How is the anatomy in this picture?

[Shoko]

I was told the anatomy in this picture was really bad, but not how or why. I'd really like to know some specifics so that I can consciously avoid making the same mistakes in future drawings. Thanks.

[MaiMai]

While there's some obvious refining you can do with basic anatomy, I don't think it's all that bad. Two things I can immediately point out is that it looks as if there's no indication of a crotch although that's kind of poor drawing of the jeans that makes it look like it doesn't exist. I think you should look up tutorials for clothing: http://www.deviantart.com/art/Fabric-Tu ... -419091530

Secondly, his feet are bigger than his head. If you lift one foot and put it against your face, you'll find that it's actually about the same length.

Here's a general body guide that might be more helpful than what I said: http://www.deviantart.com/art/General-B ... -348247584

[15nick]

From what I can see, the main issue is probably that he's a bit 2D. It looks like you didn't spend enough time on the skeleton/body part of the drawing before hurrying to do the clothes. Here's some of the big things from the get go:

The attachment example.jpg is no longer available

Try to do the pose yourself with your leg tucked underneath your body like that with your heel against your butt, and you'll notice it feels unnatural. Your leg wants to relax until it's at a less extreme of an angle. The ankle is pretty self explanatory. The arm looks like a solid tube with no distinction of where the elbow would be. Hands are messy, but let's face it hands are tough. Obviously spend time working on them but that's more general advice. Proportions look off but it could be a style preference so no worries if that's the case.

Here's an example of a tweaked skeleton for the leg and ankle, plus joints for the outstretched arm.

Most of all: what you need to remember is that bodies are just tubes of meat that are attached to each other. And just because an image is 2D doesn't mean the character has to look flat. Line width is definitely important for showing depth and form.

Obviously I'm not a great artist, but hopefully the examples help.

Basically, look at a bunch of poses similar to what you need to draw like this for the leg and start up a collection. References are always great, and they help you understand not only the way a body looks in one pose, but can help even if it's not the exact pose you need. Mix and match, one arm from Pose X and a leg from Pose Y. Even if a character is wearing loose clothing, the body underneath should look correct. I used to just draw my characters in muumuus and implausibly stiff clothes and called it a day, but it wasn't satisfying and it certainly didn't look good.