Hailed by teachers, students, and critics for fifty years, this manual presents both action studies and practical diagrams for portraying the human figure in motion and at rest. Anatomical details appear in pragmatic, generalized shapes that simplify identification and reproduction. More than 300 images complement the easy-to-follow text, which includes a valuable survey of art history and magnificent figure drawings by such masters as Michelangelo, Rembrandt, Rodin, and Picasso.
Burne Hogarth, called "the Michelangelo of the comic strip," is best known for his long-running Tarzan cartoons and for helping found New York''s School of Visual Arts. In this study of the human figure, he explains muscular and skeletal structure from the artist''s point of view, rather than that of the medical anatomist. Hogarth extends beyond the factual elements of anatomy to emphasize the relationship of mass to movement. His guide will prove an indispensable companion to artists at all skill levels who wish to render the human figure accurately and artistically.

The remarkable career of Burne Hogarth (1911-1996) spanned seven decades. Hogarth remains best known for his syndicated Tarzan cartoons, which he created from 1937 to 1950. Hogarth also taught at both the School of Visual Arts and the Parsons School of Design.