How to Draw the figure in Action - De Arte Gymnastica - Hieronymi Mercurialis

De Arte gymnastica libri 6 by Hieronymus Mercurialis (or Girolamo Mercuriale) was the earliest illustrated book on sports medicine.  An edition for sale on  Ebay. Another book and prints removed from the book on  Ebay.

Google books version.

De Arte Gymnastica Libri Sex: In Quibus Exercitationum Omnium Vetustarum Genera, Loca, Modi, Faculates, & Quidquid Denique Ad Corporis Humani Exercitationes Pertinet, Diligenter Explicatur

De Arte Gymnastica Libri Sex, in quibus exercitationum omnium vetustarum genera, loca, modi, faculates, & quidquid denique ad corporis humani exercitationes pertinet, diligenter explicatur.

De arte gymnastica libri sex . . . editio novissima.

De arte gymnastica: Libri Sex : twenty-two woodcuts (Northridge facsimile series)

How to Draw the Human Figure in Motion and How to Draw Action Figures

Click on the picture to see
the animated version

To draw a figure in motion or to animate a figure the first thing to observe is the structure of the skeleton and how the parts move as an action is completed. Observe each part of the body by itself and notice how foreshortening and perspective come into play as the parts move.

The animated example here is derived from Eadweard Muybridge's photographic study of a nude descending a staircase.

The dots represent the joints and the lines represent the bones. By reducing the figure to this simple form a framework can be built to represent movement. The Biomotion Lab Walker is an interesting example on the web of how to reduce a figure to its bare essentials, this example produces the illusion of movement with only dots representing the joints. The example goes farther and allows you to experiment with faster and slower movement and a male or female figure.

This is the basic structure for animation, for motion capture and for rendering computer animation for motion pictures and game animation.