Anatomy for Artists Online Course
- NEXT SESSION start date: September 24, 2010 -
REGISTER HERE
Scott Eaton’s Anatomy for Artists course is now online. The course, which has been taught to leading animation, game, and visual effects studios including Disney, LucasFilm, Microsoft Game Studios, Sony, and many more, is online to share the anatomy lessons of the old masters with artists worldwide.
The course takes the daunting task of learning human anatomy and breaks it down into manageable, easy to understand lessons. The online course is an intense eight-weeks and presents every detail an artist needs to know about human anatomy.
FEEDBACK
“Scott’s profound knowledge of anatomy and his strategic teaching style are truly unique. The courses are very intense and you leave inspired, with a deeper understanding of the human form. I cannot recommend Scott’s courses highly enough, they are the most valuable source of knowledge around for any character artist.”
Julia Friedl
Senior Character Artist
Black Rock Studio, The Walt Disney Company
“Scott’s knowledge of human anatomy is uncanny and the way he teaches is the most effective I’ve ever seen. I thought my knowledge of the human anatomy was pretty good before but now I realize there is so much more to know. I feel revitalized as an artist and motivated to push my character and creature designs even further!”
David Giraud
Character Art Director
Electronic Arts
WEEKLY OUTLINE
The weekly lectures are broken down into the following topics. Click on the topic for a summary of the week’s lesson.
- Introduction, Proportions and the Skeleton
- Chest, Shoulders, Abdomen
- Upper and Lower Back
- Upper Arms and Forearms
- Pelvis, Upper and Lower Legs
- Hands, Feet, Head and Neck
- Gender, Age, Weight Variations
- Bonus Lecture: Introduction to Creature Anatomy
LECTURES
Each week students get access to self-paced video lectures covering the regions of the body outlined above (2-2.5 hours of lecture per week). Once released, students will have access to the previous videos until the completion of the course.
In addition to the weekly lecture material, each week Scott thoroughly reviews previous lectures and posts video replies to questions received about earlier lessons. Each lecture also sees Scott review the best (or worst) examples of “what not to do” by dissecting images in his infamous Gallery Abominate. This gives a humorous, but education, look at common anatomical mistakes that beginners and professionals alike make in their work.
EXERCISES AND REVIEWS
Lectures are great for presenting the material, but to really learn students must exercise the knowledge. So each week there are ecorche drawing assignments where artists visually dissect drawings from the old masters and photography.
Exercises are reviewed the following week with a video showing Scott working through the same exercise, explaining the process and anatomy as he works.
Students are encouraged to submit their own work for review and critique. For the duration of the course, students have access to Scott’s time and knowledge and should take advantage by submitting personal work for review.
STUDENT RESOURCES
Students will have access to an expanded version of the Bodies in Motion image library, the only resource of its kind on the web. The images in the library show the body as you rarely see it - captured in high speed sequences during complex dynamic motion. The images allow artists to study the function and shape of the muscles as they truly appear in life.
SUMMARY
Duration: 8 weeks
Start Date: September 24, 2010
Cost: $495 US
Registration: follow this link to enroll in the September course.
payment will be accepted by all major credit cards or Paypal
Materials/Resources Required
- Access to computer with broadband internet connection (for streaming lectures).
- Browser supporting Flash 10.
- A basic paint or drawing program (Photoshop, or free alternatives) for ecorche drawings. If done digitally a Wacom tablet is recommended, alternatively these exercises can be done traditionally with pencil/paper and scanned or photographed.
QUESTIONS
How much time does the course require each week? Can I do it while working full-time?
A typical week requires four to five hours of your time. Roughly three hours for the lecture videos and the video reviews of the previous week’s assignment, and then another two hours to complete the new assignments. Many people have done the course while working full-time. It is designed to be flexible and accommodate people’s working schedules so the assignments are not mandatory, but they are strongly recommended and designed to reinforce the lectures.
My drawing skills aren’t great, can I still take the course?
Of course. The weekly assignments are ecorche exercises which consists of drawing over a set of images chosen to highlight the anatomy covered in the week’s lectures. The images range from Michelangelo drawings to some of the best images from the Bodies in Motion library. These exercises, which artists have been doing for hundreds of years, teach both the underlying anatomy and the appearance of the anatomy on the surface. Both of which are critical to a figurative artist. Since the ecorches are drawn directly over reference images, they exercises are suitable for a range of drawing skills from beginning to advanced. They are effectively knowledge and observation exercises.
I am a traditional artist, is the course suitable for me?
Yes, the course gives artists the critical anatomical foundation that they need to create great figurative art no matter what their medium. It is equally applicable to both traditional and digital artists. The course uses 2d assignments, either on paper or digitally, as the primary learning exercises (though if you don’t work digitally you will need a way to digitize your work for upload and review, like digital photography or scanning).
How do the video lectures work? are they streaming?
The video lectures are pre-recorded and streamed via Flash player. The course content is designed to be self-paced, and convenient for at home learning, no matter where you are in the world. Each week you will have access to new video lectures, which you will have a week to work through. Associated with each week’s lectures will be assignments due for uploading the following week. They will be reviewed by Scott and a video solution posted, showing Scott working through the same exercise. There will also be a weekly video question and answer session, where Scott answers people’s questions from the previous week’s lectures. Again, these will not be live, but pre-recorded and viewable in your own time.
How much do you cover on bones and the skeleton?
The entire first lecture is dedicated to proportions, bones, and the skeleton. In addition to this, given the fundamental importance of the skeleton to the mechanical function of the body, each weekly lecture talks about the bones in relation to origin and insertions of the muscles and how they influence the surface. If the bones directly or indirectly create surface form we talk about it.
Will more Bodies in Motion library images be available?
There will be many new sets from the library available to course subscribers, including a number of new models including Mr Natural Universe.
Does online learning work?
The New York Times recently reported a study that online learning is actually more effective than classroom learning.
Scott has a wealth of experience teaching and building online learning materials. Most notably he designed and authored Pixar’s RenderMan Courseware. If it’s good enough for Pixar, we hope it is good enough for you!
Additional Questions?
If you have other questions related to the online anatomy course contact us here.
