Figure Drawing in Proportion: Easy to Remember, Accurate Anatomy for Artists

Description

In contrast to the standard method for measuring figure proportions in various fractions and multiples of the human head, this novel approach to anatomy for artists is based on easy-to-remember equivalences. The reader will learn, for example, that the width of the hand is equivalent to the width of the knee. It also equals the height of the neck and the width of the foot. The reader will be encouraged to learn this system, not by abstract memorization, but by the kinetic understanding of his or her own body. Because human bodies do not vary all that greatly in proportion, the reader can then transfer this understanding to the model, and, most important, to the figure drawn on the page. FEATURES * Includes basic anatomy and drawing information * Breaks the body down into 16 parts or regions with techniques for determining the height, width and depth of each * 5-7 step-by-step demonstrations help the reader put the proportion equivalences into practice * Concludes with a "checklist" in the form of a short poem of rhyming couplets to help the reader make sure his figure drawing is properly proportioned

Michael Massen, New York, NY, is the author of The Artist's Guide to Drawing the Clothed Figure. He studied at the Art Students League of New York and the New York Academy of Art.