Drawing the Figure and Portrait
Introduced| English |
|---|
| proportion/prəˈpɔːʃn/ |
| halfway line/ˈhɑːfweɪ laɪn/ |
Every skill at once
- The figure combines proportion 比例, gesture, form, and likeness under one deadline.
- The classic adult figure stands about 7.5 heads tall.
- The body's halfway point is near the hip — not the waist.
True or trap?
Sort the figure-drawing claims: canon or classic beginner error?
The classic adult figure is about ____ heads tall.
About 7.5 heads.
The eyes sit near the top third of the skull.
They sit at the halfway line — the classic beginner error is placing them too high.
The head's map
- The eyes sit at the halfway line 中线 of the skull — beginners always place them too high.
- The nose sits about halfway from eyes to chin; the mouth a third below the nose.
- Check likeness with landmark distances, not memorised rules alone — every face bends the average.
The body's halfway point is near the ____, not the waist.
Halfway = hip.
Select all parts of the recommended drawing order.
Energy, masses, map, then features.
Masses first, mittens first
- Start with gesture and the big masses: ribcage, pelvis, skull. Features and fingers come last.
- Draw hands as simple mittens and feet as wedges first, then divide.
- Figure and portrait work is a portfolio staple: observation, proportion, and nerve in one image.
Match the simplification to its subject.
Simple volumes first, division later.
Starting with a perfect eye and growing the face outward from it almost guarantees a drifting likeness. Big masses first — skull shape, eye-line, centre line — then features inside the map.
A 20-minute portrait: two minutes gesture and skull mass, three minutes placing eye-line/nose/mouth lines, ten minutes big value shapes, five minutes features. The likeness arrives in the map, not the eyelashes.
Figure canon: ~7.5 heads tall, halfway at the hip; eyes at the skull's halfway line; masses before features, mittens before fingers — and sighting checks beat memorised rules.