If you need help drawing the human body, Pose Maniacs just may be your godsend.
The website features a variety of realistic poses meant for sketching or reference to improve your art. But the pictures are not 2-Dimensional stock models… no, these models are in 3D. And, because it’s in flash, you are able to completely rotate them 360 degrees!
This alone makes Pose Maniacs one of the coolest art learning resources I’ve found on the web. It’s an incredibly user friendly site as well. It is not gaudy, and just about anyone can navigate it with ease (Though the navigation/model names are a bit funky).
Plus, if you have an iPhone or iPod, you can access a few of their apps, making it great for the increasingly mobile world.
But they have a few more features than a simple (but awesome!), 360 view of a 3-Dimensional figure.
30 Second Drawing
A tool to help with gesture drawing, allowing artists to better understand and grasp the movement of the body by randomly generating a still picture from a library of 19440. It’s similar to the exercises you probably did in an art class… going outside and quickly drawing random poses of someone you see every few seconds. There is an option for as little as 10 seconds, to as much as 90. It’s really ideal for habitual use.
Negative Space Drawing
This tool is meant for you to see the outline of a shadowed body and draw the holes/joints where you would expect them to be in a real picture. This forces you to think critically about proportions without a traditional visual aid.
Random Pose Viewer
Can’t decide on any of the 3D models you see on the site? Check out the Random Pose Viewer, which will give you a randomly generated pose from their library. Especially good for random, on demand practice.
Hands for Drawing
It seems that just about every artist has struggled with one body part or another, and it seems hands always tops the list (never chicken out by hiding hands folks). Similar to the 3D Models (but without the muscles), the Hands for Drawing tool allows you to see a hand pose from a 360 angle. Revel in it’s awesome glory… and draw them villainous digits.
Daily Pose Widget
More for blogs and websites, but it may prove useful for some art-related websites. In fact, I think I should put it up on Ego Theft.
So, if you are looking to improve your anatomy in your art, go check out Pose Maniacs now.
