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Human anatomy is, for sure, one of the hardest things to draw. But at the same time it's one of the most interesting things to draw, because... hey... we love making characters, and it's nice if they at least look a bit like a human being. I'm still far from perfect at drawing the human body, yet I've accumulated some very useful tips, tricks and websites.

Good exercises
Drawing from life

Drawing from life is awesome!
Look for life drawing classes in your environment, or if they're not available; ask your friends to pose for you. Go have a drink in the city when the weather is nice, and sketch people passing by. There's nowhere you learn more about human anatomy than by observing and sketching real people. There's only one downside to this; dynamic poses are tricky, as it's hard for any model to hold a difficult pose for a long time.
And no... drawing (nearly) naked people in a drawing class isn't awkward. It might be at first. But think of it this way; it's a good way learn and observe the human body, since clothing doesn't get in the way.

Gesture drawing

Draw people in various poses. Repeat ad nausium.
It's best to use a real life reference (if one is available), otherwise resort to pictures from real people. Try not to use drawings as a reference, as they're not real, and you might actually copy the artist's mistakes.
Start out with simple poses. Move on to more complex poses as you get better.
Set yourself a time limit for drawing. One or two minute gesture drawings are good to start with, as you learn to limit yourself to the absolute basics of a pose, and not to get lost in details.

Detailed study

Some parts of the human body are so hard to draw that they need extra practice. Think about hands, feet, but also faces and the countless different facial expressions you can make.
You might actually dedicate a study only to these subjects. Try to use either your own hands/feet/face as a reference (with the help of a mirror), or use pictures from real people. For this too goes; if you copy from other artists you might accidentally copy their mistakes.

Good books There are countless of books about anatomy on the market.
The website Parkablogs once made an overview of the many books available on this subject, but no doubt there is more. While people generally have their own preference when it comes to learning a subject, I will highlight a few books that have helped me a lot.

Loomis

Loomis - Figure drawing for all it's worth (ISBN 0857680986) (Scanned version here )
Loomis - Drawing the head & hands (ISBN 0857680978) (Scanned version here )
Especially if you want to learn how to draw faces, Loomis is the way to go. His method for drawing faces is seen all over the art world.

Hampton

Micheal Hampton - Figure drawing: design and Invention (ISBN 0615272819) (Scanned version here )
Also a very solid book when it comes to drawing the human body. Many tips and tricks for standardizing certain proportions in the human body. Great to study and to keep with you to as a reference.

Others
There are too many books on human anatomy to cover them all.
For more suggestions, see this list . You might even share your own preferences in the comment section here.

Good tutorials
Proko

Proko is cool. Check out his entire YouTube channel for more content.
Proko combines both Loomis' and Haptons lessons in simple YouTube video's that are easy to understand, even for absolute beginners.

Phobos-Romulus ' body types

He did some great tutorials on both the male and the body type. What's also interesting is that he shows how the body is influenced by muscle, fat, length, and even age.

FOERVRAENGD manga to realism series

Especially great for artists that started out drawing manga, but want to have a deeper understanding about the human face (and human anatomy in general)

Nsio 's tutorials

and many more tutorials on various subjects...

Sycra

Sycra does have quite a number of guides on how to do gesture drawing and anatomy. Some of his tricks (the video listed above) are very useful when starting out.

And there are many more...
And there are many more tutorials on anatomy, both on DeviantArt and YouTube... and many other sites.
Don't forget to list your favorites in the comments.

Good references Note: these might contain links to images of (nearly) naked people.

For gesture drawing
These are websites especially made for gesture drawing. They have timers and everything
Quickposes.com
Pixeloverly
Sketchdaily.net

For drawings poses in general
Pose-Emporium
Action-Stock
AdorkaStock
Posemaniacs.com
Human-anatomy-for-artist.com and female-anatomy-for-artist.com
Fineart.sk

Important to keep in mind Do not copy poses directly from other people's artwork. You might be copying their mistakes.
If you heavily rely on references for your work/study, it's polite to credit the maker of the picture.
If you're forever alone , you still have yourself to use as a reference (A mirror works just fine).
Studying anatomy takes most masters many, many years. You can't expect to master it in a few days.
It doesn't matter if your sketches look like shit, if you learned something from it.
Don't rely too heavily on magazines/models, as they're heavily photoshopped and made to be 'perfect'. Photo's like those are great to start with, but only show little variation in face- and body type.

and most importantly...
Have fun!

Read my other how to's as well
How to: ColorAs a follow up of my "How to: Anatomy" journal that was received so well by the community, I will continue this series with a how to on color. Color is considered to be one of the hardest subjects when it comes to art. Most beginners (and even some advanced artists) struggle to get the colors of their work right. I myself do as well. This journal is by no means a full coverage on how to color. It will however be a good list of resources to get you started on this hard subject. A few things to get started There are a few things to color There's hue and value. Hue determines what place in the color spectrum the color is in (red, green, blu...

Bullet; Black — Description
body div#devskin0 hr { }

Human anatomy is, for sure, one of the hardest things to draw. But at the same time it's one of the most interesting things to draw, because... hey... we love making characters, and it's nice if they at least look a bit like a human being. I'm still far from perfect at drawing the human body, yet I've accumulated some very useful tips, tricks and websites.

Good exercises
Drawing from life

Drawing from life is awesome!
Look for life drawing classes in your environment, or if they're not available; ask your friends to pose for you. Go have a drink in the city when the weather is nice, and sketch people passing by. There's nowhere you learn more about human anatomy than by observing and sketching real people. There's only one downside to this; dynamic poses are tricky, as it's hard for any model to hold a difficult pose for a long time.
And no... drawing (nearly) naked people in a drawing class isn't awkward. It might be at first. But think of it this way; it's a good way learn and observe the human body, since clothing doesn't get in the way.

Gesture drawing

Draw people in various poses. Repeat ad nausium.
It's best to use a real life reference (if one is available), otherwise resort to pictures from real people. Try not to use drawings as a reference, as they're not real, and you might actually copy the artist's mistakes.
Start out with simple poses. Move on to more complex poses as you get better.
Set yourself a time limit for drawing. One or two minute gesture drawings are good to start with, as you learn to limit yourself to the absolute basics of a pose, and not to get lost in details.

Detailed study

Some parts of the human body are so hard to draw that they need extra practice. Think about hands, feet, but also faces and the countless different facial expressions you can make.
You might actually dedicate a study only to these subjects. Try to use either your own hands/feet/face as a reference (with the help of a mirror), or use pictures from real people. For this too goes; if you copy from other artists you might accidentally copy their mistakes.

Good books There are countless of books about anatomy on the market.
The website Parkablogs once made an overview of the many books available on this subject, but no doubt there is more. While people generally have their own preference when it comes to learning a subject, I will highlight a few books that have helped me a lot.

Loomis

Loomis - Figure drawing for all it's worth (ISBN 0857680986) (Scanned version here )
Loomis - Drawing the head & hands (ISBN 0857680978) (Scanned version here )
Especially if you want to learn how to draw faces, Loomis is the way to go. His method for drawing faces is seen all over the art world.

Hampton

Micheal Hampton - Figure drawing: design and Invention (ISBN 0615272819) (Scanned version here )
Also a very solid book when it comes to drawing the human body. Many tips and tricks for standardizing certain proportions in the human body. Great to study and to keep with you to as a reference.

Others
There are too many books on human anatomy to cover them all.
For more suggestions, see this list . You might even share your own preferences in the comment section here.

Good tutorials
Proko

Proko is cool. Check out his entire YouTube channel for more content.
Proko combines both Loomis' and Haptons lessons in simple YouTube video's that are easy to understand, even for absolute beginners.

Phobos-Romulus ' body types

He did some great tutorials on both the male and the body type. What's also interesting is that he shows how the body is influenced by muscle, fat, length, and even age.

FOERVRAENGD manga to realism series

Especially great for artists that started out drawing manga, but want to have a deeper understanding about the human face (and human anatomy in general)

Nsio 's tutorials

and many more tutorials on various subjects...

Sycra

Sycra does have quite a number of guides on how to do gesture drawing and anatomy. Some of his tricks (the video listed above) are very useful when starting out.

And there are many more...
And there are many more tutorials on anatomy, both on DeviantArt and YouTube... and many other sites.
Don't forget to list your favorites in the comments.

Good references Note: these might contain links to images of (nearly) naked people.

For gesture drawing
These are websites especially made for gesture drawing. They have timers and everything
Quickposes.com
Pixeloverly
Sketchdaily.net

For drawings poses in general
Pose-Emporium
Action-Stock
AdorkaStock
Posemaniacs.com
Human-anatomy-for-artist.com and female-anatomy-for-artist.com
Fineart.sk

Important to keep in mind Do not copy poses directly from other people's artwork. You might be copying their mistakes.
If you heavily rely on references for your work/study, it's polite to credit the maker of the picture.
If you're forever alone , you still have yourself to use as a reference (A mirror works just fine).
Studying anatomy takes most masters many, many years. You can't expect to master it in a few days.
It doesn't matter if your sketches look like shit, if you learned something from it.
Don't rely too heavily on magazines/models, as they're heavily photoshopped and made to be 'perfect'. Photo's like those are great to start with, but only show little variation in face- and body type.

and most importantly...
Have fun!

Read my other how to's as well
How to: ColorAs a follow up of my "How to: Anatomy" journal that was received so well by the community, I will continue this series with a how to on color. Color is considered to be one of the hardest subjects when it comes to art. Most beginners (and even some advanced artists) struggle to get the colors of their work right. I myself do as well. This journal is by no means a full coverage on how to color. It will however be a good list of resources to get you started on this hard subject. A few things to get started There are a few things to color There's hue and value. Hue determines what place in the color spectrum the color is in (red, green, blu...