Visualizing Muscles - by John Cody (Paperback)

About the Book

Cody pioneers the use of a model on whose skin muscles, tendons, and fascial sheaths are painted with scientific accuracy. Photographs of the painted model, then solve the common problem of how to teach students of drawing and sculpture the position of surface musculature in different body poses.

Book Synopsis

As the human body moves, muscles contract and relax, creating subtle changes in body contours and shifting patterns of light and shadow on the skin's surface. Visualizing exactly what happens beneath the skin to cause these changes on the surface is an essential skill for artists, physicians, physical therapists, and body builders-for anyone who needs to understand the body in motion.

But how do you teach this skill?

Why not paint a live model to look as though his skin had been stripped off and then photograph him in multiple poses? From that idea comes Visualizing Muscles, an innovative aid to drawing, sculpting, and learning surface anatomy.

More than one hundred static and active poses are included in Visualizing Muscles. Paired photographs--one painted and labelled, one not--show how the simulated muscles produce the subtle lights and darks, hills and valleys, on the model's unpainted skin. Captions highlight the muscles called into play by a given pose.

Dr. Cody, who experimented with techniques for two years, pioneers the use of a model on whose skin muscles, tendons, and fascial sheaths are painted with scientific accuracy. Because of the elasticity of the skin and paint, the painted musculature expands and contracts along with the underlying muscles. Thus Cody's technique enables students of anatomy to visualize the muscles beneath the skin and the changes brought about by movement.

From the Back Cover

Visualizing Muscles is a unique, practical approach to the study of surface anatomy. It will appeal to artists, sculptors, medical students, physical and massage therapists, body builders, exercise physiologists, and anyone wanting to understand the body in motion.

Review Quotes

"A whimsical, factual way to see the body in positions not usually offered in anatomy books."--Massage Therapy

"A painstakingly precise project and is a most imaginative and novel approach to anatomical studies."--Journal of Anatomy

"Artists and sculptors will find this book invaluable in learning to appreciate surface anatomical detail."--Physical Therapy

"This book will prove invaluable as either an enhancement to one's human anatomy education or as a clear reference on surface anatomy for artists, physical and massage therapists, medical students and body builders."--Manhattan Mercury

"A valuable book that every serious art student will need."--M. Stephen Doherty, Editor-in-Chief, American Artist

"This is one of the most imaginative and novel approaches to anatomical studies I have seen in over twenty years of teaching life drawing. It is a valuable resource for serious teachers of figure drawing."--Robert Brawley, Chairman, Department of Art, University of Kansas

"Visualizing Muscles is a unique and exciting approach for studying surface anatomy . . . . accomplished in a painstakingly precise and beautifully executed manner. . . . It offers a tremendous amount of accurate visual information, which helps one understand not only the form of the human figure, but also the changes in form that occur during movement. This book is a must for medical illustrators."--Gary P. Lees, Chairman and Director, Art as Applied to Medicine, Johns Hopkins University