What is the most common skill artists say they want to acquire? The ability to draw accurate, proportionate, human faces and bodies, with no reference material. Drawing people out of your head is an uncommon expertise that commands instant respect, looks like a magic trick if you can do it, and instantly communicates total mastery of your craft like no other ability can.
Many teachers and videos claim to be able to teach students this skill set, and they may point in the right direction, but drawing or sculpting bodies from your head wouldn’t be so rare if it was easy to learn in a video or a three month class.
Hidden Room atelier offers an intensive apprenticeship program in écorché, simplified form, and drawing or sculpting bodies out of your head.
This class is a year-long rotation, in which students will:
- sculpt every bone and muscle
- assemble their own miniature human body
- then learn to break down that anatomy into geometric units that you can easily visualize and rotate in your head
- practice putting it all together in a supportive, cooperative environment
Classes are available in-person, or online.
The Instructor
I first started learning to draw bodies as a kid by reading Draw Comics the Marvel Way by Stan Lee and John Buscema. Later, I found a beat-up old copy of Drawing the Head and Figure by Jack Hamm from the 1960s. When I was 15, I finally got up the courage to ask my mom if I could start drawing nude models at the local museum on Wednesday nights. I went to art school at the University of Michigan, then studied in France, but I still felt like my figures were inadequate. Even with years of proportions and practice, something important was missing.
In 2005, I bought a medical anatomy textbook and began sculpting tiny skeletons out of it. When I finished my first skeleton, I put muscles on the bones, then fat on the muscles, then skin on top. That year, I repeated the entire process nine more times, until I no longer needed the textbook, until I could sculpt a femur or a skull without even looking at what my hands were doing. Suddenly, my art felt alive. Having put in the reps and gotten the struggle out of the way, I was able to finally draw and sculpt the figures I could see in my head. That Fall, I learned that there was an ancient name for this method, and I began to teach it at a local museum.
Écorché
“Écorché” is a French term that means “skinned” or “flayed”. It is an ancient method of both sculpting and learning anatomy that goes back to the time of Leonardo DaVinci, and was possibly used thousands of years earlier in ancient Greece. There is no better way to gain an intuitive grasp of how the human body fits together than to feel and craft every bone and muscle with your own hands.
Methodology
We work with a live, nude model. The instructor will move the model’s body into various positions to make muscles flex or twist, then paint directly on one half of the model’s body to make sure every student can see exactly what deeper structure is being discussed.
Working off a steel skeleton armature, students sculpt every bone, then sculpt on every muscle, and fat pad, finally adding skin and surface features to construct a complete human body from the inside out. Combined with drawing and exercises in sculptural form, this method gives students an understanding of real, functional anatomy that is much more deep and intuitive than simply memorizing Latin and Greek names. Multiple doctors and nurses have gone through our Écorché program, and all of them have found a new understanding of anatomy, even beyond their already substantial knowledge.
the power of simplification
This is not medical anatomy. If your goal is to draw figures from imagination or just to improve your figure drawing, simplification of anatomy is absolutely key. To truly master anatomy, you do need to master the vocabulary and individual muscles. But artistic anatomy is not medical anatomy. There are 28 muscles in the human thigh, but most of those are organized into 4 simple compartments, that share a common shape and purpose. Our approach emphasizes anatomy that helps you draw or sculpt more intuitively. The most important thing is that students understand how things are shaped, and how those shapes interact with one another and with the skin and fat that covers them. These are things a muscle chart can’t teach you.
Taking Écorché Further
I have taught Écorché programs many, many times since 2005. The class is always popular. Students did well and were able to keep up with the material. Still, it seemed like for so many of them, it remained just that- a list of facts, not a skill. A vocabulary list of shapes, but not a fluent language that they could use to communicate.
I began adding in classes using classical Sculptural Form Theory to combine and simplify the muscles into a series of shapes with rules for how they could interact with neighboring shapes, and the response was immediate. Students who had struggled for years to make anatomy work, latched on to the form theory with a kind of hunger. This was the missing piece.
Joshua Diedrich
Information, then, Integration
We no longer hurtle through Écorché at a breakneck pace, trying to cram as much information in as possible. There is a lot of information to cover, but anatomy is a language, and the real practice comes in the speaking. After each Écorché section, we hang back for a week, maybe two, and learn how to use the new information in depth, with practical exercises and simplified forms. Students work co-operatively, working together and with the instructor to make sure that all forms and placements are correct and to help everyone walk away at the end with a skill they can actually use.
A yearly cycle
Many artistic anatomy classes are less expensive, and nearly all are much briefer, over after a few hours or weeks. People sign up for these classes hoping to get the skill they’re after, and then, at the end, aren’t where they want to be. So, they pay for another class, hoping this time it will stick.
Students are often encouraged to blame themselves for this, but the reality is: mastering anatomy is a complicated process that takes focused time, and practical exercises to make book-knowledge into usable skills. There is no quick solution that works. But by putting the time in, in a structured way that builds on your previous knowledge and skills, you can be there faster than you think. If you had started a year ago, you’d be there by now. So start now.
The class cycle takes an entire year, which may be repeated for deeper understanding. There are frequent hiatuses and a weekly live model drawing session to give students a chance to practice and absorb what they’ve learned. Students may join the class at any point in the year, then simply stay into the next cycle until they’ve seen every class. The official beginning of the cycle in in mid March, and it’s ideal to begin then, but there are several unit gaps throughout the cycle where students can begin at a clear starting point and not feel as though they need to “catch up”.
The full yearly cycle syllabus is listed below.
pricing
The cycle begins on March 18th, 2025. Good windows to join the cycle midway fall at the end of July, Thanksgiving, and New Years. The class is held on Thursday nights from 6:00 – 9:00 pm, Eastern US time. Dues are $250, paid monthly. Students may cancel at any time with one month’s advance notice.
Bulk Pricing, Discounts, and Financial aid
- Students who wish to pay for an entire year in advance may do so for a $500 discount.
- Existing students who refer a friend will receive $50 off per month for five months as long as the friend remains an active member of the class, with no limit to how many friends can be invited.
- Students who are interested in the class but lack the financial means to pay full dues may be eligible for a discounted rate.
location and joining online
The studio is located at 1050 E Michigan Ave, Kalamazoo Michigan, halfway between Detroit and Chicago. The Anatomy Section is a hybrid digital live-in-studio production. The instructor, model, and some students are in the studio together, other students join via our private Discord server from all over the world. Some students from Chicago, Detroit, or the Great Lakes region may join live for some classes, and call in via discord when they can’t make the trip.
The studio is equipped with multiple high res cameras and microphones allowing students online to hear and speak naturally as if they’re right there in the room. Students on Discord may switch between cameras as they need to, in order to see the model, instructor, or example pieces.
We will ship a standard steel armature to Discord students so they have the same materials as everyone else.
In addition, the Discord server is available 24 / 7 for questions, lesson review, and critique from other students, whether you are attending locally or remote.
class requirements
There are no pre-requisites – just a commitment to attendance. We accept students of all skill levels, amateur and professional. An armature will be provided, and can be shipped to online students. Students will need to provide their own clay, or may purchase clay through the studio for an additional fee.
| Anatomy Master Class- Yearly Class Rotation | ||
| Class meets Thursday at 6 pm – 9 pm EST | ||
| Class 1 | Mar 20 | Anatomy 1- Proportions |
| Class 2 | Mar 27 | Anatomy 1- Overview- bony markers and fascia |
| Class 3 | Apr 3 | Anatomy 1- Large Forms of the body |
| Class 4 | Apr 10 | Écorché Anatomy 1- Skulls |
| Class 5 | Apr 17 | Écorché Anatomy 1- The forms of the skull |
| Class 6 | Apr 24 | Anatomy 1- The skull in practice |
| Class 7 | May 1 | Écorché Anatomy 1- Ribcage |
| Class 8 | May 8 | Anatomy 1- The ribcage in practice |
| Class 9 | May 15 | Écorché Anatomy 1- Pelvis |
| Class 10 | May 22 | Anatomy 1- The Pelvis in practice |
| Class 11 | May 29 | Écorché Anatomy 1- Spine |
| Class 12 | Jun 5 | Anatomy 1- Spine gesture and balance |
| Class 13 | Jun 12 | Anatomy 1- The spine in practice |
| Class 14 | Jun 19 | Écorché Anatomy 1- Arm Bones |
| Class 15 | Jun 26 | Anatomy 1- Arms in practice |
| Class 16 | Jul 3 | Écorché Anatomy 1- Leg Bones |
| Class 17 | Jul 10 | Anatomy 1- Legs in practice |
| Class 18 | Jul 17 | Hiatus |
| Class 19 | Jul 24 | Hiatus |
| Class 20 | Jul 31 | Écorché Anatomy 1- Muscles Waist and Deep |
| Class 21 | Aug 7 | Anatomy 1- The torso as a form |
| Class 22 | Aug 14 | Anatomy 1- The torso in practice |
| Class 23 | Aug 21 | Écorché Anatomy 1- Muscles of the Shoulder Girdle |
| Class 24 | Aug 28 | Anatomy 1- Decoding the shoulders |
| Class 25 | Sep 4 | Anatomy 1- Shoulders in practice |
| Class 26 | Sep 11 | Écorché Anatomy 1- Muscles of the Arms |
| Class 27 | Sep 18 | Anatomy 1- The forms of the arms |
| Class 28 | Sep 25 | Anatomy 1- Arms in practice |
| Class 29 | Oct 2 | Écorché Anatomy 1- Muscles of the Pelvis |
| Class 30 | Oct 9 | Anatomy 1- Your hips do lie. Demystifying the hips |
| Class 31 | Oct 16 | Anatomy 1- Hips in practice |
| Class 32 | Oct 23 | Écorché Anatomy 1- Muscles of the Legs |
| Class 33 | Oct 30 | Anatomy 1- The forms of the legs |
| Class 34 | Nov 6 | Anatomy 1- Legs in practice |
| Class 35 | Nov 13 | Écorché Anatomy 1- Fat pads |
| Class 36 | Nov 20 | Anatomy 1- Fat in action |
| Class 37 | Nov 27 | Hiatus |
| Class 38 | Dec 4 | Écorché Anatomy 1- Sexual Features- feminine |
| Class 39 | Dec 11 | Écorché Anatomy 1- Sexual Features- masculine |
| Class 40 | Dec 18 | Anatomy 1- Sexual variations |
| Class 41 | Dec 25 | Hiatus |
| Class 42 | Jan 1 | Hiatus |
| Class 43 | Jan 8 | Anatomy 1- Various bodies- Common Variations |
| Class 44 | Jan 15 | Anatomy 1- Various bodies- Obesity |
| Class 45 | Jan 22 | Anatomy 1- Various bodies in practice |
| Class 46 | Jan 29 | Anatomy 1- I can’t draw Hands |
| Class 47 | Feb 5 | Anatomy 1- Hand form and anatomy |
| Class 48 | Feb 12 | Anatomy 1- I just realized I can’t draw Feet either |
| Class 49 | Feb 19 | Anatomy 1- Foot form and anatomy |
| Class 50 | Feb 26 | Anatomy 1- Face Forms |
| Class 51 | Mar 4 | Anatomy 1- Facial expression |
| Class 52 | Mar 11 | Hiatus |