'get a list of artists contained in the figure'

def get_children(self):

    children = [self.patch]
    children.extend(self.artists)
    children.extend(self.axes)
    children.extend(self.lines)
    children.extend(self.patches)
    children.extend(self.texts)
    children.extend(self.images)
    children.extend(self.legends)
    return children
