Actions and Attitudes of the Human Figure.
Action and attitude, as well as proportion, can be expressed by the simple line figures on this page. You do not need the second and fourth sketches to tell you of the action expressed in the first and third.
In the figures on [page 35], the lines were nearly all vertical and horizontal; the figures were standing still. In Figure 1 on this page, you notice that every line is slanting; the figure expresses action. Stand erect, and think of the direction of lines that your body takes. Then push hard with both hands against a wall. You can feel that your erect position is changed. The vertical lines become slanting, or oblique.
Study the lines and their changed relations in Figure 3. Draw several line sketches that express a familiar action, such as walking, jumping, running, lying, or sitting. "Clothe" these action sketches.
Hands and Feet.
You have drawn from the figure long enough to find out that hands and feet are by no means the easiest things in the world to draw. Like almost everything else, they change their appearance with every change of position. We cannot learn to draw a hand or a foot so that we can use it in all kinds of poses. We can only learn to see the different sizes and shapes which each new position shows, and try to draw them as they appear.
The sketches on this page are good studies for you to copy. When you can do this well, try to draw the hands or feet of one of your friends. Sometimes a pair of boots or rubbers may be placed in exactly the same position that they would be in were the pose actually standing. Practice drawing from studies like these until you are better able to see shapes, and to draw them truthfully.