reduced to an exact science, and charts of measurements and whole lists of bones, muscles, and sinews are generally given in any work on drawing, since anatomical drawing must form part of the training of every artist. And although in practice the artist may not consciously make use of such knowledge, relying more on feeling a figure to be right than on its measuring correctly, it has nevertheless great value, not less real because it is hidden. One is reminded of the story of the poet reciting before a Persian Court an ode to the horse. The Vizier, a boasted horseman, challenged the poet's right to speak on the subject, and the poet retorted by calling on the Vizier to prove his own knowledge by naming the bones of the horse. The Vizier of course failed . . . and the poet shamed him by naming them himself. As the poet was using his anatomical knowledge of the horse to praise its strength and beauty, so should the artist direct his knowledge to correct and check his natural ideas of form.
A sound knowledge of anatomical drawing has another advantage, especially useful to the fashion artist. It helps one to memorize the figure and portray it correctly when one has no model to work from.
SOME IMPORTANT PROPORTIONS
The female figure averages 63 1/2 inches, and conventionally is divided into eight heads. Besides the important central division, which falls just below the groin, those on the nipple, umbilicus, and knee joint (five and a half heads from the top) will be found the most useful. A child's proportions depend on the height and age, but for a child of 40 in. (6 to 8 years) the figure may be taken as a little over five heads.
As compared with man, in woman the waist is high, and the limbs, especially the arm, shorter and less developed. Feet and hands are smaller in proportion to the whole figure. In sketching from life it should be remembered that the several organs of the body follow certain laws, which must be observed.
1 But for the special treatment of the figure in Fashion Drawing, see Chapter IV.
Bones, for example, follow the laws of mechanics and architecture, whilst muscles express those of dynamics.
A figure is usually commenced with a line to mark the ground, another for the top of the head, a mark to fix the centre, and two
lines to indicate the angles
of shoulders and hips. On
this framework the artist proceeds to build the figure
with loose, bold lines, using
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