Human Body Drawing: Lesson 4: The First Diagram
Indeed, as you know, the human body viewed from the front or back "repeats itself with two shoulders, two arms, two legs, etc." arranged symmetrically on either side of a central axis, the axis of symmetry of the human body. Let us specify by adding that...
Let us now try to transform the wireframe mannequin into a diagram closer to reality.
FIRST DIAGRAM OF THE HUMAN BODY
We will start with a body, whose proportions will be the same as those of the ideal human body, and whose head, thorax, and pelvis will have volume, while the limbs "will be reduced to bones" (fig. 21).
Let us begin by visualizing and drawing, separately, each of the shapes that make up this diagram:
- THE HEAD. — It has a shape very similar to that of a real head, lacking only the prominence of the nose, the detail of the eyes, the mouth, and the hair. We have already said that this is purely a simplified diagram.
- THE THORAX. — I have tried to simplify this part — the most complex of the whole — by means of a series of geometric planes, which you can see in the following figure. Although schematic, its construction will require preliminary attempts from you; I urge you to construct these diagrams in pencil right now in different attitudes and movements (fig. 22).
- THE PELVIS. — (or better, the part corresponding to the hips and buttocks). Its shape resembles that of a swimsuit. Imagine it inflated with air and as a detached piece; copy it from these drawings, trying to understand its shape, and especially the foreshortening offered by the cavities from which the thighs originate, noticing that this shape varies according to the position and angle of view of the artist (fig. 23).
- THE ARMS AND LEGS. — They are reduced to simple wires that represent the bones of each of these limbs. Observe in the preceding figure no. 21, that the femurs converge towards the knee, after starting from the hips, where they form the projections of the greater trochanter, thus imitating the anatomical reality of these bones. Notice furthermore (on the diagram of the body seen in profile) the intentional curvature of the femur forwards, and that of the tibia backwards; the first corresponds to reality, and thus better reminds us of the external shape of the thigh; the second better shows us the protrusion of the calf and the projection of the kneecap. Draw these bones in this way, with this intention, which may not quite correspond to reality, but which, without a doubt, will be very expressive.
- THE HANDS AND FEET. — For now, they will be represented schematically, as you can see in the preceding figure no. 21.
Suppose you have already done a separate study of the parts that make up this diagram; now prepare to draw it in its entirety, at attention, as it appears in the following figures:
Construct these five diagrams (fig. 24) and those that follow, over a height of twelve centimeters.
You must do these drawings by calculating the proportions exactly; to do this, nothing is better than to draw a staff of eight equal intervals, which will correspond to the eight heads or modules of the canon. Draw this staff with light strokes and construct the indicated figures on it.
You already know how to draw this first diagram of the human body, you are capable of building it from memory, in the position of attention. We are now going to make it move, walk, run, jump... live.
