Help with anatomy

[Tina Branford]

Well, if you read my thread in the Test and Welcome board (which, apparently, a lot of people did), you might know that I'm trying to learn how to draw. I was never good at freehand sketching, but I seem to fare a bit better at spriting.

So, I drew up a sprite of a basic female body. Right now it's an outline in basic colors, with shading to come later. I think I got everything about right proportion-wise, but I'm having trouble with the points of articulation (namely the elbows and knees); do I need to shade them to show up, or should I alter the sprite now to give it knees and elbows?

Also, I know the hands and feet suck. Any tips on those?

Please be gentle...

[Prpl_Mage]

Legs are quite good but the arms and hands could use an upgrade. For example, a normal persons arms reach downs below the to the groan.
Perhaps make the upper body a bit taller seeing how long her legs are.

[Red Fox]

Arms should reach down to around the knees. And feets should point forward, now it just looks like she broken both her ankles.

[Dominicy]

Define the limbs a bit more (the slight extrusion of the wrists, the joints, the thickness of the legs and so on.)  Over all serving to make the sprite more 'solid' for lack of a better phrase.  Concerning the feet, they're not terrible, certainly not bearing in mind that you're using a single color for them.

Concentrate on better toning the limbs, the torso and head are passable.

My critique is the best. :<

[Red Fox]

How big are your arms? o.O
My hands go to like, one hand above my knee. I just checked.
Anyway Tina. Look at this thing here. My anatomy is slightly off as well, but you will get the point.

Women, even though they have boobs, have a /  \ shaped body, while men have a  \  / shape. Your's shoulders are way too broad, and  the ass is too small. Her legs are also one big line. She lacks knees. Notice how the upper and lower leg have shapes kinda like (), and not just | |.
The pose: your pose is... Weird. Feet usually face forward, and hands are never facing forward they way you have there, unless she is charging her powers, and is about to go super sayan, but I doubt she is. Remember to use more natural poses. Look at yourself in the mirror, or just search for photos online. And everytime you finish a picture, try doing that same pose. If its too hard, you might have to redo a few things.

Hope this helped.

All hail the god.

[Ben]

The tip of the middle finger reaches to 2/3 of the way down the femur when held at the side.

The lower leg, and lower arm are not long enough. the total span of the arms, tip to tip is always equal to the height of the subject.
Dont tress the hands and feet.

Break the subject down into smaller section, basic shapes, like youd see in a "how to draw disney crap" book. tweak the proportions this way, and youll have the proper curves. A leg will always have an S curve and a Z curve on their respective edges. I dont feel like drawing this for you, its in my tut. Right now there is no definative joint to either the arm or leg.
Dont make the head taller or shorter until you have the body dead on.

[Ryuno]

Nowadays I'm trying to learn drawing too.Sketch etc.If you need some tutorials I can send you some.I have tons.

[Zerlina]

It's a good start, but (as mentioned earlier) the feet in this pose don't make much sense (unless she's a ballet dancer). Hands would naturally be turned in toward the body, rather than out at the audience. Also (though this may be a stylistic choice) Her waist to chest ratio is extremely small. Regardless of bust size (bust being on top of the chest), the chest should be reasonably proportioned. The space between her breasts and the top of her shoulders is also slightly too long, and her feet (though again this might be style) are extremely small. As well, her legs and arms are lacking in shape (upper arm, lower arm, elbows etc) though you might have done this intentionally. The neck is also slightly too long.

It looks a bit like the proportions may have consciously /unconsciously exaggerated certain parts which could be considered "ideal" (long neck, large chest, long thin legs, an hourglass figure etc). Its important to be aware that proportions should normally be kept within reason (some anime can get away with it, but even then it's done meticulously).

All in all, though, it's a really good start, and you could probably get a great sprite form modifying this a little bit.