The Human Figure

One of the greatest challenges to confront an artist is drawing the
human figure. Our bodies are infinitely complex yet intimately
familiar, giving rise to a subject that is difficult to depict accurately
yet judged incessantly.
The human figure is almost overwhelmingly complex for the artist to draw.
The human figure is an organic structure that defies geometric simplification.
It is composed of bones, muscles, and organs, all of which are covered by a
flexible layer of skin. The body has many moving parts that make it almost
impossible to define as a shape. Within its skeleton are more than 200 individual
bones. Attached to the skeleton and throughout the body are more
than 650 muscles.
Figure drawings are held to the highest standards. Because the body is very
familiar to us—we each have one of our own—we generally know a lot about
it. We admire its beauty and we recognize its flaws. Physical perfection is
sought by many, giving rise to such industries as cosmetics, plastic surgery,
and a plethora of diet programs. This basic familiarity can often become the
bane of the figure artist because his artwork is judged by a higher standard
than almost any other art form.
Any artist desiring to learn how to draw the figure needs all the help he can
get. Fortunately, in addition to books and other forms of instruction, a new
way to help artists with their figurative work is becoming available through
technology. This new technology gives the artist access to virtual figure models
to use as references for figure drawing. Figure Artist, a new software program,
now brings the power of virtual models to everyone with access to a
computer. Figure 1.1 shows a screen shot of Figure Artist.

Although virtual models should not take the place of human models,they do add a valuable resource for the artist when real odels are unavailable or the pose is unattainable. Often artists are faced with needing to draw a figure with no time, money, or availability of a model. Sometimes the pose needed for a drawing is something that can’t be held by a model, such as in the case of something requiring dynamic motion in sports or other extreme physical activity. In these situations, artists in the past had to rely on their own visualization abilities. Now, however, artists can set up models in Figure Artist and use them as reference for their figure work. This book will help to explain how virtual models can be used to help artists improve their figure drawing.