THE HUMAN FIGURE

THE HUMAN FIGURE

John H. Vanderpoel

SUCCESSFULLY to build up the human figure
in a drawing, painting or statue, either from
imagination or from a model, the artist or sculptor
must be possessed of a keen sense of construction.
The human body, with its varied beauty of
construction, character and action, is so complex
that it is essential for the student, artist and
sculptor not only to have a clear knowledge of its
intricate forms, but a comprehensive understanding
and a habit of simple treatment in order to
apply this knowledge to its artistic end.
The artist is immediately concerned with the
external and the apparent. He views nature as
color, tone, texture and light and shade, but back
of his immediate concern, whether he be figure
painter or illustrator, in order to render the
human form with success, he stands in need of
skill in the use of his knowledge of structure, of
his understanding of action and of his insight into
character. These things require a period of profound
academic study.
When we consider the infinite variety of action
of the human form, its suppleness, grace and
strength of movement in the expression of the
fleeting action, and farther consider that the surface
of the body is enveloped in effects of light
and shade, iridescent color and delicate tone, it is
not to be wondered at that the student's eye is
readily blinded to the hidden construction of the
form.
At this stage of the student's advancement a
careful study of artistic anatomy, as elucidated
by Richter, Marshall or Duval, familiarizing him
with the bony structure of the skeleton, and the
location, attachment and function of the muscles,
will not only be helpful in furthering his own
research, but will enable him the more readily to
understand the theory of construction of the
human body as presented in this book.

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