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University of the Pacific

The importance of the study of anatomy to the figure artist

Abstract

dc:description.abstract

<p>Anatomy is of little use to the student if he has not grasped how to draw form, but it helps him to invent form. Without an understanding of how to invent, we can only make flat plans of the anatomy inside the outline; but once the drawing of bones and structure has been understood, all the anatomy that the student knows may be to his advantage.</p><p>An artist must know as much science as he can use. If he knows more, there is a chance that sciences will use him. It is the structure of the body he must grasp and the way anatomy works. Knowing the parts by name is merely a convenience.</p><p>If we can master Figure Drawing, even to a limited extent, we shall be well prepared to draw anything, and of all things in nature we are most critical of the human body round which there are gathered the deepest associations of idealism and instinct.</p>However, the ideal in Art and in Nature is best understood as a standard from which to deviate, rather than as a scheme to impose on form.</p><p>Rules are made to be broke, but they cannot be broken until they are understood.</p><p>The creative force is given to few, but each one of us, layman or artist, cherishes a spark that may - who knows - start in another artist a conflagration. Then whether the work produced the trivial or profound, the student of "Life" may give thanks that he pursues an ageless quest of inexhaustible allure,</p>

Degree

thesis:*
Name thesis:degree_name
Master of Arts (M.A.)
Level thesis:degree_level
Thesis
Discipline thesis:degree_discipline
Art
Year dc:date.available
1937

Author and committee

dc:creator, dc:contributor.*
Author dc:creator
  • Young, Dorothy
Contributors dc:contributor
  • E. Grace Ward

Subjects

dc:subject × 6

Rights

dc:rights

Identifiers

dc:identifier.*
Repository record dc:identifier
https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/uop_etds/977
OAI identifier oai:identifier
oai:scholarlycommons.pacific.edu:uop_etds-1976

Chain of custody

source
Harvested from
University of the Pacific
Base URL
scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/do/oai/
Last updated
2026-07-24
Source record
OAI-PMH GetRecord
citation

Young, Dorothy. The importance of the study of anatomy to the figure artist. Thesis thesis, 1937. https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/uop_etds/977