Creature Concept Doodle on the iPad
Check out this timelapse creature sketch from one of our instructors & Concept Design master Carlos Huante. He did a doodle on the iPad and made an amazing piece of concept art using only his finger! "It was done with my fat finger....I got used to finger-painting on the iphone which is pretty confining..so painting on the ipad was like being released out of prison onto an open field...I was running in crazy eights with a big smile on my face.." We look forward to the next fingerpainting Carlos! click here to watch the video >

September On-Site Workshops are on the Horizon
We have an amazing line up of workshops available in the Fall. Starting off with our drawing workshops, we have anatomy master Michael Hamptons' Anatomy Contruction & Form (8/22-8/26), followed by animal expert Joe Weatherly's Animal & Comparative Anatomy (8/29-9/2). Next we have our Sculpting workshops, with master sculptor Eric Wilson's Human Anatomy level 1 (9/5-9/9), followed by Andrew Cawrse's Human Anatomy level 2 (9/12-9/16) and Human Anatomy level 3 (9/19-9/23) workshops. We then offer a 1 day Armature Making Workshop September 17th, and finally wrapping up with two VFX titans Carlos Huante's Creature Art Department(9/26-9/30) and Jordu Schell's Creature Anatomy Design ( 10/3-10/7) workshops. For Information about these workshops click the links above.

Our Anatomy Library is Expanding
We strive to provide you with the best anatomy resources available around the globe, whether you are studying human, animal, or creature anatomy. We have expanded our books selection to include our top picks. Have a suggestion for a book we should carry? Let us know!

Anyone Need a Hand with Making Armatures?
Because of the high demand, we are offereing an armature making workshop September 17th. Learn the techniques and materials we use for creating armatures for our workshops. We highly recommend this workshop for those who are taking the Carlos Huante Creature Art Department and/or the Jordu Schell Creature Anatomy Design Workshops. For more information on the Armature workshop, please click here >, for information on the Carlos Huante workshop click here >, and for information on the Jordu Schell workshop click here >

We Have a New Showroom!
Our new Showroom is located only minutes away from our On-Site Workshops facility. Come by and let our staff personally assist you in helping with decisions, demonstrations and information on anatomy products, books, dvds, tools, workshops, art materials and more. Please be aware that the Showroom is open by appointment only. To schedule an appointment and get directions to our store please call 510.769.1828.

We Hear Wedding Bells...
Gio Nakpil, one of our talented instructors at ATC, has recently wed to his sweetheart. Gio is currently working for Industrial Light & Magic, and assisted Carlos Huante in the Breaking Anatomy Masters workshop that was held in March. For more information about Gio, please visit our instructors page by clicking here >
Congratulations Gio!

Forest Rogers is the Carlos Huante Mentorship Challenge Winner!
Students in the Breaking Anatomy MASTERS class were challenged to finish their sculpts, and whoever got closest to matching Carlos' design would win a 6 month mentorship with him. 15 students accepted the challenge, and all made a valliant effort. While there where many honorable mentions, the winner is Forest Rogers (forestrogers.com) fantasy artist and dinosuar sculptor extrodanaire. Congradulations Forest from everyone at ATC. click here to see the challenge submissions >

The Breaking Anatomy workshop was AMAZING!
Concept artist legend Carlos Huante left the whole class wanting more.  It truly was a Masters class, as students recieved amazing critiques to push their work to the next level.  It was a tough week, but at the end everyone in the class was smiling at their own personal growth.  It was rare enough to have Mr. Huante teach, but to top it off, he set up a challenge to his students to finish their sculpts, and whoever gets the closest by the 22nd recieves an unheard of 6 week mentorship from the miestro himself!  Good luck to all the 'MASTERS' students, its an amazing prize.

Lions, Tigers, and Bears oh my
Animal drawing guru Joe Weatherly held a weekend animal drawing workshop with AnatomyTools.com, and it was definately on the wild side.  The first day was a lecture on the art of animal drawing, Mr. Weatherly's process, and the 4 main animals to study in order to learn the anatomy of the animal kingdom.  The plan was then to go to the Oakland zoo, but unfortunatly mother nature decided to send us a ton of rain. We instead went to the Academy of Sciences in SF, which had both living and non-living specimins to draw from indoors, which gave students a variety of animals to study from. We excited to have Mr. Weatherly back in the Fall, where we have have a week of his divine animal knowledge.

Who needs a Circus
Our good friend Damon Bard returned to teach students how to sculpt both animals and humans.  He even brought in his dogs to show comparative anatomy between animal and human, as well as animal to animal.  The human sculptors were treated to an amazing Cirque du Soleil model who could hold the most dynamic of poses for an amazing amount of time.  We would even catch Stephan "stretching" in the most awe inspiring ways between poses, like hand-stand push ups on two chairs, and even a impromtu performance on hanging fabric.  Instructor Andrew Cawrse masterfully communicated his anatomy expertise, which was beneficial to both human and animal sculptors alike.

A Gentle Giant
Level 2 was an eceptional course taking lessons learned in level 1 and applying it to a more dynamic pose. Also, we were honored to have one of our favorite models, Jennings, because he is toned from head to toe.  The lectures by anatomical master Andrew Cawrse, as well as master sculptor Eric Wilson, were very helpful in communicating basic forms of each muscle group, which was taught both in 2D  and 3D. 2D by drawing the basic muscle shape, and 3D by using student sculptures to demo on, while simultaneously broadcasting HD video of the demo on a large screen TV so everyone could see every detail.

Ready, Set, Go!
The Level 1 workshop was an amazing introduction into the world of anatomy.  Instructor Andrew Cawrse, gave demos for each muscle group, which students would sculpt on a custom armature that had the skull, ribcage, and pelvis provided.  Referencing our world class model Denise and the notes from each lecture, students were able to sculpt a half skin, half muslce anatomy figure regardless of background or experience.  Sculpting master Eric Wilson tagged teamed with Andrew to give valuable 1-on-1 time with every student to ensure they were understanding the material.

Announcing Guest Instructor Damon Bard.
We are honored that famous artist Damon Bard is teaming up with Instructor Andrew Cawrse to teach this years Advanced Human & Animal Anatomy. For close to 20 years, Damon Bard has been working as a freelance artist in the entertainment industry primarily as a sculptor but also as a designer of characters, animals and creatures. Since then, he has contributed to nearly 30 films and other various projects during his career. Damon has also been fortunate enough to have worked along side some of the most talented, acclaimed, and awarded artists and directors in the industry and on a few of the most successful films ever made; Coraline, Kung Fu Panda, Ratatouille, Shrek 2, Star Wars: Episode 3, Over The Hedge, and Madagascar, to name a few.

AnatomyTools.com fans found this in the new Extended Version of 'Avatar" the movie.
Director James Cameron's Epic movie "Avatar" was released last week as an extended special DVD 3 x disc set. We were delighted that one of our fans spotted this scene in the 'Navi" alien indigenous school room, where an educational anatomy poster comparing human anatomy with the Navi anatomy is featured on the back-wall, 'using our Anatomy figure'. A big honor for our work to be in the movie.

A few years ago during the making of the film we were approached to get permission to use the imagery, but never knew where or if it ended up in the movie - So now we know, very cool!
more pictures >

Bravo TV Features our Anatomy Figure as primary reference for top Designers
This weeks Fashion Competition focused on human anatomy as the challenge and inspiration for designers to create from.

We were approchaed by Bravo TV earlier in the year if contestants and the studio could use our anatomy figure as their chosen on-site and on-show direct reference for the fashion designers.

Contestants visited the world famous "Body-World" exhibit of real dissected humans, and using photographs from this exhibition had to design fashion inspired by the spectacle. We were very pleased to be able to assist the designers in their quest to understand human anatomy to inspire their creations.
Picture featured is with this weeks contestant winner, with our figure on his desk in the foreground.
more pictures >