Male back anatomy - help needed

Kot_Leopold

I've decided to sculpt another torso but stumbled upon the same problem area of mine - the back, the scapular region in particular. I can never seem to get it right. What am I doing wrong?



It is most likely me not understanding the interaction of the back muscles.

Any input would be appreciated!

GoK

Try sketching out the flow of the muscles and then smoothing over it.. im new too this too but that seemed to work for me recently. actually draw the sinew (if that's the right word) lots of dragging lines from where each muscle starts to where it ends then smooth where needed. hope that makes sense. just now i think your back is a little too flat under the trapezius. Also your latissimus dorsi is very prominent.... but again im no expert just what looks odd to me.

Jody

Fingus

This might be of help: http://bodybrowser.googlelabs.com/body.html

Kot_Leopold

GoK wrote: »

Try sketching out the flow of the muscles and then smoothing over it.. im new too this too but that seemed to work for me recently. actually draw the sinew (if that's the right word) lots of dragging lines from where each muscle starts to where it ends then smooth where needed. hope that makes sense. just now i think your back is a little too flat under the trapezius. Also your latissimus dorsi is very prominent.... but again im no expert just what looks odd to me.

Jody

Lateral lats borders can become almost cord-like when developed. Thanks for your input though.

Fingus wrote: »

This might be of help: http://bodybrowser.googlelabs.com/body.html

Seen that site quite a while ago. The figures there are pretty inaccurate, especially the male ecorche.

GoK

No worries as I said im no expert, Im really digging the arms though they look ace!

Jody

GoK

Look at these images... I still think the lats are what looks wrong. I dont think they would slide back over the hips like that.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c3/Female_back.jpg

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xO129nHSs40/Td8RBqHTGdI/AAAAAAAAAbQ/9eRIopod58s/s1600/Lower-Back-Tattoos-21.jpg

http://us.123rf.com/400wm/400/400/maxfx/maxfx0707/maxfx070700559/1353256-back-of-a-muscular-body-builder.jpg

http://muscleshots.files.wordpress.com/2010/04/back1.jpg

http://lh4.ggpht.com/-6lS9rXQK4G0/S-lBCDvqKJI/AAAAAAAAAFE/QgMGzSsCbmA/DSC03550.jpg

Der Hollander

This is a zoomed in version of the muscle chart I use for anatomy: Frohse Muscle Chart Posterior

I think what is going on is you have the trapezius terminating rather suddenly at the back, it it seems rather flat as opposed to being more rounded. Biggest thing about the lats is I think you're missing the interaction of the lats and the obliques, and the scapular interaction could use a little tightening up.

Hope that helps.

haikai

Kot_Leopold wrote: »

Seen that site quite a while ago. The figures there are pretty inaccurate, especially the male ecorche.

Hmmm... how is it inaccurate? It's certainly not beautiful or anything, but it doesn't look too bad to me.

I think you could do with stepping down in subdivisions and smoothing out your muscles a bit for a fresh look at the bigger masses. Bring the arm pits up and suggest the bigger forms created by the skeleton and larger muscle groups. There's a flatness to your muscles that's lacking natural variation in roundness. The way you have your model posed with the arms twisted may also be adding unnecessary complexity to the scapular regions (maybe you've over exaggerated the indentations).

Dylan Brady

I dunno meng. Just back up a bit. you seem like your maybe paying TOO mutch attention to anatomy.
for most people that arent bodybuilders the trapezieus is mostly a thin sheet. so it looks a bit to beefy on that guy.

The larger forms that should come through are the scapula, and the erector spinae for the most part. if you can focus down on a reference and nail those, than adding the other shits just a matter of a Zsub standard brush hit

Alberto Rdrgz

Bonebrew22 wrote: »

I dunno meng. Just back up a bit. you seem like your maybe paying TOO mutch attention to anatomy.
for most people that arent bodybuilders the trapezieus is mostly a thin sheet. so it looks a bit to beefy on that guy.

The larger forms that should come through are the scapula, and the erector spinae for the most part. if you can focus down on a reference and nail those, than adding the other shits just a matter of a Zsub standard brush hit

+1

Just figure out what you want to do and go for it. Dood doesn't have to be a bodybuilder.

Kot_Leopold

Thanks guys for all the replies. Guess I'll have to open up my anatomy books again and start learning more about the construction of the figure. The main reason I sculpt such bodybuilders is because they're easier to do - all the anatomy is pretty much there imo.

Can you anyone of you fellas recommend a good body sculpting book? Doesn't have to be ZBrush-focused really (traditional clay is fine), I'm pretty comfortable with the tools and brushes I use.