The manner in which rock artists portrayed themselves is mystifying. Probably the most common representations are stick figures, totally devoid of character or adornment. Relatively few artists were capable of portraying an entire person. Bodies with heads but no arms or legs are common. Limbs are seldom shown bent correctly at the elbows or knees. The simple act of running was too difficult to portray. Fingers presented difficulties and most attempts to show them are on the level of lower grade-school art. Yet the hand was frequently portrayed in silhouette or outline-the result of blowing pigment around it or pressing it, wet with paint, upon a rocky surface. Feet with toes are almost non-existent; the common square-shouldered figures are mostly shown as legless, footless and toeless.

Seemingly unable to cope with the curves and proportions of the human form artist followed certain conventional ways of showing it. One interesting variation might be called the hourglass figure; the upper and lower torso are each simple triangles that join at the waist. When a head, arms, and legs are also shown as triangles a true "triangle man" results.