Famous Artists Course Fomour Artists Schools, Ine, Westport, Connecticut Artistic anatomy and the human figure in motion Lesson Albert Dorne Fred Ludekens Norman Rockwell Al Parker Ben Stahl Stevan Dohanos Jon Whitcomb Robert Fawcett Peter Helek George Giusti Austin Briggs Harold Von SchmidtAnatomy and figure drawing “The human figure fs nacure’s most marvelous accomplishment 1 has a simplicity that ean be appreciated by everyone, ye ts rechanisn i so mysterious that without a Knowledge of 3920 fomy iis hard to understand and harder silt dene "Thisisthe reason that we, ay atin must study ana learn the arinic anatomy ofthe figure ~ the nowledge we gain will help "sto make convincing drawings or paintings ofthe human form in every positon, in every action or attitude, {In his lesion se wil rin you in only the ewental of figure construction and anatomy. The art student i not the sadent of tmadicine tf either necesiry nor desirable for him t learn the complete details of the functions and actions of every ind idual muscle, tendon and bone in the by. However, we will ‘overall the fundamental requirements in fgute contruction ‘hich are important to your training. We vil lave out the honesentas Bones and muscles have a distinct beating on the outed appearance of the bedy and on the action the body ean per form. So, in this lesson, we ae going to show you how the bone and muscle structure works and eat i loks ike in action wells repore. As you study and dra, emember to sar with the basic gure. Use the Bone and mule seructue ta refine and modify the simple basi ie forms —to make them snore life Tike. Never loe sight ofthe fact shat your study of aatony isa study of chcedimensional form. ‘These bones and muscle are not flat bands of lines beneath the skin —they are slid forms that protrude from the base igure (lke the bony kneecap or the biceps when you flex your mule) or ext back into ie (Uke the socket in which your eye ss Tromesperience xe knoe that beginning students of anatomy have a tendency to lose sight ofthe basic form ofthe figure when they star to study anatomy. Vou can avoid this ero i you wll look back though Lesson 4 and ahead to puges 2 and 25 of this lesson to observe thatthe basic figure ness vey litle addition for refinement of form to wu i into real tama being. Do not make the mistake of thinking tha the more bones and muscles you put ia, che more real your drawing will ppear Instead spend yous time in a careful study ofeach sage of 0 drawing. As you work, ak yourself: "Have I made these gure forme no simple ~ ny drawing nothing but smother bei ture or have T pot in too much detail and destroyed all he form, ending up with « medical chart inseat of Bgure draw ing?" "The ideal of couse, les between these extremes One of the best ways to judge hove wel you are using your knowledge fof artistic anatomy 8 to study the examples of gure drawings and paintings by members of your Faculty and compare there Saeeees ‘When you study the fgure inaction, you will observe that an amaring variety of action is disloed in every movernent, yet these movements do notin the least alter the basic onstruction ofthe igure. Many of the variations of small forms an struc: ‘ural details which ate significant in thr places are lost inthe larger and base form of some stronger action. Nivays remember {hisimportanttact, for with this broad point of view you will void many problems in drawing the figure ‘Again, we wish to point out that you are a atudent of art, am ‘noc of medicine. Memorizing the names of the bones and mus desis not a important part of your study of anatomy Ln sone fases a certain amount of thief unavoidable, but most of your time and interest shoulé be devoted to studying and drawing the (anus and actions of the bones and muscles as they affect the outward appearance of the figure You will find that you ean dave clothing much more canvine ingly if you know the form benesth i, al hove changes with diferent actions. Many times you have seen a drawing of the figure in which the clothing or drapery has been beautifully thane —but it seems to have no connection withthe gure it is supposed to clothe. The reaon for this is thatthe artist did not have enough Knowledge of the gure iself before he drew the drapery. 10 that he cou iot make yous “feel” the igure Underneath. The forms and divections which drapery takes are almost always entirely dependent upon the structure and action ofthe Ryure underneath, Since most af the figures you wil draw will be clothed, this is another retwon for stndyingstmpe ana omy. ‘You cannot dissed the great importance of anatomy in figure drawing any mote than you can build «howe and diy regard its foundation and the basi constuction in it which holds the house together ~ fom the inside, Anatomy is funda rental in figure drawing. 1¢ will help you to Know the figure and interpret it, both from life and photographs. As you im prove your knowledge of anatomy you vil be able to draw bet ter from memory, too, You ill not be limited to showing the figure in just few accudes, but will beable to draw it skill: fully and confidently in any action you wish to portray {a Se epi ohv er ard wo Ietteage of snmp ont pred oy ing is eran neti tata oun erecthe atte psa nsw en Bones and muscles affect the surface of the figure Robert Fawcett, one of the greste drafismen among today's professional artis, made these drawings to show you some im. Peet points to look for in eying anatomy and ROW to Use them in drawing the human figire, Although these drawings tne based on anatomical knovelege, no sense as attention 10 fnatomical details been permitted to weaken oF destroy the solid form ofthe Sgure Taweet’s drawings show he i larly aware of those parts of the body surface where the bone determines the form, of the prs where the frm muscle creutes the contour, and where the Boy is soft and faty. In ocher words he doesn't simply draw the whole igure with «ufone Tne, a8 though the body were sin unarying shy mass ‘Notice that the artists pencil lines along the soter, fleshy pants of the body actually Have a sft, curving qualty, while he thes stronger, more angular accents to indicate that bone i near the surface: His sensitivity tothe dilerence in the appearance fof Westy forms an bony ones is che main reason why the draw: ings appear lielite ‘Sklar Teton ce Fine tomate stone earl See thStructure is more subtle in the female Exactly the sme principles hold erve in drawing the female figure a in drawing the male. Alchough the dllerences between bone, muscle and soft fesh are not quite xo obvious and easy 10