Understanding Body Proportions.
Do you know what the words underlined in blue mean?  If you are not sure click
on the word to see the word explained.
I quite like these drawings.  Perhaps you do too.  I like them because they
look quite funny.  They do not look real because the proportions are wrong -
because some things are the wrong size or shape.  They do not look like
real people.

What are the mistakes shown by these drawings?  They are mistakes lots of
people make.

In the first drawing the figure has sticks for legs, sticks for hands, very big
feet.  The head is not much more than a 'smiley face'.

In the second drawing the boy's  arms are far too long, his legs are far too
short and his feet too big.  The arms, legs and feet are of the wrong
proportions.  Like the figure in the first drawing, this one has no neck either.

In drawing three the girl has a neck but it is far too thin.  The human head is
bone and brain and muscle and flesh and hair AND IT IS HEAVY!  So the
neck needs to be wide enough and strong enough.  This girl's arms are far
too short, even if her waist is not where it appears to be (it could be hidden
under her top) and her feet are rather small.  The neck, arms, legs and feet
are out of proportion.
These drawings are about a
set of rules called a 'canon'.  
They are about an 'ideal' or
'perfect' body, which is
something most of us do not
have.

Once you have learned these
'ideal' proportions it is not
hard to make small changes,
so that your figure looks
thinner or fatter, taller or
shorter.

Let us look at how these
figures work:
In both the drawings above a distance has been measured from near to the top of
the head to the chin.  Using the red numbers, Line 1 goes across the drawing
a little below the top of the hair, near to where the top of the skull would be.  
Line 2 runs across the bottom of the chin.  The distance between lines 1 and
2 is counted as one 'head height' or one 'head'.

In the top drawing of the female figure you can easily see that the line a to b
is the same length as the line 1 to 2.  The complete male figure is about '8
heads' high.  Each figure is about 2 heads wide.
Look at the 'heads' measured by
the black numbers:
Head 1 finishes on the chin.  
Head 2 finishes a little above the
breast bones and about level
with the armpits.  
Head 3 finishes where the arms
bend at the elbow and a little
above the tummy button (also
called the 'navel').
Head 4 finishes around the
wrists and the line across
crosses the hips just above the
sex organs.
Head 5 crosses the thighs just
as they begin to narrow or
become thinner.
Head 6 crosses just under the
knees.
Head 7 crosses the calves.
Head 8 crosses the soles of the
feet.

There is a lot we can learn from these figures.  The waistline of the male figure
here crosses halfway between heads 3 and 4.  From the waist to the soles of
the feet is a distance of about four and a half heads.  The distance from just
under the knees to the soles of the feet is two heads.

Notice how wide the neck is?
Notice how the man's fingers come down almost to the line of head 5?
If you look at the drawing of my
female superhero figure you will
see that there are some
differences in the
measurements.

Here the waist is on the line of
head 3.  From the waist to the
soles of the feet measures 5
heads.

The hands still reach almost to
the line of head 5.  The line of
head 6 still crosses just under
the knees.

Can you find any more
differences?
In Part Two we are going to see if we can use these
proportions to draw a more realistic figure.  Click HERE
to visit Part Two with me.
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