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Human Anatomy Study

Functional Anatomy for Character Art

This project brings together the first anatomy module of my Character Master at Animum Creativity Advanced School, where I focused on understanding how anatomy affects the forms we actually see in a character. I started with écorché studies and gradually moved towards naturalized bodies, facial anatomy, expression, age variation and high-frequency skin detail.

One of the most useful parts of the process was learning to move constantly between anatomical diagrams, real people, 3D scans and sculpting. Anatomy plates can explain what is happening underneath the skin, but real photos show how much of that structure is softened, hidden or changed by fat, gravity, age and individual variation.

Throughout the study, feedback from my tutors, Marco Muñoz, Miguel Carriquí and Manuel Mejías helped me refine the models at every stage of the process and improve much faster than I would have been able to on my own.

The work below documents some of the studies that changed the way I approach character anatomy the most.

This project brings together the first anatomy module of my Character Master at Animum Creativity Advanced School, where I focused on understanding how anatomy affects the forms we actually see in a character. I started with écorché studies and gradually moved towards naturalized bodies, facial anatomy, expression, age variation and high-frequency skin detail.

One of the most useful parts of the process was learning to move constantly between anatomical diagrams, real people, 3D scans and sculpting. Anatomy plates can explain what is happening underneath the skin, but real photos show how much of that structure is softened, hidden or changed by fat, gravity, age and individual variation.

Throughout the study, feedback from my tutors, Marco Muñoz, Miguel Carriquí and Manuel Mejías helped me refine the models at every stage of the process and improve much faster than I would have been able to on my own.

The work below documents some of the studies that changed the way I approach character anatomy the most.

Approach

Before starting the study, I wanted to define what I actually wanted to get from it beyond learning anatomical names or reproducing an écorché. The main goals were to:

  • Build a practical understanding of human anatomy — bones, muscles, fat and skin — and how each layer affects the forms we see on the surface.
  • Learn to translate anatomical knowledge into believable 3D forms, when anatomical structure should be clearly visible and when it should be softened, simplified or hidden by fat and skin.
  • Understand how the same underlying anatomy changes across different proportions, sex, age, body types and expressions.
  • Improve my ability to observe, analyze and correct anatomical problems through reference and feedback.
  • Develop surface detail without losing sight of the larger forms underneath.

For anatomy study, I found it particularly useful to combine different kinds of reference rather than relying on a single source.

Books such as Human Anatomy for Artists: The Elements of Form by Eliot Goldfinger are excellent for understanding structure, while Anatomy for Sculptors by Uldis Zarins and Sandis Kondrats is especially useful when translating that information into three-dimensional form.

Anatomical Workflow

Écorché & Structural Anatomy

The process began with an in-depth study of the skeletal structure and muscle groups, concentrating on muscles origin, insertion and volume. The écorché became my way of checking relationships:  how muscles overlap around the shoulder, where tendons become visible, or why a particular change of plane appears on the surface.

Facial Anatomy — Internal Structure

Once I was pleased with the body anatomy, I focused on facial anatomical components such as:

  • Eyeballs with correct structure and placement
  • Teeth with proper scale and alignment
  • Gums, tongue and inner mouth anatomy

Most of these structures are barely visible in a neutral portrait, but they strongly affect the face when it deforms. Understanding what exists behind the lips or eyelids made later expression studies much easier to reason about.

Naturalization — Fat, Skin & Real Reference

An écorché is very easy to read because every muscle is exposed.  In real life, people are much more complicated. The next stage was therefore less about adding anatomy and more about deciding how much of it should actually remain visible.

The model was then naturalized by:

  • Adding fat pads where anatomically correct
  • Softening and emphasizing muscles selectively
  • Dedicated studies on hands and feet, focused on bone landmarks, tendons and volume transitions
  • Adjusting volumes using real 3D scan references of a muscular male body

Facial Expressions & Emotion

Finally, I studied emotional anatomy, sculpting three expressions using layered workflows: joy, fear and anger. Each expression was built by analyzing which muscles activate and how they interact, reinforcing anatomy as a dynamic system.

Retopology for Deformation

After finalizing the anatomical sculpt, I performed full retopology:

  • Clean edge flow aligned with muscle directions
  • Proper loops for joints and facial deformation
  • A mesh suitable for animation and further detailing

A technically neat mesh can still deform poorly if its edge flow does not support the way the underlying forms change. Retopology therefore became another challenge, a new way of testing whether I really understood the anatomy I had sculpted.

High Detail & Surface Development

Then the focus shifted to high-frequency detail and surface realism. What worked better for this stage was thinking in terms of hierarchy. The process combined several approaches:

  • Layered procedural noise to build skin breakup at different scales
  • Manual sculpting to reinforce wrinkles, compression areas and asymmetry
  • Use of custom alphas adapted per facial region
  • Controlled variation to avoid uniform or artificial surfaces

Different areas of the face behave differently, tightening, folding or stretching depend on the underlying structure, so I avoided applying the same pore structure or intensity everywhere.

Once the high-detail sculpt was established, the model was prepared for texturing in Substance Painter. The workflow included:

  • Projection of high-frequency detail into the texture space
  • Development of base color, roughness and normal maps
  • Iterative refinement using real skin references

    Anatomical Variation Studies

    After establishing a solid anatomical base, I explored how the same structures change across different bodies, ages and individual characteristics.

    Gender & Proportional Canons

    I used different male and female bodies to explore how anatomical structures can remain consistent while proportion, fat distribution and silhouette change considerably.

      Age Study — Adult to Elderly

      For the elderly study, I adapted the existing base and concentrated on the changes caused by age:

      • Redistribution of fat
      • Reduced skin elasticity
      • Increased visibility of certain bone landmarks
      • Changes in posture and silhouette

        Likeness Study— Portrait Bust

        I also created a portrait study based on Danny Glover.

        The purpose of this exercise was to move away from generalized anatomy and work from the proportions and characteristics of a specific individual.

        • Focused on facial structure, bone landmarks and ethnic anatomical traits
        • Developed high-frequency skin detail based on real-world reference
        • Emphasized asymmetry, aging patterns and skin irregularities

        Working from a recognizable person made every inaccuracie much easier to detect: even relatively small proportional errors could significantly change the character of the face.

        What Helped Most

        A few ideas from this study have stayed with me and continue to influence how I approach characters.

        • Work from big to small.
          Before focusing on surface detail, I found it much more useful to step back and make sure the overall proportions, silhouette and relationship between the main masses were working together. Getting the bigger picture right first made every smaller decision easier later on.

        • Give yourself fresh eyes.
          Feedback was essential, but so was stepping away from the sculpt for a while. After spending too long looking at the same model, it becomes easy to normalize mistakes. Taking breaks and coming back with fresh eyes (ideally combined with feedback from someone else) made many issues much easier to spot.

        Software

        ZBrush · Maya · Substance 3D Painter · Arnold

        Credits

        • Tutors: Marco Muñoz, Miguel Carriquí, Manuel Mejías.
        • Reference Studies: Real anatomical references, 3D scans and photographic material:
        • Human Anatomy for Artists: The Elements of Form — Eliot Goldfinger
        • Anatomy for Sculptors: Understanding the Human Figure — Uldis Zarins & Sandis Kondrats

        If you think my approach could be a good fit for your project, let’s talk.

        Contact me