THE HUMAN FIGURE

The representation of the human figure makes up a huge archive of images that illustrates the life and beliefs of all cultures of all ages.

Artists always find new ways of expression regardless of the techniques they use.

Representing the human figure requires basic knowledge about anatomy, movement, balance, expression, etc.

What are the differences between the Cnido’s sculpture and the Egyptian sculptures in relation to expression and foreshortening (postura)?

Afrodita by Cnido, 360 b.c. Triad of Mykerinos (2600-2500

b.c.)

What do you think about Pablo Picassos’s painting?

El sueño

Does the painting by Julio Romero have anything to do with the painting by Henri Matisse?

La Chiquita Piconera (1930) Desnudo Azul (1952)

How do you think the characters of comics are created?

Learning to Draw

Learning to draw is a process that begins when we learn to see what our sight perceives. This is not easy unless someone teaches us.

We usually draw what we think things are, rather than what they really are in reality

Analysis of the Human Figure

Look at this goddess from the Neolithic Age.

Her eyes are in the upper part of her head. We think that this must be realistic but it is not true.

If you look in the mirror you will see that your eyes are in the middle of your head – between your chin and the top of your skull.

This is not an accurate portrayal of the human figure.

Learning to look The size of her head is a quarter of her whole height.

Why?

Because we usually draw or make a model according to our thoughts and what we think the size of the head should be. Why do we do that? Because the head is an important part of the body – it’s where our brain is, it’s where we communicate with others, it’s where our senses are (taste, smell, sight, hearing).

The head is very important and that is transmitted in our artwork.

The head on this goddess is much bigger than what a head is in reality

Learning to look Now look at the length of her

arms. They are very short.

We usually think that we have to divide the figure into two equal parts at the top of the waist and therefore the arms and hands don’t exceed it.

But , where do they reach stretched out?

Learning to look

In reality, the most common human body in all of the world measures seven and a half heads in length

The interest in proportions of the human figure comes from the ancient ages.

In the Egyptian and Greek civilizations, artists dedicated a lot of time to calculating the proportion of the human figure that showed beauty and harmony

The egyptians

The module of the Egyptians was the fist (the length of the human body was 18 fists).

The greeks It was during the classic

period (around 500 BC) when the Greek idea of beauty was consolidated.

This was based on mathematical proportions between the different parts of the body.

Polyclitus came up with a rule of proportions of six heads.

Kouros de la épocaArcaica,

Dorífero del escultor Polícleto

The greeks

Discobolus by Myron

Gallic dying. Hellenistic period

Roman art

The most notable difference between Roman and Greek was that while the Greeks portrayed an abstract ideal of humans, the Romans portrayed men and women as real and concrete.

Romans

Middle age

The knowledge acquired during this period survived in the first centuries thanks to the monastery and church libraries; the body was synonymous with sin and human dissection was forbidden since they believed in human resurrection.

Art of the anatomy was greatly devalued for almost 12 centuries.

Middle age

The human body in the history of art In the Middle Ages, the portrayal of

human figures was based on copying other painted figures and on various measurement rules for the proportions.

In Romanic art, realism was secondary to the narration of history.

The Renaissance

During the Renaissance, there was a renewed interest in the study of anatomy which was the result of curiosity about everything related to the Classic Antiquity.

Artists studied anatomy and this was reflected in the their accurate representation of human bodies

The Renaissance

“The man of Vitrubius” Study of human proportions by Leonardo Da Vinci.

The Renaissance

SibylDetail of the ceiling of the sistine chapelBy Michelangelo

Birth of Venus by Botticele

The human body (porportions) Look carefully at the following sketches and

analyze the similarities and differences between them.

An adult has approximately seven and a half heads, in such a way that the first one extends down to the beard, the second to the chest, the third to the navel, the fourth to the public area, the fifth over the knees, the sixth to the widest part of the calves, the seventh to the ankles…

Comic Figures The comic: a means of artistic expression in

which image and text are combined. The stories are structured through frames,

whose basic elements are: written text in a bubble, decoration and characters.

The human figure in comics is represented in the form of characters. The characters one can symbolize human attitudes such as kindness, evil, love, innocence, bravery, etc.

Creation of comic characters Firstly you should consider the type of

narration - e.g. comedy, horror.

You should consider what the character is like, what he does, what props he needs to carry out his actions and what would be the most appropriate clothing for him.

Once you have thought about this, do several quick sketches of different ideas and decide on your definitive image.

Another option is to allow your imagination to run wild.

After you have designed your character you will have to put him into motion by drawing him in all positions - standing, sitting, running, profile, behind, etc.