Dedication

To my parents and grandparents

I must study politics and war, that my sons may have liberty to study mathematics, philosophy, and commerce, so that their children, in turn, may have the right and privilege to study painting, poetry, and music.

- John Adams

Acknowledgements

The creation of this manuscript was made possible by a generous grant from a foundation whose name, by request, has been withheld. I am grateful to its board, especially Dr. Frederick Seitz, President of the foundation, who simply can't be thanked enough.

The University of Miami School of Architecture kindly administered the grant and appointed me as a Research Associate for its duration. Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, Dean of the School, already had my respect and admiration, and now has my gratitude as well. I would also like to thank Professor Jorge Hernandez, Isa Garcia, and the rest of the staff at the SOA, who were instrumental in making the grant a success.

The idea in the Epilogue of the communion between eye, hand, and mind must be credited to a dear colleague at the SOA, David Fix.

I would like to thank my mother for reviewing the manuscript. Edith Einspruch's long career as a physical therapist was invaluable for correcting and clarifying the text. A dedicated handful of people helped with their readership, companionship, or simply their supportive presence while this book was made; I will always be grateful to them as well.

Foreword

This book is especially intended as a primer on artistic anatomy. If this is your first book on the subject, I offer you a warm welcome. Here is the logic of the body. It is not mysterious, and you can learn it. If you do, your figure drawings will be more convincing, more beautiful, and more easily done.

Until the present age, artists could hardly have gotten through their schooling or apprenticeship without this material being drummed into their heads. But the teaching of art has changed along with art itself, and anatomy is now often taught in a cursory way. This is perhaps necessary in order to talk about the great range of issues influencing art that didn't exist as recently as a hundred years ago, but it results in a smattering of knowledge, rendered ineffective by its incompleteness and disorder. When it occasionally produces artists who work with the figure, they are hindered by ignorance, and haunted by the shame of the paucity of their knowledge compared to even middling artists of every period from the Renaissance to Impressionism.

Art is a product of culture, and the cultural winds that filled the sails of the great masters of drawing have largely blown out for us. The sails are now full on a different class of vessels, and the art magazines report their meandering movements with laughable seriousness. But the good news is your interest in this volume. You are an indispensable member of a culture that refuses to let this information go out of existence despite fuming demands by certain parties that it do so. You have my best wishes, and my sincere hope that this book helps you in your efforts.

The pronunciations given in the text are pulled from some official sources - the dictionary, Taber's Cyclopedic Medical Dictionary, and others - and some unofficial ones. The American medical field uses a system of pronunciation that has not been adequately compiled into an authoritative corpus - students of medicine learn them from their teachers as an oral tradition. The pronunciations in this volume have been made to agree with common usage, even though they sometimes differ markedly from Taber's (whose pronunciations often grate on the ear of American medical practitioners). For this reason the reader may find inconsistencies between this volume and others, although any mistakes are my own.

As an introduction to anatomy, this book concentrates on the forms all people have in common. Thus it omits a number of important and interesting topics, notably proportion, and distinctions of age, race, fitness, and (excepting the primary sexual characteristics) gender. I am reserving these topics for a forthcoming book, which I believe is necessary in order to do them justice. In the meantime I would refer the reader to the Bibliography, especially Atlas of Human Anatomy for the Artist by Stephen Rogers Peck, my favorite treatment of this material, although many of the other authors cover it with great competence.

How to Use This Book

Drawing has been likened to a language that communicates visual forms. Figure drawing uses this visual vocabulary. It also has a vocabulary of terms for human anatomy that is derived from medical science.

No one would think of trying to learn a foreign language by reading a dictionary. Instead, one would begin by learning a few simple ideas. Through memorization, repetition, and usage (even if a little flawed at first), the student gradually attains fluency.

This is the approach recommended here. Learn the material as you would learn the vocabulary in any foreign language, reviewing what you know and adding a few ideas at a time. As for usage, think about these ideas as you draw from life, from memory, and from the drawings of masters. Soon you will be able to identify forms by sight, and you will draw them with confidence.

The Order of This Book

The organization of this book is designed to match the priorities of figure drawing. The common system in books on this topic is to start at the head and work down, although one book begins with the arm and another, the eye.

After some initial thoughts on the art of figure drawing, this book begins with the lower torso. The pelvis and the forms attached to it from above are the controlling masses of the body, an idea common to figure drawing, martial arts, and certain spiritual traditions. Here lies the center of gravity, which the rest of the body is obliged to maintain, and the root of the spine, which is the origin of most movement in the body (as anyone with a bad back can attest).

From here the book proceeds to the shoulder girdle, which is the origin of movement for the arms and head. Next comes the thigh and lower leg, the upper and lower arm, and the neck and throat. Last is the foot, hand, and head.

This center-outward approach is not as obvious as the top-down approach, but it corresponds to the needs of figure drawing, which requires the establishment of large central masses before locating limbs and extremities. As a result, the information will be more immediately applicable to one's figure drawing than if the head-to-toe order had been used.

A caution

A drawing teacher of mine once told this cautionary tale about anatomy and figure drawing.

It used to be the custom that an art student would spend quite a bit of time drawing from plaster casts before being allowed to draw from life. These casts were taken from heroic Greek statuary and models of the flayed figure, so the students had a solid foundation in anatomy before being faced with the living model.

Finally the first day of life drawing would come. A model would take her position on the stand - a slender girl in a relaxed pose. And the students would proceed to draw her as if she were a stonemason, coated in straining muscles from head to toe.

Anatomy is useful for conceiving the shape of the figure, but should not become a preconception that cannot be shaken off. Certain hard-working artists are prone to drawing figures that look anatomical rather than artistic. This is not unacceptable in particular kinds of illustration, but fine art drawing should be more sensitive. Use whatever information you can get, but don't let it use you.

The artist continually seeks the underlying principles. Anatomy, line, shpae, and mass must work together to create a cogent figure drawing.

Memory and the Act of Seeing

Seeing is heavily influenced by memory. This was perhaps best expressed by Henry David Thoreau, who wrote in his journal, Many an object is not seen though it falls within the range of our visual ray, because it does not come in the range of our intellectural ray, i.e., we are not looking for it. So, in the largest sense, we find only the world we look for.

Knowing anatomy brings the world of anatomy into view. Simply by learning the names, shapes, and positions of the muscles, we are able to see them on the figure and draw them, whereas before, they were invisible though in plain sight. Before, our intellectual ray was able merely to detect a fleshy field of bumps where a beautifully organized structure lay before us. As Leonardo da Vinci put it, you would think you were looking at a sack of walnuts rather than the human form, or a bundle of radishes rather than the muscles of figures.

So you will find that without any particular method of application, your anatomical knowledge will improve your figure drawing because your eyes will have become smarter along with your brain. Robert Beverly Hale, the greatest artist's anatomist of the Twentieth Century, had this to say: "First we draw what we see; then we draw what we know; finally we see what we know." And, I would add, we know what we see.

All drawings, in the end, are done from memory. As soon as you take your eyes off of the model and put them on your paper, you are working from the memory of your observations. These observations combine with your mental conception of the subject, itself a product of memory. And you use your arsenal of techniques to render it, an arsenal adapted from the technical successes of your drawings and others', also a product of memory.

It is therefore recommended that artists develop a complete and accurate mental representation of the human figure - a mental model, if you will. This mental model provides the conceptual framework for your figure drawings. S/he is hermaphroditic, and can be adjusted to one gender or the other with the proper adaptations, or perhaps you will have two, one male and one female. Ideally, you are able to pose this figure in your mind and draw it accurately - a challenge that will put your knowledge of anatomy to the test. When the living model sits before you, your mental model takes the same pose, and you use the latter to understand the former. The drawing on your paper is a combination of both, an agreement between your eyes and your mind.

Drawing the Masses First

One of the few dependable rules in art is that one should begin with the largest and most general shapes and end with the details. Thus once a framework is established, such as the skeletal armature described above, artists will draw the body as a series of large masses before going on to the details of the figure.

The first type is geometric masses, as in Cezanne's advice to treat nature in terms of the cylinder, the sphere, and the cone. With these forms and the block, one can create very satisfactory masses analagous to those on the figure. The many ways in which this can be done is beyond the scope of this book, but an excellent treatment of the topic is Constructive Anatomy by George Bridgman (see Bibliography). One serviciable idea is to use blocks for the head, ribcage, and pelvis, cylinders for the neck, waist, and limbs, and wedges for the hands and feet. When drawing, artists keep this notion (or one like it) in the background as they lay in the initial masses.

These shapes would be modified into to the ten large masses that organize this book: the lower torso, the shoulder girdle, the hip and thigh, the lower leg, the foot, the upper arm, the forearm, the hand, the neck, and the head.

With these forms in place, they can be divided into the smaller anatomical masses: hip and thigh into flank mass, quadriceps mass, inner thigh mass, and hamstrings; upper arm into biceps mass and triceps, and so on.

From here one can go on to describe the individual muscles: biceps mass develops into distinct shapes for biceps, brachialis, and coracobrachialis, and so forth for the rest of the body.

All Forms on the Body are Convex

The human figure should be treated as if it had no concavities. Just as one could touch any point on an egg with a pencil and find a curved surface rising out to meet it, the body as a whole and its individual components should be thought of as convex at all points.

The body is composed of masses of bone and flesh, and conceiving the body in terms of masses results in a more accurate conception. Beginners often have a rough time of figure drawing because of their inability to appreciate this point; what comes to their immediate attention are the shadows on the figure, which lurk in the hollows formed by the masses, and they render these instead of the masses themselves. Or they will see an outside contour line on the figure that may be generally concave, but can be seen by a more practiced eye to be formed by a series of convexities.

Anatomical knowledge is consummately helpful in this matter. Being able to identify the masses which form an outside contour allows one to think sculpturally in the midst of drawing, and create a convincingly dimensional form using line alone.

When faced with what seems like a depression on the figure, one should look for the masses on either side that form the depression and draw them instead. For example, consider the flexed forearm below. One can see the deep ridge between brachioradialis and extensor carpi radialis longus. On the left, this depression has been rendered with concave cross-contours. On the right, the two surrounding muscles have been rendered with convex cross-contours, with the depression indicated at their intersection. The right-hand drawing is clearly more effective and convincing.

Lines Between Functions

Strictly speaking, lines do not exist in nature. A line is a metaphor for a division between unlike areas. (In aggregate, such as in hatching or cross-contour modelling, they can take on other uses.) Thus the artist is free to put them wherever differences exist.

Artists will sometimes emphasize lines between groups of muscles whose actions differ or oppose: between the flexors (biceps, brachialis, coracobrachialis) and extensors (triceps) on the upper arm, or between the extensors (quadriceps group and sartorius) and adductors (adductor longus and its neighbors) on the thigh. These divisions correspond to those between the masses as described above, and they may provide opportunities to reinforce the apparent action of muscles in the drawing.

Outside Contour and Inside Contour

An outside contour is a line that rests on the outermost edge of the figure. An inside contour lies within those edges, usually bordering an interior form.

When drawing the figure, artists are continually looking for opportunities to pull outside contour s into the interior of the form, making them inside contours. One of the grand masters of this was Rubens, whose contours are like a roller-coaster ride, whipping from the edge to the interior of the form (and often back again) with remarkable variety. Beginners, in comparison, draw tedious outside contours that can be followed around the edge of a whole mass, resulting in a cut-out effect that no shading will remedy.

The guiding idea behind this is that each of any two forms at the edge of the figure has a distinct three-dimensional mass. One of these masses is in front of the other, either physically (such as deltoid lying on top of biceps) or spatially, in that one form is closer to the viewer's eye than the other. Therefore the contour of the closer form is brought into the figure's interior, cutting off the line of the neighboring form.

What happens at this intersection is worth careful examination. The rule in drawing is that high contrast advances and low contrast receeds. A crisp, dark line will come forward in space; a soft, light line will drop back. So right before disappearing behind an advancing contour, the receding line suddenly becomes lighter and softer, and may disappear entirely before touching its neighbor. [Footnote: This statement presupposes a dark drawing medium on a light background. In the reverse case, such as a white pencil on a black sheet of paper, it is a crisp, light line that will come forward. (The reader might also be wondering at this point: if a crisp, dark line comes forward and a soft, light line drops back, what of a crisp, light line or a soft, dark line? The answer: it depends entirely on how such lines are handled; there is no rule saying they will behave this way or that.)

In a shaded area, such a lightening of pressure in the line will cause it to be absorbed into the surrounding shadow, becoming softer as it does so.

Though simple, this is a powerful technique that has been used by art's greatest masters. Of course, it is anatomical knowledge - understanding how muscles and bones are stacked up in space before the artist's eye - which makes it so effective in the hands of those masters.

Drawing from Origin to Insertion

One of the best reasons for learning the origins and insertions of the muscles is that they provide well-located endpoints for lines on the figure. If one begins a figure drawing with a skeletal armature, one can then attach muscles to it at their proper points. This is especially useful when drawing the figure from memory.

One can make a competent figure drawing knowing only the general shapes and positions of the muscles. But when one learns the origins and insertions, figure drawing becomes a whole new ball game. This is because, firstly, that one's knowledge of anatomy will have reached a high level of detail, and that knowledge will provide a useful internal model for understanding the figure. Secondly, the attachments describe the poles of the axes through each muscle. Many muscles, particularly those on the limbs, are basically thick lines with bulges in the middle. Even broad ones like deltoid and gluteus maximus can be seen as having a primary direction to them once their attachments are known. One can then lay the muscles down on paper (or canvas or stone) with great confidence.

It happens often that the skilled artist will draw a muscle along its border from origin to insertion. Left alone, such lines have volume and liveliness, and the artist can efficiently build them into massive form.

Muscle Fibers and Stroke Direction

Some authors contend that in master drawings the strokes follow the directions of the muscle fibers. Like many ideas in art, this is a notion for which one can find excellent counter-examples. It is nevertheless worth considering, especially in regards to the broader, more complex muscles of the torso.

One could take pectoralis as an example. The author likens its shape to a Japanese folding fan, and its fibers run accordingly. It would make sense for a drawing to lay down lines that follow this scheme.

One could also consider latissimus dorsi. A wide muscle such as this one could be seen to run in any number of directions, but lines indicating its form would probably do best to follow the fibers, which curl downward toward the pelvis, obliquely toward the spine, and slightly upward toward the high insertion on the sixth thoracic vertebra.

It is safe to assume that the fibers of any given muscle generally follow the axis that runs from the origin to the insertion. The exceptions to this for the most part are not visible on the surface. But one would do well to learn the run of the fibers, for they provide an even more complete conception, filling out the one provided by the attachments alone. If you choose to do so, begin with the muscles of the trunk and work outward to the limbs.

The Anatomical Position

The anatomical position is a pose of the human body from which the terms of location are derived. The figure is standing upright, arms down, palms forward.

Axes

The midline divides the left and right sides of the body.

The midline indicates the longitudinal axis of the body. Anything that runs parallel to the longitudinal axis is said to be vertical. Anything that runs perpendicular to the longitudinal axis is said to be horizontal or transverse. Anything that runs diagonally to it is said to be oblique.

Terms of Location

Anterior refers to the front of the body. Posterior refers to the back of the body.

Ventral means anterior. Dorsal means posterior, and can also refer to the back of the hand and the top of the foot.

Superior refers to the upper end of the body, towards the head. Inferior refers to the lower end, towards the feet.

Medial means towards the midline. Lateral means further away from the midline, left or right.

Internal means towards the center of a hollow form, such as the trunk. External means towards the outside of a hollow form.

Deep means towards the center of a solid form, such as the arm. Superficial means towards the surface of a solid form.

Proximal refers to a point on a limb that is closer to the trunk (as in proximity). Distal refers to a point on a limb that is further away from the trunk (as in distance).

Features of the Bones

The bones have a variety of knobs and hollows that provide for many different kinds of attachment.

Bony Landmarks

From person to person flesh varies more than bone. Many of the landmarks familiar to novices are fleshy - the nipples, the navel, the outer curves of the limbs and breasts, the points where the limbs appear to meet the torso, and so on. These shapes vary enormously depending on age, sex, weight, and muscularity of the subject.

The skeleton, by comparison, offers a more stable set of reference points. Therefore artists are well served by becoming familiar with bony landmarks - points on the skeleton close to the skin that can be located by sight. By finding these landmarks, the positions of the bones can be determined, and the fleshy forms can be hung from them, as it were.

The reader is encouraged to find the bony landmarks on his or her own body - they can be located beyond a doubt by tapping them with the fingers.

The spine consists of a column of vertebrae (VER-teh-bree). The ones between the skull and the ribcage are called cervical (SIR-vih-kul). The ones behind the ribcage are thoracic (thor-ASS-ick), referring to the thorax. The ones between the ribcage and the pelvis are lumbar (LUM-bar). The spine has three bony landmarks: cervical vertebra #7, or C7 for short, and thoracic vertebra #12, or T12. Because of the way the cervical vertebrae sit on the ribcage, the neck pitches forward from C7; the whole head can be seen sitting forward from C7. Because of the mass of the ribcage, usually there's a shadow hanging around T12, where the two twelfth ribs connect. At the bottom of the spine is the sacrum, a wide bone that connects the spine to the pelvis.

The pelvis has three important landmarks. One is anterior superior iliac spine (ASIS for short, said As Is, like when you buy a used car. This is the author's unofficial terminology, not anything from the medical literature.) ASIS looks like a complex term, but not upon examination: anterior means in front, and superior means higher (it sits directly above a smaller spine on the pelvis). The bone on this portion of the pelvis is the ilium (ILL-ee-um), hence iliac (ILL-ee-ack). A spine in this context is a little projection of bone.

The second is posterior superior iliac spine (PSIS, said pieces. Again, author's capricious terminology.) The term has the same derivation, but since it lies on the back, it is posterior. PSIS sits under each dimple on the lower back, right above the buttocks.

The third is the pubic symphysis, where the bones of the pubic arch meet in the middle.

The ribcage has three landmarks. The supersternal (soo-per-STIR-nal) notch likes above the sternum, between the clavicles. There's a little hollow here at the base of the neck. At the other end lies the infrasternal notch, where the ribs meet the sternum. There's a hollow here as well. The third landmark is the low point of rib #10. This is the bottom of the ribcage when viewed from the front, because ribs #11 and #12 don't attach to the sternum. Rib #10 seems to rise up from this point towards the sternum and towards the back.

The scapula (SKAP-you-luh) has three landmarks. One is the acromion (uh-CROW-mee-on) process, the bony point of the shoulder. One is the spine of the scapula, which extends from the acromion to the medial side of the scapula. The third is the inferior angle of the scapula.

The femur, the large bone of the thigh, has three as well. One is the great trochanter (TROW-kan-ter). This lies under the dimple on the hip when viewed from the side. Visible and palpable on either side of the knee are the condyles of the femur.

The lower leg has two bones. The tibia is larger and has two landmarks - the medial condyle, and the medial malleolus (mal-ee-OLE-lus), which is the medial bone of the ankle. The fibula is smaller, and has two landmark - the head, at the superior end, and the lateral malleolus, which is the bone of the ankle on the lateral side.

Between the femur and the tibia lies the patella (puh-TELL-uh), the kneecap, which is a landmark in its own right.

The humerus (rhymes with humorous), the bone of the upper arm, has two: the medial and lateral epicondyles, which can be seen and felt on either side of the elbow.

The ulna extends from the elbow to the pinky side of the hand. The point of the elbow is on the ulna, and is called the olecranon (oh-LECK-ruh-non). The head of the ulna is visible as a bump on the pinky side of the wrist.

The radius extends from the lateral condyle of the humerous (which is not a landmark, as it lies deep under the muscles of the arm) to the thumb side of the hand, where its styloid process is visible on that side of the wrist. It is worth noting that the ulna forms the axis of the lower arm; the radius is flipping around it as the forearm pronates and supinates. (Don't be fooled by the fact that the head of the ulna and the head of the radius are at opposite ends of the forearm. The heads of bones have a distinguishable common shape.)

The hyoid bone forms the corner of the neck. It's sitting at the top of the windpipe.

The bones of the foot are discussed in detail later. Its landmarks include the head of metatarsal #1, metatarsal #5, and the calcaneus (cal-KAY-nee-us), which is the great bone of the heel.

Likewise, the bones of the hand are also discussed in detail later. Its landmarks include the heads of metacarpals #2 and #5.

The skull has two landmarks useful for drawing the whole figure: the chin, and the occipital (ox-SIP-it-al) protuberance, a little projection of bone at the base of the skull.

Control Lines

The author likes to connect bony landmarks as a series of points that he calls Control Lines. These lines connect key points of the body in ways that don't usually occur to the beginner, but set up a framework to create form expediently. The control lines include some fleshy landmarks as well.

Spine Line

1. occipital protuberance
2. C7
3. T12
4. sacrum
5. top of gluteal cleft (the split of the buttocks)
6. bottom of gluteal cleft

Center Line

1. chin
2. hyoid bone
3. supersternal notch
4. infrasternal notch
5. navel
6. pubic symphysis

Front Line

1. acromion process
2. nipple
3. low point of rib #10
4. anterior superior iliac spine (ASIS)
5. pubic symphysis

Back Line

1. acromion process
2. spine of scapula
3. inferior angle of scapula
4. posterior superior iliac spine (PSIS)
5. top of gluteal cleft

Medial Leg Line

1. pubic symphysis
2. ASIS
3. medial condyle of femur
4. patella
5. medial malleolus
6. head of metatarsal #1
7. calcaneus

Lateral Leg Line

1. ASIS
2. great trochanter
3. lateral condyle of femur
4. head of fibula
5. lateral malleolus
6. head of metatarsal #5
7. calcaneus

Medial Arm Line

1. acromion process
2. medial epicondyle of humerus
3. olecranon
4. head of ulna
5. head of metacarpal #5

Lateral Arm Line

1. acromion process
2. lateral epicondyle of humerus
3. styloid process of radius
4. head of metacarpal #2

General Terms for the Muscles

The names of the muscles are not as mysterious as they appear. Often, once they are translated from the Latin, they are self-explanatory if not eponymous.

The following are terms used to describe action, as well as for the muscle names:

Flex - to bend. A muscle that flexes is a flexor.

Extend - to straighten. A muscle that extends is an extensor.

Abduct - to draw away from the midline. A muscle that abducts is an abductor (ab-DUC-tor).

Adduct - to draw toward the midline. A muscle that adducts is an adductor (ad-DUC-tor).

Pronate (PRO-nate) - to turn downward (prone), for the forearm. A muscle that pronates is a pronator (PRO-nay-tor).

Supinate (SOO-pin-ate) - to turn upward (supine), for the forearm. A muscle that supinates is a supinator (SOO-pin-ate-er).

(Supine contains the word up. Prone sounds somewhat like down.)

The following terms are used mostly as muscle names:

Levator (leh-VATE-or) - a muscle that lifts, as in elevator.

Depressor - a muscle that lowers.

Erector - a muscle that erects, or uprights.

Tensor - a muscle that tightens.

Common Muscle Descriptions

Certain descriptive words in muscle names recur frequently.

Longus means long. Brevis means brief, or short.

Vastus means vast - wide or large.

Major and minor mean large and small, respectively, in a paired muscle group.

Maximus, medius, and minimus refer to the largest, middle-sized, and smallest muscle in a set of three.

Forearm - General Notes

Here is a schematic diagram of the arrangement of the muscles on the forearm. The circle represents a cross-section of the forearm. (Imagine the forearm with the fingers pointing at you for the correct orientation.) The dividing forms, brachioradialis and the ulna, are represented by the large nodes at opposite poles.

Down one side of the circle are the four long flexor muscles, all on the medial epicondyle of the humerus; down the other are the four long extensors, all on the lateral epicondyle. Flexor carpi ulnaris can be paired with extensor carpi ulnaris, and flexor digitorum can be paired with extensor digitorum. Flexor carpi radialis can be paired with both extensors carpi radialis (longus and brevis), leaving only palmaris without a similarly-named extensor.

The thumb group, positioned between extensor carpi radialis and extensor digitorum, breaks the four long extensors into two groups of two.

Pronator teres and anconeus, both short muscles near the elbow, lie opposite each other on the circle in their proper positions on the forearm.

Last is little extensor digiti minimi, between extensor digitorum and extensor carpi ulnaris.

Arranged this way, the beautiful symmetry of the forearm is apparent. The left side contains only extensors (and excepting the thumb group, all the muscles originate on the lateral epicondyle). The right side contains only flexors, all of which originate on the medial epicondyle. No matter how the forearm is positioned, the order described on the circle still holds.

A Note on the Last Forms

The foot, hand, and head are of a greater order of complexity than the rest of the body. This complexity, plus the expressive potential of the hand and head, make the drawing of these forms a great challenge.

It should be kept in mind that most of their structure is skeletal; that while the thigh, for example, is a long rod buried under thick layers of muscle, the foot, hand, and head evince their skeletal features throughout. Therefore these features will be discussed in detail before moving on to the muscles and tendons.

The Bones of the Foot

The bones of the foot can be divided into three groups: the tarsus, the metatarsals, and the phalanges (fuh-LAN-jeez).

The tarsus (from an old Greek word for the ankle) is a group of seven bones that have a limited amount of movement between them as their flat surfaces slide against each other. Otherwise, they can be thought of as a fairly solid mass. The largest forms of this mass are the talus (TAY-lus, meaning slope), which contacts the tibia and fibula to form the joint of the ankle, and the calcaneus (cal-KAY-nee-us, from an old Latin word for the heel), which is shaped like a hammer pointing posteriorly; this is the heel bone.

Each of these bones has a capping bone. For the talus, this is the navicular (nuh-VIC-yuh-ler) bone. For the calcaneus, it is the cuboid bone. Respectively, their names mean boat-shaped and cube-shaped.

Three bones sitting on the navicular bone are the cuneiform (KYOO-nee-ih-form) bones, numbered from one to three from the medial to the lateral side. The distal surface of the cuneiform1 is roughly the midpoint of the length of the foot. Cuneiform 3 borders the cuboid bone. Their name means wedge-shaped.

The next rank of bones is the metatarsals. A bit of a reversal of terminology occurs here. For the rest of the long bones, the head of the bone is on the proximal end. For the metatarsals, the head is on the distal end; the proximal end is the base. Conceptually, the metatarsals are seen to be growing out of the tarsus, with their roots at the bases.

The last rank is that of the phalanges. Phalanges is plural for phalanx (FAY-lanks), which refers to the orderly rows of infantry used by the Greeks. These are the bones of the toes. The big toe consists of two phalanges; the others, even the little toe, have three. The major joint in the foot is here between the base of the phalanges and the heads of the metatarsals.

The Muscles of the Foot

There is only one muscle that may be seen on the dorsal surface of the foot: extensor digitorum brevis, the short extensor of the toes. Its belly is situated on the upper, lateral surface of the calcaneus and talus, and splits into four tendons that run to the first four phalanges. When the toes are pulled up, it may be seen as a flat bump that echoes the shape of the lateral malleolus, lower and more forward. Its form generally lends bulk to this area when the foot is relaxed.

The bottom of the foot is covered with a complex network of muscles that, grouped together, form a fan radiating outward from the heel to the toes. Most of them are covered by the fat pads that buffer the contact between the foot and the ground.

The outer edges of this fan are the most prominent forms. On the medial side of the fan is abductor hallucis (HAL-uh-sis, from hallux, the big toe), whose mass can be seen especially toward the heel and middle of the foot. On the lateral side is abductor digiti minimi (DIJ-ih-tee MIN-ih-mee, the smallest digit), which can be seen mostly along the side of the fifth metatarsal.

These two muscles, grouped with neighboring forms, divides the sole of the foot into two columns. Between them there is a furrow running from the heel to the second toe, stopping short of the head of the metatarsal. In this furrow one may see evidence of flexor digitorum brevis, if the toes are flexed from an extended position.

The ball of the foot is formed by the heads of the metatarsals. Here there is often a notable transverse plane break or fold. There is also one at the forward edge of the fat pad of the heel.

The Tendons of the Foot

The dramatic features of the foot are not the muscles, but the complex network of tendons that run over and through the foot. Most of these tendons have already been described in the chapter on the lower leg, but it is helpful to see them presented together.

Running to toes #2 - 5 are the four tendons of extensor digitorum longus. The tendon running similarly to the big toe is that of extensor hallucis longus, which appears from between extensor digitorum longus and tibialis anterior. The tendon of tibialis anterior can be seen running immediately alongside, pointing sharply downward at the base of the first metatarsal.

On the medial side of the foot, one can clearly see the tendon of tibialis anterior. Running along the posterior side of the medial malleolus and obliquely to the underside of the talus are two tendons, flexor digitorum longus and tibialis posterior. The latter is a deep muscle, but its tendon is the prominent one here.

On the lateral side the prominent, straight tendon of peroneus longus can be seen running to the posterior side of the lateral malleolus. From there to the base of the fifth metacarpal is the tendon of peroneus brevis. On the other side of the malleolus, lying next to the most lateral tendon of extensor digitorum longus but running more downwardly, one can see a short stretch of peroneus tertius.

The bones of the hand

Similar to the tarsus on the foot, the basal bones of the hand form a mass called the carpus. The next rank of bones is that of the metacarpals, followed by the phalanges.

The central two bones of the carpus, roughly in line with the third metacarpal, are the lunate ("LOO-nate," moon-shaped) and capitate ("CAP-it-tate," head-shaped) bones. These two bones, taken as a midline, divide the rest of the carpus into two groups of three bones.

On the thumb-side are the scaphoid, trapezoid, and trapezium, arranged in a triangle that projects the thumb away from the hand. The scaphoid and trapezium project downward to form this side of the carpal arch.

On the little-finger side are the triangular, hamate, and pisiform bones, arranged with pisiform underneath triangular. A process called the hook of the hamate projects downward, making its height equal to that of the other two combined. These projections form the other side of the carpal arch.

Beyond this, the arrangement of the bones is similar to the foot. The heads of the metacarpals are the distal ends, the bases are proximal. The thumb has two phalanges, the fingers have three. The middle finger is always the longest, followed - with exceptions - by the ring, index, and little finger.

The muscles of the hand

The hand has its own midline, running through the middle finger. It is in relation to this line, not the midline of the body in the anatomical position, that the abductors and adductors on the hand have been named.

The Tendons of the Hand

The prominent tendons on the dorsal side of the hand are those of extensor digitorum and extensor digiti minimi.

The tendons leading to the thumb are those of extensor pollicis brevis and abductor pollicis longus, described above, and extensor pollicis longus, a deep forearm muscle whose tendon appears here on the hand from the dorsal side of the arm. The depression formed by these tendons is called the snuffbox. When snuff was a habit, one would sprinkle it into a pile here before sniffing it.

The palm of the hand is covered by an aponeurotic sheath that houses the tendons of the flexors of the fingers. When the fingers are strongly tensed, one can sometimes see the individual branches of this sheath.

The skull

The socket of the eye is called the orbit. Its shape is a rounded trapezoid, angled downward to the lateral side. Its top, bottom, and medial borders are at the same level, but the lateral border drops back into the skull about half the distance of the height of the orbit.

The broad bone of the forehead is called the frontal bone, whose two forward-most corners are called the frontal eminences. Between each of the frontal eminences and the orbits is a raised form called the brow ridge. Between the brow ridges is the glabella (gluh-BELL-uh), the so-called keystone of the brow. There is an important depression between the glabella and the nasal bone which usually is in shadow and is crucial for separating the top plane of the nose from the plane of the forehead. On the lateral side, the brow ridge points downward to form the upper corner of the orbit.

The lower corner and bottom edge of the orbit is formed by the zygomatic (zigh-go-MAT-ic) bone. The bottom of the zygomatic bone is even with the pit of the nose. The zygomatic bone reaches around the side of the skull with an elongated form called the zygomatic arch. (The zygomatic arches and the brow ridges form a pair of inverted eyeglasses on the face.)

The sides of the skull are squared off in relation to the dome shape on top. The recessed region at the temple is called the temporal fossa. At the forward edge of the temporal fossa, the bone turns sharply outward to meet the brow ridge and zygomatic bone. This rise is called the temporal ridge. Just above the level of the bottom of the orbit, it turns sharply from a more-vertical to a more-horizontal angle. When the head is conceived as a box, the temporal ridges are regarded as its front edges.

The upper jaw is a half-cylinder of bone called the maxilla. The lower jaw, called the mandible, has two important features that affect the appearance of the face: its angle, and the mental protuberance, a horizontal ridge that gives the chin its form. Its lateral corners are called the mental tubercles.

The Muscles of the Skull

Most of the muscles in the body attach to bone at both ends. The muscles of the face, however, originate on bone and insert into the flesh of the face. They pull its surface this way and that, giving the face its enormous range of expression.

The Eye

The eye is a ball, and should be thought of that way. Beginning draughtsmen are often tempted to resort to the symbol for the eye - a flat, symmetrical almond-shape known to children - instead of rendering its spherical architecture. Of course, this makes dimensionality impossible.

The notable parts of the eye are the cornea and the sclera (SKLER-uh), which appears as the white of the eye. The whole ball of the eye is a little more than twice as wide as the the cornea. The cornea itself has some dimension, sitting like a dome upon the sphere of the rest of the eye.

The cornea contains the colored iris and the pupil, which is transparent but looks in on the dark chamber of the eye, and thus appears black. The pupil dilates and contracts depending on the amount of light falling on it.

The upper eyelid has two parts: the orbital portion and the lid plate. Between them is a fold into which the lid plate tucks itself when opened. Glands over the lateral part of the eye put the high point of this fold towards the medial side, whereas the lower border of the lid plate is a more regular arch. (But it should be remembered that the base of this arch rests deeper into the skull than its peak.) The closing of the eye is the work of the upper lid; the lower lid moves but little.

The lower lid plate follows the sphere of the eye as closely as the upper lid plate. Between the lower lid and the rest of flesh over the orbit is an important fold that distinguishes the two. In the lower medial corner of the orbit is the infrapalpebral (in-fruh-pal-PEEB-rul) furrow. The skin leading to this furrow is often of a different color than the surrounding skin, especially in subjects given to late nights.

The opening between the lids is called the lid slit. The corners are called the inner and outer canthus. In the outer canthus, the lower lid can be seen to tuck under the upper lid. In the inner canthus, the upper and lower lids are separated by a gulf called the lacrimal (LAC-rim-ul) lake, in which lies a pink gland called the caruncula (cuh-RUNK-you-luh). The lateral border of the caruncula is a crescesnt-shaped line against the eye. Tears originate from the inner canthus.

Because the sclera, cornea, and lids are layered sections of spheres, they receive light in a predictable manner. Presuming a light from above, the usual situation, the upper lid casts a shadow onto the eyeball. The highlight, which is often quite crisp because of the moisture on the eye, faces the light on the high side of the sphere. the lower part of the eyeball, turned away from the light, is in shadow. The lower lid, which follows the downward curve of the eyeball, is often in shadow except for its top plane.

The Nose

Aside from the nasal bone of the skull, the nose is formed by four plates of cartilage. Two form the the central mass of the nose, and two form the base and the wings that cover the nostrils. Each of these wings is called the ala (ALE-uh).

The lateral cartilages are triangular and curl over to meet each other at the crest of the nose. Each alar cartilage could be conceived as a faceted, oval ring; these meet at the base and form the anterior part of the nostrils. An alar lobe - consisting of fat - attaches to each alar cartilage and the surface of the face, forming the posterior part of the nostrils. The curved break around each nostril is called the alar furrow. The central part on the bottom is considered to be the septum, although the septum rises through the whole nose to divide it into two chambers.

On a one-bump nose, the prominence is where the cartilages meet the nasal bone. On a two-bump nose, such as the author's, the second prominence is at the bottom of the lateral cartilages.

It is a grievous sin of portraiture, and a common one of beginners, to draw the nostrils. The nostrils are hollows formed by the masses listed above, and those masses must be dealt with as dimensional shapes in order for any spaces within them to be convincing. The artist is advised to forget about the existence of nostrils, and let them be formed by rendering the surrounding alar masses. The reader is referred to "All Forms on the Body are Convex."

The Lips

In anatomical terms, the lips consist of two walls that lie over the teeth, connect at the lateral sides, and meet the nose, cheeks, and chin. The rosy portions commonly referred to as the lips are called the red margins of the lips. Many of the terms for the lips are based on the Latin word, labia (LAY-bee-uh).

The upper lip is separated from the cheeks by the nasolabial furrow on each side. The center is split by a ridged depression called the philtrum, which is narrower toward the septum than the lip. The red margin of the upper lip is divided into threes: a tubercle (a prominence, just like one on a bone) and two wings.

The lower lip is separated from the chin by the mentolabial furrow (referring to the mental bone of the chin). This is another important depression, similar to the one under the glabella (see p. 0), which is often in shadow and is useful for forming the masses of the lips and the chin. The red margin of the lower lip is also separated into threes: the groove, an indentation that is shaped to meet with the tubercle of the upper lip, and two lobes, which press upward into the points formed between the tubercle and the wings.

The corners of the mouth, becuase of their many attachments to the facial muscles, each has an appreciable mass that asserts itself on the shape of the lips in the form of a diagonal wall. This wall truncates the lateral edges of the upper lip, and the lower lip seems to be tucked in behind this wall at its corners.

The Ear

The ear consists of a number of shell-like, mostly cartiliginous forms.

The concha (CONK-uh) is the transverse loop of wall forming the base of the ear that can easily be seen from behind. It projects the back of the ear away from the side of the head, favoring our hearing to the front. The anterior wall of the concha can be seen in the hollow below the hole of the ear.

The helix is the long outer spiral. It almost makes a complete loop, touching the lobe on the bottom and spiraling around toward the head to touch the concha. The anterior part of the helix is called the leg. The helix also has a tubercle, a slight swelling on the upper posterior corner.

The tragus (TRAY-gus) and antitragus cover the hole of the ear with small nubbins of cartilage. The tragus consists of two bumps that together form a protective trapeziodal flap, separated from the helix by the anterior notch of the ear. Below, a U-shaped ridge of cartilage leads around to the antitragus, which is a more conspicuous bump. The antitragus side of the ridge is fuller. A drawing shorthand for this region would consist of two bumps, a U, and another bump.

The antihelix is the short inner spiral of the ear. It terminates in the antitragus below. At the top it splits into two legs that tuck under the helix and disappear. The upper leg is fuller and flatter; the lower one is more pinched. The notch between them is the triangular fossa. The depression between the helix and the antihelix is called the scapha.

At the bottom is the lobe, which rounds out the bottom of the ear and attaches to the side of the head.

The Breast

The female breast varies enormously in size and shape. Since it consists mostly of a fat pad, its shape will change according to the body's position and the pull of gravity. It is thus important to understand the breast's attachment to the torso.

The upper extent of the breast is about halfway up the pectoralis muscle. The circle of the breast is cut by the lateral portion of pectoralis, sending a small portion into the armpit; this part of the breast is called the axillary tail. The medial extent is the lateral border of the sternum. The lower extent is the the sixth rib, below the level of the sternum, over the very top of external oblique. These attachments hold true regardless of the size or position of the breast.

The nipple is surrounded by a colored portion called the areola (uh-REE-oh-luh) which varies greatly in diameter. It may overlie a mass of its own that sits on the greater hemisphere of the breast.

In an upright figure, nipples can be seen to diverge laterally; they should not, in any case, be drawn to point straight forward. The hang of the breast in an upright figure flattens its top curve and fills its lower curve.

The fat pad under the male breast is slight, leaving the nipple to lie close to the pectoralis muscle near the lower lateral border. On a muscular pectoralis, the nipple is moved away from this border slightly medially.

The Genitals

The male genitals consist of the shaft and the scrotum. At the end of the shaft is a cap-like form called the glans, which may be partially or completely covered by the tubular foreskin if the penis hasn't been circumsized. The scrotum is a sac containing the testicles, whose ovoid shapes are apparent on the surface. The male genitals vary as widely in size and shape as the female breast.

Only the most superficial portions of the female genitals can be seen. Typically only the raised outer lips of the labia majoris are visible; the labia minoris and glans of the clitoris can be seen only if the thighs are separated. The labial cleft may appear on the front of standing figure, but more commonly the whole area is obscured by pubic hair and the recessive position of the region. The anterior area of the vagina is raised by a protective pad of fat over the pubic bone called the mons veneris (monz VEN-er-us, the mount of Venus).

The Skeleton as an Armature

Most of the structure in the body is due to the skeleton, not the muscles. The skeleton without the muscles retains its familiar human shape. The muscles without the skeleton would be an unrecognizable pile of limp meat.

Artists can take advantage of this fact by using the skeleton as an armature for the forms of the body in their drawings, which will be demonstrated here with a group of three standing figures in a classic controposto pose. Begin by drawing a line indicating the spine, which is the origin of movement in the body.

Next, draw ovals indicating the pelvis, ribcage, and skull, preferably in that order. (Especially in a standing figure, the pelvis is like a bowl holding the body's center of gravity. Therefore the position of the pelvis influences the rest of the torso and the legs, more so than the other way around.) It is worth noting that the thoracic vertebrae are only slightly mobile, so that action on the spine takes place between the pelvis and ribcage, and between the ribcage and the skull. These three forms, in themselves, do not move.

Next, draw axes for the shoulder girdle and the pelvis. There are many ways of doing this, but the idea is to choose opposite symmetrical points on the body. Artists will commonly use the acromion process of the scapula on each side, the anterior superior iliac spines of the pelvis, and the great trochanters of the femurs. On a rear view, one can indicate the sacral triangle.

Draw a line indicating the weight-bearing leg. This line would begin on a lower, outer edge on the pelvis-oval (particularly from the line through the great trochanters), run straight to the knee (where one would leve a tick mark), and go from there to the point of contact between the heel and the ground.

Draw a triangular paddle shape for the foot (really, the footprint). This line would start at the heel-point, go to the base of the big toe, from there to the base of the little toe, and back to the heel.

From there draw a line to the heel-point on the opposite foot. This is a useful construction line that establishes perspective in the drawing and assures that the standing figure appears convincingly balanced. Then draw a triangular foot-paddle in the same manner as the first.

Draw up the non-weight-bearing leg from the heel-point, to the knee, to the pelvis.

Next indicate the arms. Beginning at the axis of the shoulder girdle, draw to the elbow (leaving a tick mark) and to the joint of the wrist. Draw a square-ish paddle shape indicating the palm and metacarpal bones. The four fingers come from the distal edge of the square, while the thumb comes from the appropriate side; one can draw a line for each digit, or use a single line for the fingertips.

Draw a line from the little-finger side of the square back to the elbow, which effectively locates the ulna. Also, locate the lower angle, medial angle, and spine of the scapula on each side, and draw them as well.

Returning to the center of the body, draw the downward arch of the front of the pelvis. Then draw a line for the sternum, which drops halfway down the ribcage, and a thoracic arch. This arch would correspond to the rounded shape of the top of rectus abdominis, not the pointed arch on the skeleton. Draw a frontal midline down the center of rectus abdominis all the way to the pelvis.

Lastly, check if the oval of the head is in a good place (it often needs to be moved a bit at this point) . If so, draw a line through the brow ridges on the skull, indicating the lower edge of the brow, and through the midline of the face.

One can elaborate from here with confidence, perhaps drawing along the control lines, and proceeding to the muscles. Clearly, the steps described above must be changed according to circumstances, but the general ideas of starting at the center of the body, working downward to the points of contact with the ground, and leaving the arms and head for last are good principles in most cases.

The skull and the Face

The shape of the head and face is influenced by the skeleton to a greater extent than other areas of the body, such as the upper arm. Therefore, when drawing a portrait, it is crucial to be familiar with bony landmarks on the skull.

One can use the skull as an armature for the portrait just as one can use the skeleton as an armature for the figure drawing. Starting with an oval for the general shape of the head, draw a line through the brow ridges, indicating the plane of the forehead, and a vertical midline through the face.

Mark the base of the nose and the front edge of the chin with a wide mark that runs parallel with the line through the brow ridges. Do the same for the top and bottom of the orbits.

Draw a line through the vertical edges of the temporal ridges.

Locate the angle of the mandible. Through this point draw the posterior edge of the mandible and a line running forward to the front edge of the chin.

Project the line of the temporal ridge down the face. Where this line meets the level of the pit of the nose, mark a point. Draw a line from this point to the front corner of the chin. Draw another line from this point to the posterior line of the jaw at the level of the base of the skull. This locates the lateral corner of the zygomatic arch.

Draw the orbit, keeping in mind that the lateral border of the orbit receeds further into the skull than the upper and lower borders. Draw the lower border of the temporal ridge. (The vertical portion descends roughly to the level of the bottom of the orbit. There the line turns a sharp corner, running horizontally and slightly downward towards the back of the skull.) Draw a line under the glabella, slightly below the upper border of the orbits.

Draw the bottom plane of the nose. About halfway between the base of the nose and the chin, make a mark indicating the break between the lips. About halfway between this mark and the chin, make another mark indicating the depression over the chin and under the teeth.

This network of marks is useful for setting up the rest of the forms of the face. It is recommended to start with the bony landmarks rather than the features (eyes, nostrils lips, and so on) because most of the likeness in a portrait resides in the former. Again, the features are fleshy landmarks, and it is helpful to establish their shape via the skeleton rather than the other way around.

Epilogue: Suggestions for Further Study and Practice

The Bibliography contains a list of excellent books that the author recommends for further investigation into human anatomy and figure drawing. But the nature of our art demands more than study. Our goal is the sacred communion of eye, hand, and mind.

As such, there is no end to the refinement of our craft. It is therefore important that our studies be undertaken along with our art-making and not instead of it. We could liken art to a car. We might go around the block and say that the car is working more or less well, or we can drive somewhere, which is what the car is for. We're better off fixing a sputtering breakdown on our way to somewhere interesting than maintaining a pristine vehicle that never leaves the garage.

That said, one glad fact of visual art is that study and practice can take the same form: drawing. There is nothing more salutary for one's drawing skills than drawing great drawings. One can disregard media and scale, working with whatever materials are handy, or one can attempt a real reproduction, working to match the size, materials, and technique of the original. Either way, we come into contact with the language of greatness, and slowly learn to speak it ourselves.

Bibliography

Dates listed refer to the author's edition of book. Original publishing dates are listed in parenthesis where different and available.

Gottfried Bammes

The Artist's Guide to Human Anatomy
Chartwell Books, Edison, New Jersey, 1994 (1990)

George B. Bridgman

The Book of a Hundred Hands
Dover Publications, Mineola, New York, 1971 (1920)

Bridgman's Life Drawing
Dover Publications, Mineola, New York, 1971 (1924)

Constuctive Anatomy
Dover Publications, Mineola, New York, 1973 (1920)

Bernard Dunstan

Painting Methods of the Impressionists
Watson-Guptill Publications, New York City, 1983

Frederick Franck

Life Drawing Life
Great Ocean Publishers, Arlington, Virginia, 1989

Eliot Goldfinger

Human Anatomy for Artists: the Elements of Form
, New York City, 1991

Robert Beverly Hale

Albinus on Anatomy
Dover Publications, Mineola, New York, 1988 (1979)

Anatomy Lessons from the Great Masters
Watson-Guptill Publications, New York City, 1977

Drawing Lessons from the Great Masters
Watson-Guptill Publications, New York City, 1989 (1964)

Master Class in Figure Drawing
Watson-Guptill Publications, New York City, 1991 (1985)

Leonardo da Vinci

The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci
Dover Publications, New York City, 1970 (1883)

Frank H. Netter

Atlas of Human Anatomy
Novartis, Summit, New Jersey, 1997 (1989)

Stephen Rogers Peck

Atlas of Human Anatomy for the Artist
Oxford University Press, Oxford, England, 1951

Victor Perard

Anatomy and Drawing
Barnes & Noble Books, New York City, 1995

Paul Richer

Artitic Anatomy
Watson-Guptill Publications, New York City, 1986 (1971)

Fritz Schider

An Atlas of Anatomy for Artists
Dover Publications, Mineola, New York, 1957 (1929)

Joseph Sheppard

Anatomy: A Complete Guide for Artists
Dover Publications, Mineola, New York, 1992 (1975)

John H. Vanderpoel

The Human Figure: Life Drawing for Artists
Dover Publications, New York City, 1958 (1935)