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Time: 15 mins

Drawing is Easy
As with everything in drawing, correct proportions are imperative. As well as looking at negative spaces and angles, certain fundamental proportions are helpful to know. Some may surprise you.
For example, the human body has several basic measurements that we roughly all conform to. These can be helpful, especially if you draw stick figures as your initial framework.

In the Renaissance, certain measurements were laid down as the ideal proportions of the human figure, and with a few adjustments these make fairly accurate-looking figures. Always remember that these are for an ‘ideal’ figure; we don’t all conform to these exact measurements.

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Step 1
Using the head as a unit of scale, begin by drawing one as an oval or egg shape (the wider end at the top). Most bodies are made up of approximately seven and a half head lengths.
Step 2
The neck length is a quarter of a head length, from the chin to the shoulders. The second head length starts next. The shoulder width is two head widths for a female, two head lengths for a male. If you were to draw guidelines, the head and shoulders would form a triangle.
Step 3
From the nipples to the navel is one head length.
Step 4
From the hips to the bottom of the knees the distance is approximately two head lengths, and that from
the base of the knee to the ground is approximately another two head lengths.
Step 5
The distance from the inner elbow to the wrist is one head length – or one foot length, which is also a head length.
Step 6
The upper arm, from the shoulder to the elbow is one and one half head lengths.
Step 7
The hand is three-quarters of a head length, and so equivalent to the average face up to the hair line.