countless times i have been told studying anatomy will help me improve my skills, not once has anybody told me where to start and what kind of anatomy to study, should i be studying the muscles and bones or should i be studying what shapes make up the human body (cylinders,spheres, and cubes) maybe both? where do i start and how do i apply it to my work (once i start making my own characters). HELP!

Most people start with the face as that's the most communicative part of the body and usually the first thing people see and look at. Then people kind of move from there to the rest of the body. The hardest part is the fingers so I suggest you study that excessively. But whatever part of the human body you start drawing or if you start drawing with shapes or not, I suggest you check out Burne Hogarth's anatomy books. (Yeah, yeah, I recommended it in another of your thread but I'll state it here again. C: )

Btw, drawing the body in shapes or lines helps drawing the full body when you're starting to learn how to draw the body or are doing a difficult angle.

thank you rio I will definetly checkout that book. I feel like such an ametuer compared to everybody else in the forum XD

You're welcome and don't sweat it! Everyone starts in the beginning. It's just a matter of catching up now... C:

Next time they say that, tell them to show and teach you or stfu about it. People yell study anatomy but they don't understand how unhelpful they are being because no one is teaching you how or what to study. The best advice I can give you unless you are getting information from people who know what they are talking about, and not just some random person on the internet (this this also includes me) ignore them. Chances are they probably aren't doing anything to improve their own skill or just someone who just draw and don't understand the fundamentals of art.

Try books that are made especially for artists. I have an old "Anatomy for Artists" book that was passed to me from my mother, and it helps to go through chapter by chapter, reading the text and then sketching the accompanying drawings, all while trying to understand the connection between what you are reading (the education) to the piece of anatomy that you are drawing. It may also benefit you to search for a guide that has hand-drawn images instead of photographs or super realistic renderings. I find simple (yet accurate) charcoal pencil drawings to be easier to study at first.

what's the author of the book you have? It sounds very good ^.^

I don't know which one MoufMouf used, but I loved this one when I used it:
http://www.amazon.com/Anatomy-Artist-Sa ... 078948045X

These are the two ones I got:
http://www.amazon.com/Atlas-Human-Anatomy-Artist-Galaxy/dp/0195030958/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1289745793&sr=1-3
http://www.amazon.com/Classic-Human-Anatomy-Function-Movement/dp/0823024156/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1289745812&sr=1-1

Better to spend money on books, 'cause the authors are being paid to give you information. xD

Yes, I have to agree that you are much better off consulting a book than a tutorial you found on the internet. Not all tutorials are bad, but I have found that books have been overwhelmingly more helpful than online tutorials.

If you have the will power to actually sit down and pay attention, and close Firefox, Chrome, IE, Safari, your silly goose, and whatever else you have going on. And you have an "artist eye". I'd suggest this tutorial from a post thread Saint made a while back.
Recommended you actually read, as well as pay attention to the pictures, it doesn't go in ultra depth, but just deep enough to where an artist will understand, we're not doctors here people.
http://hippie.nu/~unicorn/tut/xhtml/

Otherwise use books like everyone else said.

A few tips from me:
1: Time yourself speed drawing human figure poses. That means maybe 30 seconds or maybe 1 minute spent on each drawing. It'll get you used to the shapes of the body eventually, and will overall help you out.
2: If you wanna go the organic route, most body parts are a cylindrical shape, so use cylinders. Or if you're like me, use lines and various shapes of ovals combined with shape and definition.
3: Draw
4: ???
5: Profit.

here good site that have many anatomy pose
and the best thing about it that
it's all in 3d
http://www.posemaniacs.com/