Michael Massen - Figure Drawing in Proportion: Easy to Remember, Accurate Anatomy for Artists

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This is a book about proportion. More specifically, its a book on figure proportion for visual artists. Just what is proportion anyway? Lets define it as a relationship between measurements.

For example, we could talk about the proportion (or the relationship between measurements) between two lines or two sticks. And from there, we could make interesting observations, such as those two lines are of equal length or the second stick is shorter than the first stick or the first line is twice as long as the second line. Having such information makes it a lot easier for us to draw representations of the same objects on paper, whether they be lines, sticks or whatever.

Proportions can also consist of comparisons between the different dimensions of the same object. For example, we could say something like, That box is twice as long as it is wide. Or That box is as wide as it is high. If you are drawing a cube or sphere, both of these sayings would be true.

Certainly, some proportions are easier for us to make quick sense of than others. If we want to draw a cube, for example, we know that we have to make its width equal to both its length and its height. Similarly, if we know that something is spherical, then we know that it is also of equal width, length and height. (And we can easily envision it as being described within a cube.) So cubes and spheres, having a common measurement for width, height and depth, are relatively simple constructs for us to understand and to draw.

Other forms are not as simple to figure out. Thanks to the ancient Greek philosopher Pythagoras, we know that side a of the Pythagorean right triangle (see ) is equal to the square root of c2 - b2. Knowing this complicated relationship between a and the other two sides of the triangle can be useful and important. But it may not be very easy to figure out right off the cuff.

As artists, we want to have a system of proportions that is easy to figure out, because when we draw or paint or sculpt, there are many other factors in addition to comparative length that we have to deal with at the same time, such as light, composition and texture.

The human body is difficult to draw to begin with. It has oddly shaped parts and varies in color and texture across its surface. And because any figure in any artwork can be understood, at least to some degree, as a stand-in for ourselves, it is freighted with psychological and sociological significances, which would not be found in a tree or a rabbit or a wagon.

One chief difficulty in depicting the human body is that it doesnt for the most part divide into proportions that are simple to understand. Unlike a cube, for example, humans are not of the same height, width and depth. Theyre not even twice as deep as they are high, or of some other easy proportion like our imaginary box was.

Thankfully, some easy proportions do regularly exist within the human figure, if not 1:1, then at least 2:1 or even 3:1. If you know that the collarbone is the same width as the head, it makes it much easier to draw the head in proper relationship to the shoulders. Or knowing that the figures palm should be the same width as its knee makes it easier to set down the correct relationships when doing a seated portrait.

This book tries to find and exploit these relatively simple size relationships wherever they are found. If you find others that are useful to you, then you should remember and use those as well.

Now lets consider another riddle regarding bodily proportions: Just whose body are we talking about?

Just as no two people look exactly alike (not even identical twins), no two people have exactly the same proportions. Or, it might be better put that no two people look exactly alike because no two people have exactly the same proportions.

So how and why should we endeavor to establish a system of figure proportion when we know that proportions change from person to person?

It is important to keep in mind that the guidelines set in this book, as well as the rules that appear in most artistic anatomy or drawing books, are based on average human measurements, either by sampling a number of individuals and computing their average measurements, or by observing a smaller number of people with averagely proportioned bodies.

There do exist canons of proportion that are decidedly not average. Books on how to draw fashion figures or comic book superheroes present a special set of comparative measurements to construct figures of a very specialized appearance. While you can use many of the ideas in this book to help you to draw those special types, these guidelines are to help you represent more regular-looking figures.

Humans for the most part dont vary that greatly in their proportion from one to another, not even from male to female. It is generally the accumulation of relatively small differences in proportion among people that gives them their character and makes them recognizable to us as distinct persons. The purpose of this book is to get the figures in your drawing in the ballpark.

Once you have the ability to draw a reasonably well-proportioned, convincing figure, you can then modify your drawing to align better with either the physical model you see before you or with your expressive artistic purpose. And you should!

But here is something well worth remembering. Few people who look at your artwork will know what your model looked like at the time that he or she posed for you. However, they may well notice if something is badly proportioned about your rendering, since we are able to pick up on even slight deviations in proportion from the average.