Dry Erase Anatomy Books
Introducing the world's first and only dry-erase anatomy books. The most powerful anatomy learning tool ever created. Draw, erase and repeat your way to mastery!
Our books solve the biggest issue with nearly every anatomy book currently being published. They don't teach you anatomy, they merely show it to you.
Over 1500 exercises between both books covering an enormous range of subjects. Both books are EXTREMELY user-friendly, designed to benefit every skill level, from the absolute beginner to the seasoned professional. No more staring at pretty pictures and hoping your brain can absorb all the dense information and make use of it. We teach you slowly, methodically, one step at a time. And every piece of information is reinforced with exercises - so that the learning becomes permanent in your brain.
Join acclaimed anatomy instructor Kota Kato in his English language debut. An expert of artistic anatomy with over 500,000 followers across social media, Kato launches his most ambitious and epic project to date.
Young Artist Friendly
We make our books with young artists in mind. None of our drawings contain reproductive organs. Our books are ideal for anyone wanting to learn - young or old!
We are back with our 11th Kickstarter and two new books covering foundational anatomy! Something our fans and followers have been asking about for a long time. You'll go from beginner to Master in a matter of weeks - not years!
Once you've made the decision to pursue art as a career, then you need to take your education seriously. Think about this - would you want to go to a dentist that only learned his craft through shortcuts and hacks? Obviously, the answer is no.
For years we contemplated making a series of in-depth books covering the fundamentals of anatomy. But with so many anatomy books on the market, we could never justify a reason to make one. But our fans and followers kept insisting. Which had us conclude that there was something wrong with the material currently available. So, we got curious and started asking them questions.
The overwhelming response was that many of these books were not effective. Most of them failed at 4 or more of the following 6 complaints:
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inadequate - information about EACH visible muscle
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inadequate - information about muscle LAYERING
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little or none - cross-sectional angles (vital to developing spatial understanding).
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little or none - memorization exercises
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little or none - engaging exercises that progress logically
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little or none - exercises that could be easily repeated
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little or none - method to retain long-term knowledge
So, we bought up every anatomy book out there and poured through the pages. We realized very quickly that the publishers weren't to blame. There just wasn't any feasible way that all the points above could be addressed in a standard book. So, we had to think outside the box if we wanted to make these books. The task seemed impossible until a chance incident got us thinking about Children's "dry erase" books. It was clear to us that dry erase pages would provide us the means to solving all the issues above. The main problem for us was that we needed to overcome the 50 - 60 page count limitation. So, we sent the specs over to our printers, made a very expensive test and voila - a 300+ page dry-erase prototype was born!
BOOK 1 - ANATOMY FUNDAMENTALS with Kota Kato
Get ready for the most exciting anatomy book ever! Book One will show you how to ACTUALLY DRAW every visible muscle of the human body - from 5 different angles!
You will not just be staring at pretty pictures - you'll be drawing. Fast track your learning with over 1000 exercises in book one. It is without a doubt the best anatomy teaching tool you have ever laid your hands on.
True or False: There are 14 steps in the chart above.
Answer: Well, it depends...
There are only 14 steps if you move quickly from one muscle to the next. But you're not going to acquire DEEP KNOWLEDGE that way. That is why, in Book One, we ask you to erase the page and start over every single time you add a new muscle to your skeleton. In that case, the correct number of steps would be 91, as follows:
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step 1) gluteus medius
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step 2) gluteus medius + biceps femoris
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step 3) gluteus medius + biceps femoris + gracilis
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step 4) gluteus medius + biceps femoris + gracilis + adductor longus
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etc...
And it's only 91 steps if you do this drawing exercise perfectly, without any mistakes. And even if you can finish the exercises perfectly - could you still do them a week later? A month later? Having the ability to erase your pages means our book is always ready to refresh your memory if you ever forget something. By the time you are done with our book, you'll be able to draw the muscles in reverse order!
DETAILED SUMMARY
Book One: Fundamentals teaches you the 3 most important elements of Anatomy:
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Surface Anatomy
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Bones
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Muscles
It contains over 1000 exercises to take your knowledge from beginner to expert level. It is organized around the following 2 tasks:
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IDENTIFICATION (surface anatomy, bones, muscles). Before you begin drawing the aim of our book will be to teach you all the various names and landmarks of the entire body. Only after you have a complete and thorough understanding of those areas can you accurately begin to draw them.
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DRAWING (surface anatomy, bone, muscles) Only by drawing all 3 elements of human anatomy can you consider yourself a master of anatomy.
IDENTIFICATION - Surface Anatomy: Learn to identify over 150 different surface anatomy landmarks like the “Jugular Notch” and “Triangle of Auscultation”. Evaluate your knowledge with self-tests.
IDENTIFICATION - Bones: Learn to identify dozens boney features like facets, condyles, heads, crests, and trochanters. This section cover 4-5 angles depending on the bone. Test your knowledge with self-tests.
IDENTIFICATION - Bones: Learn to identify dozens boney features like facets, condyles, heads, crests and trochanters. This sections cover 4-5 angles depending on the bone. Test your knowledge with self-tests.
DRAWING - Proportions: Common ratios are often used to draw the average human figure. You will learn to a construct a simplified skeleton from 4 different angles (front, lateral, rear, medial) and test your knowledge with a variety of self-test ranging easy to difficult.
DRAWING - Bones: You’ll draw ALL the bones of the human body from 3-6 different angles (depending on the bone). Becoming familiar with complex structures like the scapula and pelvis will greatly improve your ability to draw poses that feature a twisting torso. Test your knowledge with self-tests.
* to keep things speedy the bones in this section contain less "internal detail" than the IDENTIFICATION exercises.
DRAWING - Muscles: Using the 4-VIEW layout below, you will draw EVERY visible muscle from 4 angles in the following ways:
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isolated: each muscle by itself
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stacked: each muscle with deeper layers behind
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Origin and Insertion of each muscle
You will test your knowledge with self-tests.
DRAWING - Muscles (cross-section): Draw over 20 transverse “cuts” through the legs, torso, arms and neck (just like an MRI). This exercise will greatly improve your understanding of the “thickness” of the muscles in each segment and they way they layer around each other. An essential exercise for developing spatial awareness of muscle layering. Test your knowledge with self-tests.
DRAWING - Surface Anatomy: now that you've identified and (hopefully) memorized the most important surface anatomy features, you'll learn how to precisely place them over an empty skeleton. This skill is VITAL - because 99% of the time you won't be drawing ecorche (skinned muscle), you'll be drawing characters with skin. This section will help your knowledge become second nature.
DRAWING Boney Landmarks: Typically, boney landmarks are projections and depressions that have very little muscle or fat over them and therefore show up more visibly on the surface anatomy. They can also help you identify the location of other body structures, such as muscles. You will study a chart of boney landmarks from 4 angles (front, lateral, rear, medial) and copy those onto an empty skeleton.
RECAP - BOOK 1
Whew! That was a lot of ground we just covered, so let's quickly recap. In Book: One you will you will complete DRAWING and MEMORY exercises for all the points below. All exercises are completed inside the book and can be erased and repeated.
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Draw ALL 120 visible muscles from 3 - 5 angles (anterior, lateral, posterior, medial, superior). The fifth angle uses "cross-sectional" cuts through the limbs.
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Build the entire human anatomy from 4-5 angles (from deepest to most superficial muscle). The fifth angle uses "cross-sectional" cuts through the limbs.
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Draw ALL origin and insertions of the 120 visible muscles from 3 -4 angles.
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Draw ALL bones from 3 - 6 angles.
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Draw ALL surface anatomy from 3 - 4 angles.
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Draw a complete simplified skeleton from 4 angles.
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Learn the standard proportions of the human body.
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Learn the names and features of bones
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Learn the names and features of muscles
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Learn the names and features of surface anatomy
*VIEWS: anterior = front, lateral = outside, posterior = rear, medial = inside, superior = top. The medial view is found on limbs only (arms & legs).
BOOK 2 - DYNAMIC ANATOMY
Book Two focuses ENTIRELY on muscle movement. You will take everything you learned in Book One and apply it to the moving body. You will finally have an opportunity to draw something other than a complete still body.
What makes anatomy especially difficult is not the 120 muscles you need to memorize and draw. What makes it hard is that these 120 muscles move, twist, bend, squish and stretch in seemingly illogical ways. What makes it even more frustrating is that certain bones, for instance the bones of the back (scapula) and forearm (radius and ulna), can move independently from the main skeleton.
Included are over 500 hundred exercises to help you identify gaps in knowledge, push you understanding of static anatomy and resolve difficult areas.
DETAILED SUMMARY - BOOK 2
Every page is filled with information and exercises to help deepen your knowledge of the moving figure. Unlike other books, Dry Erase anatomy forces you to pick up your pen (marker) and draw! You'll memorize things on one page, then draw them on another. Using the simple pattern of STUDY, MEMORIZE, DRAW, we have built the most powerful anatomy learning tool ever!
KEEPING IT SIMPLE
It is finally time to start simplifying and speeding up your workflow. As good as you are, you are not going to make money spending several days on a single drawing - you need to move FAST, and this section is your key.
Once you've completed Book One and learned how to properly construct the figure without shortcuts, we'll show you how to speed up your work using simplified anatomy.
So, before you really get going with the hundreds of pages of complex poses you're going to learn, we'll teach you how to properly simplify anatomy. You will create a simplifed anatomy figure from 4 angles (front, lateral, rear, medial).
As you become more confident completing exercises in full-detail anatomy you can switch over to the simplified versions to speed things along. We give you BOTH choices!
2 MINUTE ANATOMY
Does drawing a ton of clean, precise anatomy poses seem tedious to you? Are you an animator or comic book artist that needs to move quickly without sacrificing muscle detail? NO PROBLEM! Our "2 Minute Anatomy" section will guide you through sketching anatomy onto a blank pose inside 2 minutes - without losing significant anatomical detail.
You'll practice on dozens of sketches in this section to quickly build up your "anatomy speed". Then you can decide for yourself to speed through the remaining exercises or take it slow.
The most POWERFUL tool ever!
Simply put, Draw Erase Anatomy is the most powerful anatomy learning tool ever! Using a simple "self-test" format we have created an immersive and engaging volume that will actually teach you anatomy and help you retain that knowledge as you progress page by page through the book. Every lesson is designed to build upon the last one!
But don't take our word for it - let's examine 6 random pages from the chapter "PROBLEM AREAS" about forearm rotations.
*Please note these are zoomed-in "details" from each page. Layout of the book is not yet complete, therefore several page elements are missing.
PAGES 1 - 2: On page 1 you will study three forearm rotations (pronation, supination, semi pronation) from the lateral angle. You'll analyze each muscle involved, its transformation through the range of movement and make note of the colored sub-group it belongs to. You'll evaluate yourself with a memorization exercise on page 2 by filling in the missing dots on the empty version.
page 3-4: you will transfer the detailed anatomy of each rotation (pronation, supination, semi pronation) onto the provided surface anatomy. Page 3 contains an unobstructed version of the above arm. You will start by copying. Once you are confident, you will repeat it without reference. Once you can do all 3 drawings without making a mistake, you can move to the next two pages.
page 5-6: Finally you'll study and transfer the simplified anatomy of each rotation on to the provided empty skeleton. You'll start by making note of which muscles have been reduced and removed. First, you'll do this by copying. Then you'll repeat it without reference.
These 6 pages ALONE could take you an entire day or more to memorize thoroughly. And they only cover 3 of the 12 forearm rotations. It is going to take a significant amount of time to get through this 250+ page book!
Simply put, there isn't a better anatomy teaching tool in the world than DRY ERASE ANATOMY.
Even experienced artists struggle when the body starts moving. Areas with many interlaced muscles and moving joints like the forearms, shoulders and back are often considered "problem areas". Book #2 is here to help you overcome common issues in these areas. You'll have an opportunity to study them and more importantly, draw them again and again until you can draw them as naturally as breathing.
This MAJOR section will cover 5 especially difficult areas:
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Upper Arms
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Forearms (Lower Arms)
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Shoulder girdle movements
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Elbow & Knee joint movements
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Back muscles
Problem Area #1: UPPER ARMS. You'll be drawing dozens of complex arm movements and labeling the individual muscles involved. We especially focus on raised arms as this movement is notoriously difficult to understand.
Problem Area #2: SHOULDER GIRDLE MOVEMENTS. Over 20 muscles connect directly to the scapula and clavicle. Figuring out how these bones move in relation to the axial skeleton will help you better understand why the surface anatomy reacts the way it does. We cover ALL the major movements of the shoulder girdle: depression, elevation, upward rotation, downward rotation, abduction and adduction.
Problem Area #3: Forearm rotations. The radius and ulna bones form the structure of the forearm. You will draw both these bones in 4 positions (supinated, pronated, semi-pronated and forced-pronation) from all 4 angles. Resulting in 16 unique drawings (4 positions x 4 angles).
Problem Area #4: ELBOW JOINTS & KNEE JOINTS. We reveal the mystery behind these difficult to draw joints by examining key movements. You will draw both joints from numerous angles to solidify your knowledge.
Problem Area #5: BACK MUSCLES. Most artists agree that the back is absolutely the most difficult area to draw accurately. Most artists prefer to avoid this angle when drawing - which ironically makes it more difficult to draw (since practice makes perfect). We will remove your fear by having you draw several key movements. This section borrows heavily from "#2 Shoulder Girdle Movements". But this time, instead of drawing bones, you'll be drawing the muscles that attach to them. By the time you are done this section, you will never fear drawing the human back again!
** images to come **
Book 2 features specially designed cover art by 2 fantastic artists: Tasia MS and Riccardo Federicci.
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Book 1 cover: David Dunstan (Loopy Dave)
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Book 2 covers: Riccardo Federicci & Tasia MS
