>>4288609The purpose of learning muscles is being able to draw mindfully, so that you're not "guessing" a bump or a curve should be here or there; Instead you just know that a certain musle should be there. But if you reach the same effect by studying reference or copying someone's work or by any other method, you do you. Some people find it easier to learn the muscles, some people just remember the "landmarks" visually (picrel - landmarks described in loomis; note that he isnt using any anatomical names here, just describing the visuals). Some people rely on visual library, some people rely on understanding, some people just go with intuition. Many, many artists draw the figure correctly without ever thinking about anatomy, they just trained themselves to get the visual landmarks right.
It should become a "built-in' feature for you - you wanna draw a figure, okay, so you automatically draw this bump, that curve, etc. Remember that any studies you do should be done with intent of *memorizing* and getting used to drawing the subject of your study, don't copy mindlessly.
>When should I stop?When you don't have to "guess" anything and feel confident about your ability to draw the body in a convincing way.
> I worry I may be misusing my timeAgain - the most important, most recognizable "landmarks" will help you with both realism and stylization. Don't focus on the tiny details if you don't want to create super realistic, detailed figures. Just ask yourself: am I able to draw this body part "right"? If you're not, study only until you're able to get it right. Then you can move on. Look and stylized drawings and super realistic drawings and figure out what they have in common - that's what you wanna learn.
And most importantly, don't be afraid to rely on your intuition, you know what's best for you. And remember to keep it all fun and enjoyable, all studies and no personal work is one of the worst thing you can do to yourself as a developing artist.
