Drawing a realistic human figure is all about proportions.
The beauty of the human form has been the subject of sculptors and painters for thousand of years. No two people are exactly alike, but most humans have essentially similar proportions. In fact, an artist can map the length and shape of a model's torso, arms, legs, hips, hands and feet using measurements of the length and width of the model's head. Following these measurements, an artist won't draw an oversized head, an unnaturally short torso or too-long legs.
Instructions
Realistic Proportions
1. Measure the head of your model or figure using a measuring stick or pencil. Hold your pencil or stick in front of you, close one eye and line the tip of your pencil or stick with the top of your figure's head. On your measuring stick or pencil, use your thumb to mark the visual distance from the top of the head to the tip of the chin. Repeat this step for the head width, and lightly sketch a head-shaped oval on your sketch pad near the top-center using these two measurements.
2. Use your head measurement to visually map the height of the body. The average human is 6 to 8 heads tall. Draw three stacked ovals under the first oval, leaving a space of 1/4 head length between your first and second oval to represent the neck. Then overlap the fourth oval with the third stacked oval by 1/4 head length. This overlap represents where the body naturally bends, that is, where the legs meet the pelvis. Finish the legs with three more ovals under the fourth stacked oval below the head.
3. Mark the point for the knees on either side of the top of the second oval from the bottom. Draw a line from the bottom oval to this point to represent each lower leg. For the upper legs, measure 2 1/4 head lengths above the knees and sketch a line.
4. At the fifth head length from the bottom, draw two more head-shaped ovals side by side, measuring two head widths. This represents the hip width.
5. At the second oval below the head, draw two ovals lengthwise -- two head lengths -- to represent the shoulders.
6. Use the head measurement to map arm length, hand length and foot length. The feet are usually about one head length, and the hands are usually 3/4 of a head length. The upper arm is usually 1 1/2 heads long, and the lower arm is 1 to 1 1/4 heads long. Lightly sketch lines to represent these dimensions.
7. Draw an upside-down triangle to represent the torso of your body. Draw a straight line across the two oval lengths you drew for the shoulders, then make a triangle with points that meet about 1/4 head length into the ovals that represent your hip measurements.
8. Make an upside-down triangle to represent the pelvis. Start with a straight line across the hip width, directly underneath the triangle you drew for the torso. Draw a triangle with points that meet where the ovals overlap at the top of the legs. You should now have a body length with a mapped head, torso, pelvis, arm, legs, hands and feet.
Facial Proportions
9. Mark the eyes exactly halfway between the top and bottom of the oval that represents the head.
10. Measure the length of the nose using your measuring stick or pencil and thumb, as in Step 1. The nose falls between the eyes and the chin, but where it falls exactly can vary dramatically between models.
11. Measure the distance between the nose and chin. The opening of the mouth should be 1/3 of this distance below the nose.
12. Draw the ears as you see them on your model, whether or not you can see the outline of the entire ear, the upper tip or just the earlobes. On most people the earlobe lines up with the bottom of the nose, and the tip is about at the height of the eyes.
