Anatomy Fundamentals 3001

Learn the fundamentals of anatomy to help push your 2d and 3d art

This in-person foundation-level course is suitable for anyone who is new to the study of anatomy or for those looking for a refresher. Whether you are studying for film VFX, animation, games or traditional art, this course will sharpen your observation skills and bring informed realism to your work.

The course can be tailored to meet your schedule and requirements; for example, we could run this intensively over 1 day as a series of presentations, or with more practical student participation over 2 or 3 days.

If you would like to make a booking of this course for your studio, school or event, please get in touch:

Course Details

Type: In-person
Level: Foundation
Duration: 1 day
Format: Live session
Assignments: n/a
Tools: n/a
Prerequisites: n/a

Lessons in this course

01. A Brief History of Anatomy

Before we dive into studying the skeleton, muscles and tendon of the human form, let’s take a little detour through history to see how we got to this stage and how artists have always used anatomy to inform their designs.
02. Gesture

This lesson will look at the relationships between form and function, and how we can simplify and capture the essence of the anatomical form through gesture.
03. The Anatomical Position

In this lesson, we will get to grips with the anatomical position. This will allow us to understand the orientation and position of the body parts and the vocabulary used to describe them.
04. Joint Mechanics

Before we dive into the skeleton, muscles and tendon, let’s take a brief look at the mechanics behind joints.
05. The Skeleton and the Bony Landmarks

In this lesson, we’ll work through the skeleton and also the bony landmarks. By communicating these landmarks to the audience, who will be subconsciously aware of them, we are already on the way to creating the illusion of believable characters.
06. Muscles of the Trunk

This lesson will focus on the muscles of the trunk. These muscles move the vertebral column and naturally affect and are affected by the movement of the upper and lower extremities.
07. Muscles of the Neck and Head

We’ll now move on to the muscles of the neck, head and face.
08. Muscles of the Upper Limb

This lesson will now turn to the muscles of the upper limb: the shoulders, arms and hands.
09. Muscles of the Lower Limb

We now come to the muscles of the lower limb: the pelvis, legs and feet.
10. Proportions, Symmetry and Body Types

Additional factors such as proportion, symmetry and body types, all play an important role when designing a character or creature. This lesson will explore how factor these in to your design.
11. Fat and Wrinkles

It is important to remember that sitting on top of all of this like a draped cloth is the largest organ of all, the skin. And with skin comes fat and wrinkles. Let’s take a look at both in this lesson.
12. Anatomy in Action

In our final lesson, we’ll take the knowledge we’ve accumulated to examine and deconstruct images, sculptures and digital art to see how an understanding of anatomy has been used to create believable characters and creatures.

Tutor: Jahirul Amin

VFX Trainer

Jahirul Amin is a Computer Animation and Visual Effects Trainer and Consultant. He specialises in designing and delivering courses to create solid and diverse production ready skills in all 3D related departments and across a number of facilities worldwide. His background in academia feeds into his ongoing connections with Universities and Colleges which provide Computer Animation and Visual Effects courses. He is also involved in course and examination design as well as lecturing, running workshops and mentoring.

Anatomy Fundamentals 3001

This one-day in-person course will cover the fundamentals of anatomy. We’ll study the body from the inside out and then take a look at anatomy in action.