Drawing Men, Women and Children

Proportions of the Human Figure – The Greek statues have regulated and determined the standard of beauty in art. These proportions, however, vary in individual cases and individual tastes. They are, however, valuable as a foundation from which modifications may be made.

In the Greek statues, the height of a developed man was usually eight heads; that is, the head was one-eighth the length of the body.

The height of a woman, Greek standard, about seven heads. The human figure may be divided into four parts of equal
length, namely:

1. From the top of the head to the arm-pit.
2. From the arm.-pit to the middle of the body.
3. From the middle of the body to the knees.
4. From the knees to the soles of the feet.

From finger-tip to finger-tip, when the arms are extended
at right angles to the body equals the length of the entire figure from crown to toes.

The face may be divided into three parts:

1. From the top of the forehead to the root of the nose.
2. From the root of the nose to the bottom of the nose.
3. From the bottom of the nose to the bottom of the chin. The ear is the length of the nose and its general direction is parallel to it.

From the top of the shoulder to the elbow measures twice the length of the face.

From the elbow to the wrist, one head.

The hand measures three-quarters of a head from the tip of the middle finger to the wrist.

The foot measures one-sixth of the whole length of the body.

These proportions are not exact or to be arbitrarily followed.

Drawing the Human Figure

When drawing the head, whether in profile or three-quarter view, avoid making the facial line too upright. There can be no rigid rule regarding this or any other part of the human figure, on account of the variance of different persons. The degree of difference is even greater if we consider racial variances.

Making the features too small is a common error.

Sometimes, however, the error is in the opposite direction, especially in respect to the eyes. They should not be made too large for the face. In drawing the normal eye, place the pupil slightly under the upper lid. Do not draw a line directly under the eyeball. If this is done, it is apt to give an impression of soreness to the eyes. Let the line indicating the upper line of the lower lid be a trifle distant from the eyeball. Eyelashes should be sparingly introduced. Eyebrows should not be too strongly demarked.

The ears should not be longer than the nose, and they should be level with it.

Things to Avoid

Do not make the mouth too small.

Do not make the space from the eyebrows to the top of the head too narrow.

Do not make finger nails too distinct or prominent.

Do not make goose-necks on your women nor bull-necks on your men and children.

Do not make the arms too long, unless you are making a caricature and wish to produce an ape-like effect.

Guide Lines Again – When intending to draw a draped or clothed figure, first draw, in faint lines, the figure itself through the clothes. Erase the faint lines, which are guide lines only. This method will be of special assistance in get¬ting the feet in the right place and in the right direction. That is, first draw the feet without the shoes, putting the latter on afterwards.