In this tutorial, you'll learn how to identify the three different types of muscular bodies, as well as which muscles to highlight depending on the type of character you want to achieve, both in a more traditional way and using 3D tools in Clip Studio Paint.
Body types
Before starting to draw, we must identify the three classic body types that muscular people typically have. These body types determine the personality and behavior of our character, depending on the one we choose: ectomorph, mesomorph, and endomorph.
-Ectomorph: These are more defined and elongated bodies. They don't have as much strength, but they do have great aerobic performance, meaning they excel in sports such as running, boxing, dancing, etc. This is mainly due to their low energy consumption. They usually have great endurance, and elongated and angular shapes are often used to draw them.
-Mesomorph: These are more stylized figures. They usually have great aerobic and anaerobic performance, meaning they have great strength as well as great endurance. This is the classic body we imagine when we think of a muscular person (the gym body). This body type is usually found in high-performance athletes, and the associated figure is an hourglass.
-Endomorph: this body type is associated with brute strength, they do not usually have great aerobic resistance but great anaerobic resistance, that is, they can lift large amounts of weight without getting tired but they cannot resist running a great marathon, these bodies do not usually have great definition despite having the largest muscles, this is because they are usually covered by adipose tissue (fat) which gives them more energy, it is associated with large, softer shapes.
Gender variation
For these three body types, we will have gender variations. That is, whether our character is female or male, the main differences are usually the hip arrangement and adipose tissue present.
• Men: ( 🔻 ) tend to have a broader back and less concentration of adipose tissue, which gives greater muscle definition. The associated shapes for the three body types are:
Ectomorph: Rectangle.
Mezomorph: Inverted Triangle.
Endomorph: Square.
• Women: ( 🔺 ️ ) tend to have a narrower back and a higher concentration of adipose tissue, so their shapes tend to be softer. They also have areas where there is more accumulation of adipose tissue, such as the legs, hips, and bust. The associated shapes for the three body types are:
Ectomorph: Pear.
Mezomorph: Hourglass.
-Endomorph: Apple.
Muscle groups
Once we've defined the body type we'll use for our character, we'll need to identify the distribution of the different muscles that will be visible, which are:
• Seen from the front:
-Trunk: Pectorals, shoulders, trapezius, abdominals.
-Legs: Rectus femoris, vastus lateralis, vastus medialis, calves, and tibia.
-Arms: Biceps and flexors.
• Seen from the back:
-Trunk: Trapezius, dorsalis, teres, and lumbar muscles.
-Legs: glutes, biseps femoris, and calves.
-Arms: triceps and flexors.
For men, we'll make the upper muscles larger, and for women, the lower muscles larger. Additionally, for women, we'll add adipose tissue above the pectorals (bust). The appearance is as follows:
Shape of a muscle
General shape of a muscle. To understand the shape of a muscle when drawing it, we must know that they are made up of large groups of fibers, which run in the same direction. As they approach the connection points, they become thinner. When shading or defining muscles, we must keep in mind the direction in which the muscle fibers are located. As the body has more fat, it will be less defined, so the excess lines will be more focused on the connection points of the muscle rather than the central areas.
First drawing using basic shapes
We'll start by sketching with basic shapes, gradually adding muscle shapes. We'll define the outline, then identify the position and size of the muscles. Finally, we'll refine our drawing, remembering how muscle fibers work so we can shade correctly.
In our first example, I'll draw a Mesomorph female body.
Result first example.
Second Drawing using 3d Models
First we will go to 3D tools and drag the mannequin we will use to the canvas, male or female (the mannequins used come built into the Clip Studio Paint app).
Next, we access the 3D mannequin settings, which gives us a quick adjustment option where we can quickly change it to any of the three basic shapes.
1_Ectomorph
2_Mesomorph
3_Endomorph
For our character I have chosen an Endomorph body, which to be able to polish further we will use more configurations that come incorporated in the mannequin.
For these, Clip Studio allows us to select different areas within the mannequin. For example, here we'll select the shoulders. If we move them to the left or right, they will change the width of the shoulders, while moving them from top to bottom will modify the volume of the shoulders, chest, and back.
In short, moving diagonally downwards to the right will make the mannequin more muscular, while moving diagonally upwards to the left will make the mannequin less muscular.
If we choose another muscle group, such as the abdomen, for example, we'll have more muscle options—in this case, the glutes, abdomen, and both together.
With this option, we can modify the height and thickness.
I invite you to modify and play with the different areas of the mannequin, as each one has different options, which you can modify by following the same steps.
Once the shape of our character is finished, the app includes the option to implement poses on the mannequin, which will greatly help us improve our workflow or simply reduce the time it takes to draw.
Once you've selected your pose, I recommend using the manga aesthetic option to give the pose more dynamism and prevent it from feeling static. To do this, activate the following options.
In addition to this, I recommend giving the mannequin a contour line and modifying its thickness to make it easier to transfer to a sketch.
Once everything is implemented, we will create a layer above and lower the opacity of the mannequin layer to begin the drawing.
From here on, we'll sketch the mannequin using the layers needed to achieve the desired finish. At this stage, it will be necessary to implement all the knowledge acquired so far and identify where the muscles are located and how they are defined.
Finally, we can move on to the final stage of the drawing: line art and shading, or, if you prefer, rendering in color, always keeping in mind how muscle fibers are arranged. In my case, I preferred to do a simple lineart with some shading.
Below is the final drawing used for the example 🫰
Acknowledgments
If this tutorial has been helpful to you, I invite you to follow me on Instagram @dezzatino.
As an extra tip, I recommend looking up multiple references from fitness models or athletes to expand your knowledge. Also, practice a lot by making sketches, not final drawings, since the more we draw, the more we learn.
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