I usually break down my muscle charcacters into two different body types. There are the Joanna Thomas’s and the Amber Deluca’s who have very wide muscular structure. These body types are the ones I use for both larger female characters (such as Jasper and Zarya) and can also be used effectively for male characters as well.
These figures are more on the larger side of bone structures, very broad shoulders and a wide base. Personally, I use these body types a lot for drawing muscular bodies that are to appear “imposing” or “dominant”.
And then you have your Brandi Mae’s, Kat Meyer’s andAbby Marie’s. These body types are more toned and slender compared to the aforementioned bulkier structure. I use this for characters who are muscular, but still have a more athletic build (like Jill, and Jade).
In terms of actual rendering, recently, I found that rendering muscles with value instead of line creates a more genuine effect. Because muscles on the body are simply extensions of skin, just like fat, using as like line as possible can take the illusion of muscle much further. The only exception to the rule is if the drawing is lineart. In that situation, rendering muscle with line is inevitable.
Of course, one of your best references is consulting a muscular anatomy chart. There are plenty of them on the internet, and a simple google search will give you what you need to get started. Studying this chart will help you understand how light hits certain ridges in a muscular body.
And lastly, collect references from my types of bodybuilders, male, female, big, small, short, tall, everything! The one aspect of drawing muscular characters that we all forget is that muscles build on the body differently for everyone based on their bone structure. So be sure to grab as many reference photos as you can to get a great idea of how it works.
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