Art Students' Anatomy

Edmond J. Farris

• Publisher: Dover Publications
• Year: 2012
• Print ISBN: 9780486207445
• eBook ISBN: 9780486158105
• Topic: Art
• Subtopic: Art Techniques

For art students working with the human figure, this comprehensive study of the bones, muscles, and surface forms of the living body will be one of the most useful (and most used) additions they can make to their private libraries. More than 150 illustrations, mostly full-page photographs and labeled sketches of undraped male and female bodies, provide the reader with anatomical studies of unrivaled clarity and unquestioned accuracy.
After an introduction covering the proportions of the adult male, the adult female, and the infant at various ages, the author devotes 50 pages to the human skeletal system. Besides pictures and detailed drawings of the major bones of the body, he also includes x-rays showing the bone structure of the hand and foot and the movements of the shoulder, elbow, and knee joints.
A section on the muscular system follows, including reproductions of the remarkable Albinus engravings ("The most beautiful and among the most accurate anatomical figures ever published." — Charles Singer), 36 photographs and labeled sketches of living models, and seven drawings showing the attachments of muscles to the skeleton. The book concludes with a number of poses and action photographs illustrating surface anatomy in various actions such as dancing and throwing a ball.
This is one of the few and perhaps the best of those books that teach anatomy using chiefly living objects for their illustrative work. By doing so, it fills an urgent need, for most art students cannot afford living models or expensive courses in anatomy. Now, however, they can use this practical and inexpensive home-study course to achieve a clearer insight into the complicated mechanism of the human body, as simplified by Dr. Farris.

CHAPTER I

LANDMARKS AND PROPORTIONS

There are landmarks evident in various regions of the body essentially important to the artist. These landmarks, as indicated in the figure on the opposite page, deal primarily with bones which cause projections on the surface. The details concerning the landmarks will be considered later in the text.

 

The human body is composed of the following parts:

The head (caput) includes the SKULL (cranium) and the FACE (facies). The face includes the mouth (os), nose (nasus), and eye (oculus).

The neck (collum) joins the head with the trunk. The sternocleidomastoid muscles, the throat (larynx), and the sternal parts of the clavicles are easily visible.

The trunk (truncus) is divided into the CHEST (thorax) and BELLY (abdomen). On the chest, one can distinguish the rib outline, the nipples of the mammary glands, and the lower border of the sternum, which serves as a line of separation between the thorax and abdomen. On the abdomen, the navel (umbilicus) is recognized as a depression at approximately the mid-abdomen. The inguinal ligament separates the trunk from the lower extremity. The BACK (dorsum) from the neck to the hip bones (coxae) is usually considered the hinder or posterior part of the trunk. The back of the neck is known as the nape (nucha).

 

The upper extremity (extremitas superior) is divided into four portions: SHOULDER (omos), ARM (brachium), FOREARM (antibrachium), and the HAND (manu ), which includes the wrist (carpus).

 

The lower extremity (extremitas inferior) is also divided into four parts: HIP (coxa), THIGH (femur), LEG (crus), and FooT (pes), which includes the ankle (tarsus).

PROPORTIONS IN THE ADULT MALE

The “head-length” is the usual unit of measurement.

The average body is 7½ heads in length.

The shoulders at the greatest width, measures about 2 heud-lengths.

The supra-sternal fossa to the tip of the middle finger measures ½ the height of the body.

 

The body may be divided into two equal halves as in the diagram·

AB = BC where B represents the pubic arch.

FIG. 2.—Posterior surface view showing landmarks and proportions.

The lower half (BC) may be subdivided into two equal halves:

BD = DC where D represents a point just below the knee.

The trunk (Fig. 1) may be divided into equal thirds as follows:

EF = FG = GB where E is the supra-sternal fossa

F is the xiphoid process of sternum

G is the navel

B is the pubic arch.

PROPORTIONS IN THE ADULT FEMALE

The body is 7½ head-lengths. The trunk is slightly greater in length than that of the male, while the length of the lower limbs is slightly shorter. The pelvis is broader in the female, while the width of the shoulders is narrower.

PROPORTIONS IN THE INFANT

The proportions of the infant may be represented in head-lengths as follows:

Birth—1st year	4 head-lengths
4 years	5 head-lengths
9 years	6 head-lengths (see page 125)
15 years	7 head-lengths
(Adult	7½ head-lengths)

CHAPTER II

THE SKELETON AS A WHOLE

The skeleton forms the framework of the body. It includes bones, cartilages, and articulations which bind the bones together.

Functions of Bones.

1. To afford surface for attachment of muscles.
2. To afford protection.
3. To serve as levers.
4. To bear weight.

Shape of Bones. The bones, according to their shapes, are divided into four types:

1. Long bone—Example, humerus.
2. Short bone—Example, wrist bones.
3. Flat bone—Example, scapula.
4. Irregular—Example, vertebra.

Sex of Bones. The male bones are characterized by:

1. Greater development of processes and ridges.
2. Greater broadness.
3. Greater size of the articular surfaces.

Number of Bones. It is impossible to state an exact number of bones for skeletons in general. No two skeletons are identical. However, two hundred separate bones (206) is the usual number of bones, of which one hundred and twenty-six...

Table of contents

• DOVER BOOKS ON ART INSTRUCTION
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• PREFACE
• PREFACE—Second Edition
• Table of Contents
• INTRODUCTION TO ANATOMY
• CHAPTER I - LANDMARKS AND PROPORTIONS
• CHAPTER II - THE SKELETON AS A WHOLE
• CHAPTER III - THE SKELETAL SYSTEM
• CHAPTER IV - ARTICULATIONS AND MOVEMENTS
• CHAPTER V - BONY LANDMARKS ON THE HUMAN FIGURE
• CHAPTER VI - THE MUSCULAR SYSTEM
• CHAPTER VII - MUSCLES OF THE HEAD AND NECK
• CHAPTER VIII - MUSCULAR LANDMARKS OF THE HUMAN FIGURE
• CHAPTER IX - MUSCLES GROUPED ACCORDING TO THEIR PRINCIPAL ACTION
• CHAPTER X - SKIN, FASCIAE, AND FAT
• CHAPTER XI - SURFACE ANATOMY OF THE CHILD
• CHAPTER XII - POSES OF THE MALE AND FEMALE FIGURE
• CHAPTER XIII - ACTION PHOTOGRAPHS
• CHAPTER XIV - STUDENTS’ DRAWINGS
• CHAPTER XV - GLOSSARY OF ANATOMICAL WORDS AND COMMON MEANING
• A CATALOG OF SELECTED DOVER BOOKS IN ALL FIELDS OF INTEREST