How I Draw: Anatomy Tips on Drawing Arms

To be honest, I didn’t think there’d be a lot of people who’d be interested in learning how I draw, but I’ve received a lot of requests to continue giving tips on anatomy and drawing in general. Thank you so much! I’m so flattered! ヽ(；▽；)ノ

Well then, let’s continue where we left off! We’ve learned from the previous lesson that a person is generally 7 heads high (see point number 2), now let’s study drawing the arms! ヽ(*≧ω≦)ﾉ

The elbows are actually aligned somewhere along the waistline when they are placed on either side of your body. You can check this yourself when you stand in front of a full-length mirror. And when I say waist, I mean your upper waistline, not where low-rise jeans usually sit on your torso! o(-`д´- ｡) Tori is wearing low-rise jeans in the diagram, but his elbows are above that point! (｡･ω･｡)

Similarly, when your arms are straight down on either side of your body, the tip of your open hand falls halfway of your upper thigh. Khyle’s right arm is closed in a loose fist so this might not be the best example, but I hope you can see what I mean! ( (ﾐ´ω`ﾐ))

This is of course, only a rough estimate, and since anime does not follow any set of rules regarding anatomy, your character may have shorter or longer arms. Either way, I use these tips so that the arms don’t end up looking too short or too long. ☆ﾐ(o*･ω･)ﾉ

I hope this tutorial was helpful to you! ヾ(^ ^ゞ Feel free to post your questions in the comments section and I’ll do my best to answer them! (*≧▽≦) Oh, and if you’d like to learn about anything specific, please do let me know! (*´・ｖ・)