Page:Drawing for Beginners.djvu/79

 cardboard and ribbons at home&mdash;makes a most interesting subject to draw.

Sandals, by the interweaving of their straps, draw our attention to the variety of shapes of the toes, which we too often overlook. The big toe is an important member of the foot; indeed, of the whole body. When the foot is raised it is the big toe that spreads and separates from the other toes, and helps to balance the foot. The big toe is as characteristic as the thumb. (Indeed, the monkeys, the tree-climbing animals, use the big toe as we use our thumbs, to grasp and hold the branches.) It is usually square-tipped, thick, and muscular. The next toe is slender and long, the second and third toes graduate, and the little toe is curved or doubled up, and is almost more negligible in size and appearance than the little finger.

It is interesting to learn that by the use of the feet and the manipulation of the toes, artists, or, at all events, craftsmen, have been helped in their work. A famous craftsman of Cairo, who works in wood and produces beautiful lattices for windows and doorways, uses his left foot as a third hand; because of his skill in the use of this foot he is known to the city as 'the three-handed man.'

When the foot is seen from the back the heel is naturally the most prominent feature. Also the ankles are more easily observed.

Having marked the angles of the leg and foot, we should next notice the straight tendon that runs down between the ankles and spread into the firm swelling apex of the heel. On either side of the foot the ankles are clearly seen. Note the shapes well, and note also the height of the upper part