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Before I begin this tutorial I will attempt to
briefly describe the leg.
The leg is made up of two basic parts. The upper
leg which consists of the quadriceps which as the name suggests are
made up of four separate muscles called the Rectus femoris, the
Vastus intermedium, these two muscles form the V shape that can be
seen at the middle of the front thigh. the Vastu medialis or inner
thigh and the Vastus lateralis, outer thigh. Their basic function is
to extend and straighten the leg. The back of the upper leg is made
up of the Biceps femoris or leg biceps along with the thigh
flexors and other associated muscles.
The lower leg consists of the Soleus which is the
larger and deeper of the two calf muscles and functions to flex the
foot. This muscle originates from both the tibia and fibula. The
Gastrocnemius which is a two headed muscle with one head originating
from the lateral aspect and the other from the medial of the lower
femur. Both heads overlay the Soleus and join with it to insert into
the Achilles tendon, which inserts into the shin bone. Its basic
function is also to flex the foot. The Tibialis anterior which runs
up the front of the lower leg is also used to flex the foot.

There are several theories as to
the correct proportions of the leg in relation to the body, the most
famous being
Vitruvian Man, by
Leonardo da Vinci. but as with my tutorial on
arms I prefer to use
artistic license and believe that you can roughly judge the legs in
relation to the rest of the body to suit the desired pose. We are
all pretty good judges of what looks right or not.

The sketch's above are of a three leg
types and are there to give you a basic idea of the
muscle groups and how they look and add to the overall shape of the
leg.

The three sketches above are to give you an idea
of how the leg looks from the front, side and back.
In the following pages I will try to demonstrate
and explain how the legs should look in your drawing using various sketch's
and explanations. The images on the following pages contain nudity in various poses and are of a artistic nature.
Leg poses. |