and/or suggestions. If you have any questions about the content or whatever, feel free to ask. I'll do my best to answer, but I'll also add that the website ([U][URL]www.alienthink.com[/URL][/U]) has a good deal of information in it already for you to check out.
Looking good! I look forward to what you have after you finish everything. If it works out I might just try this out myself. As of right now 177 lessons doesn't sound too appealing to me though.
I'm so going to look into this. Probably.
I'm always here for you guys, when you're done, post your finished pic and I'll criticize the fuck out of it =] and one more thing... wtf , your drawing style changed after fallowing the DVDs ?
Is there a sample available? I'd love to order it but I want to see what the lessons look like, even a 30 second clip would be useful.
[QUOTE=PLing;16578254]Is there a sample available? I'd love to order it but I want to see what the lessons look like, even a 30 second clip would be useful.[/QUOTE] It's on the site [editline]10:44AM[/editline] Gonna post it here , for da lazy ppl ya kno [hd]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFxHEZP_70c[/hd]
I personally don't like Riven Phoenix's stuff that much, I don't like his drawing style, and his own professional work isn't my favorite. You can reach a professional level of drawing the human form from the mind using George Bridgman, Burne Hogarth, and Vanderpoel's series of books. That's where I learned all my stuff, and that's where a lot of the professional concept artists and fine artists learn their anatomy as well.
In that video that's a pretty weird human.
If anyone wants me to write up a post about these books and how to study from them, just ask. The following were all done without reference. Before Bridgman, Vanderpoel, Hogarth (around 2-3 minutes for each): [IMG]http://i192.photobucket.com/albums/z152/sebbonaparte/IMG_4227.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://i192.photobucket.com/albums/z152/sebbonaparte/IMG_4228.jpg[/IMG] After Bridgman and co.(take in mind each individual sketch was completed in around 2-3 minutes): [IMG]http://i192.photobucket.com/albums/z152/sebbonaparte/IMG_4177.jpg[/IMG] [Img]http://i192.photobucket.com/albums/z152/sebbonaparte/IMG_4179.jpg[/IMG]
holy fucking christ, results 'after' are awesome.
[QUOTE=war_man333;16582461]holy fucking christ, results 'after' are awesome.[/QUOTE] Are you talking to OP? Or am I just boosting my own ego? ;)
I remember stumbling upon Riven Phoenix about a year ago on youtube, and his teachings helped me somewhat with formulas. I have become a bit too formulaic in my drawing procedures. I do use several others artists (Matthew Archambault, Sycra, Ten-Minute Drawing Techniques) most, if not all located on youtube. Also, great work OpethRockr55 and sebbonaparta.
[QUOTE=sebbonaparta;16581592]I personally don't like Riven Phoenix's stuff that much, I don't like his drawing style, and his own professional work isn't my favorite. You can reach a professional level of drawing the human form from the mind using George Bridgman, Burne Hogarth, and Vanderpoel's series of books. That's where I learned all my stuff, and that's where a lot of the professional concept artists and fine artists learn their anatomy as well.[/QUOTE] I, for one, can't study from a book worth a damn, but maybe I was doing it wrong. Actually, make that definitely. I've never heard anything about how to do it right. If it worked for you (as it seems it has), great. I kept looking at the final result in books or pictures online and got really frustrated with what I was doing. Then I realized, in learning how to draw, it's not the final result that matters most, it's the process behind it: you can't know how make a face without first knowing where to draw the line. I needed that process, and that's how I found this. In the end, as long as the audience knows and understands it's a human being they're looking at... who gives a shit where you learned it from? I'm not going to suddenly draw like Riven Pheonix just because he taught me anatomy, nor Bridgman, nor Loomis. The human body is the human body, no matter the method used to teach it. What you do with it afterwards is your own business. This works for me, and I thought others might benefit from it as well.
Oh hey man I don't mean to put down Riven Phoenix or anything, I was just illuminating another method of understanding the human figure. Yea, if it works for you, it works for you, no doubt about it... in the end it only matters what clicks in your head and turns those gears spinning. You've got it right man, I definitely approve of your philosophy actually. Riven Phoenix is certainly one way to that goal of understanding the human form, so thank you for posting this up and sharing it with other artists/artists in the making.
[QUOTE=sebbonaparta;16587228]Oh hey man I don't mean to put down Riven Phoenix or anything, I was just illuminating another method of understanding the human figure.[/QUOTE] I understand. Hell, I didn't even know who the hell Riven was before this. I have no reason to back him up. He'd pronounced brow 'bro' twenty too many times for that.
It looked a bit too, well, systematic to me. So I ended up ordering $50 worth of anatomy books.
[QUOTE=PLing;16616864]It looked a bit too, well, systematic to me. So I ended up ordering $50 worth of anatomy books.[/QUOTE] Which ones, for curiosity's sake? I agree though, I'm not very good with that formulaic approach to the body... I never liked the '7 heads to a body' kind of deal, and especially the bounding box methods where angles and triangles are used to discover the shape of the body. Personally, I prefer to think of the body as a 3d model in my head... and as I study anatomy, I sculpt more and more detail into it. Then, when I wish to draw the body, I just have to spin it around to the position that I want to draw it in, move the limbs/chest/neck around, and copy it down on to my paper. It simplifies things a lot.
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