Guided Figure Drawing Class #1 Recap: Proportions

Written By Zillah Smith

At our first meeting we chatted about some basic proportions and using some landmarks to find our way around the body. This is the method taught by Andrew Loomis in his book Figure Drawing for All It’s Worth. We’re can use the size of the head to measure comparatively the other parts of the body.

A few notable landmarks:

  • People are about 7.5 heads high, and about 2 heads wide.

  • The crotch is a little above the center line at 4 heads.

  • 1 head between shoulder and elbow

  • 1 head between elbow and writst

  • 1 head from knee to ankle

  • 2 heads from crotch to just below the knee

  • 3 heads from crotch to chin (the whole torso)

  • The size of the hand is usually the size of the face from chin to hairline

  • fingertips rest mid-thigh in a neutral position

As we progress through the classes we’ll chat more about the anatomy in each part of the body in depth!

Also, a note about Loomis and the “ideal” body type. These ideals are useful to a point, but are also rooted in illustrating for advertising in the 1940s. They are very white, very fit, and women especially are reduced to hourglass waistlines and soft lips. Human bodies have much more variety in size, shape, and gender expression than is covered here. Capturing a persons likeness about noticing and recording this variety. There’s no right or wrong way to have a body! There is no ideal! Think of this as a framework for training yourself to look at human bodies NOT as some standard those bodies need to force themselves into.

Zillah Smith