Hi, I'm Stan Prokopenko, welcome to another episode of Proko!
In this lesson I'll teach you how to draw the triceps.
Whether you want to draw Buff Pikachu, or something normal, triceps are an important
part of the arm.
The triceps have three asymmetrical heads surrounding a large, flat, tendinous zone.
The three heads are distinctly separate from each other.
They're called the medial head, the lateral head, and the long head.
The medial head is the "Baby Bear" of the group.
It's mostly covered up from the back, so you only see a little bit of it.
The lateral head is "Mama Bear" and it gets the entire lateral side to itself.
But the long head is the biggest.
It's the "Papa Bear."
It sits above and partially on top of the medial head.
Because of the long head-medial head combo on the medial side of the tendon, the triceps
are asymmetrical.
Most of its mass is at the inside of the arm.
The three heads originate in different places, but they all insert along the edges of the
triceps tendon, which attaches to the elbow.
Or as you fancy people call it, the olecranon of the ulna...
About half of the triceps' overall length is taken up by this tendon, so it's important
to understand the shape and design of the tendon as much as it is to understand the
muscle heads themselves.
The tendon creates a flat zone in the middle of the triceps, and the other forms bulge
out around it.
It's kinda like a push-up bra for mama bear and papa bear.
When the triceps flex they straighten out the elbow, the opposite of the biceps and
brachialis.
Alright, let's take a closer look at each, starting with Mama Bear.
Lateral Head
It originates from just below the head of the humerus to about halfway down the bone.
It inserts at the upper 2/3 of the triceps tendon, along the lateral edge.
It has this distinct comma shape, with the main mass sitting above the tendon and a thin
tail tapering down alongside the tendon.
So, egg-shaped body, and a thin long tail.
From the side, you'll see the round body high up on the arm and the flat tendon reaching
down to the elbow.
Medial Head
Next up is the medial head.
There's something very unusual about this Baby Bear: this muscle mass lies underneath
and is protected by its tendinous blankie.
The medial head originates from a large portion of the humerus; the lower two-thirds.
But in back view it's mostly covered up by the triceps tendon and the long head.
It's like the brachialis of the back of the arm.
Remember the bologna sandwich from the previous lesson?
The medial head spills out from the sides, like the bologna in a sandwich.
The medial head inserts on the lower 1/3 of both edges of the tendon and also the interior
plane of the tendon.
It's superficial out on both sides of the tendon, but moreso on the medial side, for
which it gets its name.
When seen from the inside view, more of its length is visible extending up the humerus
before the long head overlaps it.
Long Head
As you might have guessed, Papa Bear is the largest of the three heads.
It originates from the outside edge of the scapula, under the shoulder joint, close to
where the biceps originate.
It dives between the teres major and teres minor on its way to the scapula, but skin
and fat soften this overlap, so it's not obvious on the surface.
Also, all the origins are covered by the deltoid, so you won't see the upper portion of the
triceps.
But, I would still take note of the long head originating at the scapula so that you design
your forms to point in the right direction.
The long head inserts along the upper two-thirds of the triceps tendon, on the medial side.
It has a flattened, teardrop form.
There's a weird thing that happens with the long head near the armpit.
This extra piece of tendon creates a furrow when the triceps are flexed, which splits
the long head in half at the upper end.
It's this wide, vertical furrow.
It's a common mistake to look at the bottom half and confuse it with the medial head.
But now you know.
So, you won't make that mistake.
Tendon
Like I said before, the tendon takes up roughly half the length of the muscle, although tendon-to-muscle
ratios vary between people.
The tendon sits on top of the medial head, not on the humerus bone directly.
It creates a large flat zone, and all the bulky heads attach around its edges.
The triceps tendon has a long pentagon shape.
And remember, it's asymmetrical.
The whole thing is slanted toward the outside.
The bulk of the triceps sits on the inside of the arm, and then the tendon points off
the other way laterally.
The tendon becomes narrower as it goes down to attach to the elbow.
The roof shape of this pentagon is shorter and more horizontal on the outside.
It's longer and more vertical on the inside.
In the next lesson, we’ll learn about the forearms.
Let me know in the comments what want to learn about the forearms.
What do you struggle with?
If you agree with someone else’s comment, upvote it and I’ll make sure to include
the most requested ones in the next lesson.
Assignment
As with the previous few lessons, you assignment is to do quicksketch drawings of the arms,
focusing on the gesture and then adding the forms of the triceps.
Pay attention to asymmetry of the triceps, and clearly identify the 3 heads and the tendon.
I like to design the triceps using angular lines, trying to create dynamic interesting
shapes.
Since you've already mastered the biceps, brachialis, and deltoid, identify and design
those too.
Next time, we'll learn about the forearms.
So, we have a premium section for students that want to learn more.
The premium section has extended lessons with more information about the topic.
It also has additional drawing demonstrations.
There's an ebook version of each lesson that you can download as a PDF.
And finally the Premium section has 3d models that you can spin around, study, and draw
from any angle.
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Thanks