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    Intro to Anatomy Drawing with Graphite Pencil

    A course by Ella NittersMedical and Scientific Illustrator

    Intro to Anatomy Drawing with Graphite Pencil

    Anatomical illustration is an opportunity to draw the delicate intricacies of human and animal life. For medical and scientific illustrator Ella Nitters, winner of the World Illustration Award for Microsurgery of a Rat, recreating realistic corpses is all about celebrating the beauty of life.

    In this online course, explore the fundamentals of anatomical illustration with graphite pencils, and develop your skills for creating hyperrealistic drawings. Learn about humans and animals through a scientific and artistic lens by capturing what you see on paper.

    What will you learn in this online course?

    16 lessons & 27 downloads

    View all lessons ↓

    What's included in this course?

    Meet your teacher, Ella Nitters. She talks about her background, where her love of drawing came from, and how she became a medical illustrator. She also shares the studies and influences that have helped shape her career.

    Dive straight into the basics of sketching, drawing lines and forming 2D and 3D shapes. After exploring why graphite pencils are the perfect medium, Ella teaches you to render your sketches through layering, as well as how to express volume and shadow.

    Next, choose a subject and familiarize yourself with it in detail, before doing the linework and building up your piece step by step.

    As an optional extra, Ella shows you how to add color in Photoshop, along with how to use carbon dust as a base layer to create much smoother illustrations.

    Recommended software & tools for this course

    What is this course's project?

    Create an elaborate depiction of a human or animal bone, focusing on texture.

    Intro to Anatomy Drawing with Graphite Pencil

    Projects by course students

    Who is this online course for?

    Any beginners wanting to get into anatomical drawing, as well as beginners and slightly more advanced students interested in scientific illustration.

    Requirements and materials

    No previous knowledge is needed for the course, except in the optional digital lesson, where some experience with scanning and Adobe Photoshop would be useful.

    For materials, all you need is graphite pencils, carbon dust, and some paper.

    Intro to Anatomy Drawing with Graphite Pencil

    Reviews

    5,515
    Students
    74
    Reviews
    96%
    Positive ratings
    • laetitia_jeanpierreb
      PLUS
      6 months ago

      C'est un cours très complet et le contenu que l'on peut télécharger aussi.

    • lucialaredo
      8 months ago

      bastante didáctico!

    • victoria_peccia
      9 months ago

      Amazing course! Very detailed, I was able to finally get the anatomy right on my works

    • demay_annie
      1 year ago

      Cours magnifique avec une professeur si passionnée...des détails précis, la possibilité de tant de nuances et d'ombres avec le graphite...une pépite de poésie au coeur d'un cours d'anatomie!!

    • cocow05502
      PLUS
      1 year ago

      this course is detailed and practical for any level of artists, especially for beginners.

    More reviews
    Ella Nitters

    Ella Nitters

    Teacher
    Plus

    Medical and Scientific Illustrator

    Joined March 2022

    Ella Nitters is a medical and scientific illustrator from Rotterdam, Netherlands. As a child, she was phobic of human anatomy, especially skeletons, but, influenced by her grandfather, was always interested in drawing. Her degree in industrial design engineering from Delft University of Technology helped her consolidate a combination of analytical thinking and creativity. After deciding to pursue illustration, anatomy slowly became an important part of her work, and she discovered that fear and fascination often go hand in hand.

    The aim of her art is clarity, and her process consists of getting lost in the scientific details of organic structures. She works for a variety of clients on projects relating to surgical procedures, patient information, medical innovations, and scientific articles. In 2018, she won a World Illustration Award for her representation of the microsurgery done on a rat.

    Content

    • U1

      Introduction

      • About Me
      • Influences
    • U2

      Basic Drawing Techniques

      • The Materials
      • Sketching Lines and Shapes
      • Drawing Volumetric Shapes 1
      • Drawing Volumetric Shapes 2
      • Rendering with Graphite Pencil
      • Rendering Volumetric Shapes
    • U3

      Elaborate Pencil Drawing

      • Reference and Research
      • The Line Drawing
      • The Rendering 1
      • The Rendering 2
      • The Rendering 3
    • U4

      Additional Options: Color and Carbon Dust

      • Scanning and Coloring the Graphite Drawing 1
      • Scanning and Coloring the Graphite Drawing 2
      • Introduction to Carbon Dust
    • FP

      Final project

      • Intro to Anatomy Drawing with Graphite Pencil

    What to expect from a Domestika course

    • Learn at your own pace

      Enjoy learning from home without a set schedule and with an easy-to-follow method. You set your own pace.

    • Learn from the best professionals

      Learn valuable methods and techniques explained by top experts in the creative sector.

    • Meet expert teachers

      Each expert teaches what they do best, with clear guidelines, true passion, and professional insight in every lesson.

    • Certificates

      PLUS

      If you're a Plus member, get a custom certificate signed by your teacher for every course. Share it on your portfolio, social media, or wherever you like.

    • Get front-row seats

      Videos of the highest quality, so you don't miss a single detail. With unlimited access, you can watch them as many times as you need to perfect your technique.

    • Share knowledge and ideas

      Ask questions, request feedback, or offer solutions. Share your learning experience with other students in the community who are as passionate about creativity as you are.

    • Connect with a global creative community

      The community is home to millions of people from around the world who are curious and passionate about exploring and expressing their creativity.

    • Watch professionally produced courses

      Domestika curates its teacher roster and produces every course in-house to ensure a high-quality online learning experience.

    FAQs

    Yes, this course is designed for beginners and covers foundational skills in graphite pencil drawing, perspective, shading, and both traditional and digital anatomy illustration techniques.

    You’ll need graphite pencils, eraser pencils, sketching paper, vinyl or masking paper, a caliper for measurements, and access to a scanner and Photoshop for digital coloring.

    You’ll learn how to research anatomical subjects, create realistic graphite renderings, use carbon dust and layered shading, transfer sketches, and digitally enhance your illustrations with Photoshop.

    No prior experience is required. The course starts with basic drawing skills and gradually introduces more advanced anatomical and illustration techniques.

    You’ll learn step-by-step how to observe, sketch, layer tones, use shading techniques, and refine details to create lifelike anatomical drawings of bones and skulls.

    Yes, the course covers scanning your graphite drawings and using Photoshop to color and enhance them while maintaining anatomical accuracy and detail.

    The carbon dust technique involves using powdered carbon and brushes to create smooth gradients and detailed shading, adding depth and realism to scientific illustrations.

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