Body Proportions
Artists have many tricks up their sleeves to draw well. One of the tricks to drawing people well is knowing body proportions. Artists may start with a quick sketch and double-check these proportions or they may lay out guidelines with marks of where the hips, toes, elbows, and knees are and then draw in the figure. Humans are, generally speaking, about 7.5 – 8 head-lengths long. On a piece of sketchbook paper draw the proportional figure.
- Start by drawing the head. (Not too large because you need 8 of them!)
- Continue to make marks of the head length along the paper. Do not add any of the details of the body yet.
- Once the marks have been completed, use the image above to get accurate proportions of the body.