Moving In by Steve Huston, 16 x 20, 2001. Courtesy Eleanor Ettinger Gallery.

Alaska-born artist Steven Huston knows that when there's no mammoth sports arena or cheering crowds, an athlete on the field of play can easily turn into an artist's ideal model. Even without motion, an athletic figure still possesses an interesting pose, physical awareness, and conceptual power of form. "I wrestled throughout junior high and boxed for a while, and I've always been interested in 'mano y mano' sports," the artist explains. "As a painter, I was drawn to the musculature and movement of the body in action. My style is pretty chunky and lends itself to the lumps and bumps of muscles. But I wanted a context for showing off the body, rather than simply objectifying the human form."

	Headlock by Steve Huston 36 x 48, oil on panel. Courtesy Scotia Gallery.
	Finding His Reach by Steve Huston, 24 x 24, 2009. Courtesy Eleanor Ettinger Gallery.

To that end, Huston consistently edits signifiers that could give too much literal detail to a painting. Instead of a boxing ring, for example, he situates his figures in undefined spaces or those that seem contradictory to the subject, such as a room with Romanesque architectural details or a cathedral-like atmosphere. He often hides the faces of his models and creates dramatic light effects in the style of Rembrandt.

Huston does not credit a successful painting with anatomical acuity alone. "A lot of realist painters get fixated too much on anatomy, but anatomy doesn't show you how to prioritize," he says. "Some muscles group with others; in other parts of the body one muscle might display itself more prominently than all the ones that are anatomically making the motion. The figure can't appear broken or held hostage by its own body-you've got to integrate and relate the parts to a greater whole. I've told students, you are not painting seven peaches and a pear; the point is to paint one still life. It is the same with the body's anatomy."

Huston stresses that each visual component incorporated into an artwork must relate to an artist's ultimate goal-what he or she want to accomplish on the large scale, as opposed to the small details that may appeal to the artist but don't necessarily aid in conveying the visual message to the viewer.

When it comes to painting the figure, artists should strive for an understanding of what goes on within the human body, because knowing what's happening below the surface enables you to render that surface more accurately. The instructional DVD Anatomy for Artists: Man in Motion explores the human body in action with detailed discussions of balance, movement, and the motion of major muscle groups. This firsthand knowledge can lead you to create figures that teem with life and realism, much like Huston's.

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