The Virginia enterprise., 1906-05-25
an auxiliary, the action studied ami
drawn by it, and then the block figures

an auxiliary, the action studied ami
drawn by it, and then the block figures
drawn from that. II !
The teacher may drill the child in the
use of the stick figures apart from the
block fgurSS as long as he thinks profit
able. He will notice that by beginning
with the back bone and shoulder line the
inclination of the action is determined.
As in running the degree of obliquity is
increased with the speed, the angle
formed by the legs becomes greater and
needs a wider base. Experiment will
suffice in this study without going into
the realm of physics.
The Block Figures.
Present the block figures to the child
as In the Illustration by drawing the
square that stands for the body, then
apart, the square and parallelogram
that stand for body and legs, then the
square and parallelogram, adding suc-~
cessively head, arms. feet and hands.
The difference in proportion between
the squares used for the man and WON
an, suggesting the greater shoulder
width Of herman, will be noted.
Much can be done with the figure in
the Rectangular condition, while the ad-
dition of concave lines at the shoulders
: for the woman and convex shoulder lines
for the man, the use of the curved lines
for the torso and other suggestions
drawn in the illustrations materially
help the figures.
It will be noted that all these curves
that give roundness to the figure are
built upon the squares as first given.
This makes the construction compare
lively easy, as the big proportions arc
given in the first two parallelograms
Strict adherence to the block forms is
not necessary. Freedom from constraint
in this direction is only governed by tho
child's ability to approach the perfect
ly drawn figure. ~
AS the block figure is only a. symbol
and not a drawing of a man, there is no
need of the child's being drilled in its
production beyond familiarizing it with
it's general proportions and giving some
practice in it's possibilities of action.
Such subjects as woman walking with
Il little boy, a seated man, a man carry
ing stick or gun, a woman with basket
on her head, will serve the purpose
These practice subjects should be dono
without the complication of background.
Keep the Work Simple.
AS the requirement of this new pic
ture form opens up large field of SUBJ
jects, the interest of the child ought to
be, proportionately increased. Tha
teacherin his own efforts to find subjects
should at first BE governed by the limita-
tions/ of the block figure, at the same
time recognizing it's possibilities. Its
field of action is sufficiently large with
out attempting foreshortening or other
difficulties that have kept the work so
far out of the skilled draughtsman's
province. The three-quarters view of
the human figure may be tried later, but
it stays with questions of perspective
that would better wait than be answered
now. The child should be occupied with
what it can do with it's medium, and no.
with what it cannot. The subjects that
will follow are chosen on these lines.
| and lead to use of the human figure in
story telling where more complicated
use of it can be reasonably required