Anatomy and Construction of the Human Figure

Charles Earl Bradbury

• Publisher: Dover Publications
• Year: 2013
• ISBN:
  9780486141312
• Topic: Arte
• Subtopic: Enseñanza del arte

To draw or paint human figures truly, an artist must have as much understanding of bones and muscles as of form. This beautiful guide by a respected artist and teacher provides that knowledge. Realistic plates of bones and muscles show form and function, while full-color images make graphic distinctions between bone, muscle, and tendon. Drawings throughout the book emphasize fundamentals of anatomy and show simple methods of building the forms.
Author Charles Earl Bradbury (1888-1967) takes a two-part approach in this book. The first part features a self-contained treatment of the bones of the skeleton and how they relate to the body's outline and muscle masses. The second focuses on muscles and their actions, showing how they are constructed and how they look in the human form. Male and female structures are compared and contrasted throughout the text. Designed specifically for classroom use, this volume is also a priceless reference.

PART I

What the bas

c structure of the figure actually
is & how it appears on the living form.
Construction illustrated & explained

INTRODUCTION

Know what the parts are like; then, how they may be constructed

THE PROBLEM. The construction of the figure cannot be learned simply by looking at good drawings. No amount of inspection of such material will equip one to do original work. Only by systematic practice, not only from life but also from imagination, can one acquire the ability to construct the figure.

It is necessary to know two things:

1. What the parts are actually like.
2. What are the simple principles by which they are constructed.

It is the purpose of this book to supply the essential information on these points.

PROCEDURE. To learn to draw any anatomical form, study it from the chart, then attempt to draw it from memory. After expressing all you know, compare your drawing with the original. This will show you what you have failed to understand. Now make another memory drawing of the part and compare. This time your drawing will show more knowledge. The process should be repeated until you really have the character of the part so that you can draw it without reference to the original.

Remember that, for creative purposes, the material is of little use until you know it so thoroughly that you can represent the figure or a given part without aid of any kind.

Merely to copy will never give you the power to create.

The secret of progress in drawing is to apply the instructions immediately. Ultimately most students will discover the profound truths in the simple teachings, but delay is unnecessary. Endless repetition of wrong methods is never a prerequisite to right study. You can begin at once to practice the methods that have been proved to be sound and that will facilitate your work. It makes no difference in what style or at what stage you are working. If you use line or pattern in any manner, you are drawing and you need all the aid you can get from sound methods of study.

The aim is to develop your creative ability

FUNDAMENTALS

NATURE OF THE HUMAN FIGURE. Though the average human figure is essentially the same as it has been for many thousands of years, in art uses it is interpreted in an infinite variety of ways. The models used by the Greek sculptors were probably not very different from those used by present-day artists. There were as greatly varied types among the peoples of that day as there are among us today. The forms of those who posed for the artists of ancient Greece were freely idealized. Form was simplified, proportions were changed, dignity was emphasized, and many details of the form were reorganized and given an arbitrary character, to suit the taste of the artist.

The human figure is unchanging

In all ages, even. from prehistoric times, those who attempted to represent the human form must have tried to find out as much as possible about its structure. Certainly in those cases where a more or less faithful re-creation of the figure was attempted, a thorough study of its anatomy was obviously required. And for those expressions of the figure that are highly stylized, conventionalized, or abstracted, there must also be demanded enough knowledge of the human form so that it can be intelligently used as a motif for invention. Even to do a proper job of distortion, you first need to know how the figure actually is constituted.

A thorough knowledge of the figure is a prerequisite for its use in art

Anyone who cannot construct the figure in its true relations certainly has not the discrimination required successfully to alter these relations. Creative power does not stem from ignorance or inability. To comprehend the true relations and use them require discerning vision and understanding. Attempts at mere copying of the form are without value, for copying is mechanical imitation, often without comprehension.

The human figure is a complicated structure. When it is considered that there are more than 500 separate muscles in the body, some idea of its complexity may be gained. For the physician, a complete knowledge of the human body is a prerequisite. But for the artist, it is essential only to know the forms that immediately affect the external appearance.

The nature of the human figure

Of the many muscles of the body, a large number are so thoroughly hidden as to have no appreciable effect upon the surface form. And only a small fraction of the total number actually determine this form and need to be known by the artist.

Artist needs to know the reasons for outward appearances

With the skeleton, the case is different. Because the bones furnish the only fixed masses on the figure, it is necessary for the artist to know most of them. But, as in the case of the muscles, of the 222 bones in the adult figure, the number that must be considered may be reduced by grouping and by taking into account the necessity of studying only those on one side of the skeleton.

Throughout the book, the male figure is taken as the model for study, for the obvious reason that in the male the muscular structure attains a greater development and is more clearly defined than in the female type, in which the separation of the muscles is lost in the layer of fatty tissue—however slight—that is distributed over the surface.

Tha male figure is used as the basis of study

This tissue gently modulates the muscular form, rounding out angles, largely eliminating the divisions between muscles, and rendering the entire form more subtle and delicate. Without it, the female form would lose its chief distinguishing characteristic and become muscular.

Anatomical shapes have the quality of design. They are of interestingly varied pattern and have an integrated relationship to one another. All form suggests plane or solid geometric figures. On the back of the trunk, triangular figures predominate; on the front, rectangles and semicircles. The neck is cylindrical, with triangles in the front. The thigh is cylindrical, with a triangle to the inside. The ovals of the head and the palm of the hand, the rectangles of the back of the hips and the triangles of the feet are other examples of the geometric pattern that emphasizes character and contributes style to the form (Plate i).

The design element is conspicuous in the figure

CONSTRUCTION. To conceive the form in terms of geometric shapes is a great aid to construction.

Emphasize CHARACTER in the forms

To combat the restrictions imposed by the requirement that solid form must be represented on a flat surface, character has to be emphasized. Otherwise, drawings will lack this vital quality. So we cannot merely copy the model. Discriminating taste needs to be cultivated, so that one may know how to make the proper selection of those features that require accentuation. This comes only from systematic study.

The nature of construction

Construction consists in an inspection of (1) the direction and length of the main line of the part, (2) the relationship of the secondary lines to those principal ones.

Block in the whole form first. Then proceed to the larger divisions and lastly to the smaller parts, using plenty of fine, firm construction lines to mark all the relationships.

To keep your construction under control, never draw a form rigidly, but use light, free suggestion to indicate the locat...