Measuring Techniques

Figure Drawing Fundamentals

Measuring

Measuring Techniques

173K
Mark as Completed

Measuring Techniques

173K
Mark as Completed

Choose one of the methods I describe in the lesson above. Either digital or traditional. Practice laying in a figure drawing pose and use the measuring techniques you learned. You can use the photo provided below, or any other pose you like in my pose sets.

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maciek szczech
I drew vertical line with the ruler, divided it (7.5 heads) and followed Stan's instructions. Was not hurrying and tried to find right position of arms, hands, legs, feet and other features in relation to the figure height and width and overall figure shape and then added a bit of lines describing shadows. I have corrected position of left model hand and the right model arm, both positioned ca0.5cm too high. The final result as on the attached pictures. Just wanted to exercise and see where I am as for today.. (WHS sketchbook, A4 size, HB mechanical pencil).
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Camellito
Good job. Keep working hard.
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Melanie Scearce
Very accurate! Great job
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hArtMann
Used all of the methods to see how well they combine.
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Jack
8mo
I'm really struggling with the issue where I mess up a measurement and don't realize until it's too late, causing all of the proportions to be off. Does anyone have any advice?
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Gary Richardson
If you think of the borders of the reference photo, consider that it is a square, i.e. equal sides. Try using that square in your drawing. First, draw the square box as an "envelope" for the figure. Now, draw the shapes that are "not figure". You can carve away the spaces and be left with the figure. Drawing the negative spaces as shapes will increase your awareness of the relativity of the positive shapes. Proportionality is all in the angles. Big to small... General to specific. Keep your lines light, loose and explorative... 80 percent looking... 20 percent drawing. I hope that's useful.
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Jesper Axelsson
Hi @Jack, nice drawings! One answer to your concerns could be: Don't worry about it. The better you get, the better your accuracy will become. But I have some tips that might help: - Step back regularly to see your work from a distance, or if you're in a cramped space, take a photo of your drawing. The point is to see your drawing in a smaller scale, since that can reveal some proportion issues. - Mirror the drawing. You could take your phone for example, and hold one of its edges against your forhead. Then if you look up into the turned off dark screen, you'll see your artwork mirrored and upside down, which can give you a fresh look on things, and help you notice mistakes. - Having a good body position when drawing could help. Sitting upright with your eyes at about an arms length from the paper, allows you to keep the big picture in mind when you draw. But as mentioned, maybe the issue will disappear with practice. For your next drawings, here are some things to consider: - You're making the heads to small. You could double check your work with the Human Proportions – Average Figure. Take the height of the head, then go down the figure you've drawn, one head at a time, and check if things are in the right place. The nipples are one head down, and the belly button another, etc. For foreshortened poses you could think three dimensionally, and imagine stacking the heads in space, to get a hunch of whether the proportions are right or not. - Overall, your drawings are stretched vertically; you're making vertical distances longer than they are. So keep an extra eye on that. As a specific exercise, you could practice cutting vertical distances in half. You might discover that you tend to put the middle point too low, for example. Or to get even more practice. First draw a large rectangle to practice your horizontals and verticals; compare the horizontal lines with the horizontal edges of the paper, and the vertical lines with the vertical edges of the paper (then check with a ruler and make adjustmens). Then split that rectangle in halves, top to bottom, side to side. - When you're doing the lay-in, check your work with horizontals and verticals, to make sure that things are aligning correctly. I hope this helps :)
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@hannassi
Here are some of the drawings i did lately. I prominently indicated the different curves and/or muscles of the body that normally would not have been really noticeable. The reason for that is because i wanted to make it easier for myself if i were ever to shade them. Anyways, critiques are very welcome,)
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@hannassi
Here are some drawings i did. I think they lack gesture, they look a little stiff
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Jesper Axelsson
Hi @hannassi, nice drawings! These look carefully measured. Good job! - In #1 her left (our right) arm is too long. Referring to the standardized proportions can be a help (Human Proportions – Average Figure for example). According to those the upper arm should be about the length of the ribcage. Another hint is to look at the other arm. Are both arms the same lenght? The bilateral symmetry of the body is important. - In #2 the torso feels compressed. We're lacking the space between the ribcage and hip. When drawing, think of the figure as a series of shapes. You have the Head neck ribcage waist hip upper legs lower legs feet shoulders upper arms lower arms hands Make sure every shape is there. Having a clear idea of the pieces, can make the process easier and more efficient. I also think it will improve the drawing, since it will make priorities clear; you emphasize the major shapes instead of the secondary or tertiary shapes. In drawing#3 you have a strong prism like shape at the hip which seem to resemble the gluteus medius, but you don't have an indication of the ribcage, which is a primary shape. The gluteus medius is secondary. Emphasizing the secondaries can tear the composition apart. I attached two hand drawings that I did where the secondaries dominate (I'm working on this myself). The hand to the left works a little better than the right, since the secondary shapes dominate less. -In #4 the figure might have been drawn too wide and chubby. I hope this helps :) Keep up the good work!
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Dre Torres
I spent about 20 minutes straight trying to get the measuring right and when I started drawing about 5 minutes in I realized it was completely wrong and I spent nearly half an hour wasting my time. How do I do better?
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@draft_al
Hi Dre! Thank you for your courage to come forward and admitting that you are struggling. It can be hard to admit; I know that from experience. What helped me understand the whole measurement thing, especially when it come to the Loomis method was watching Proko's video on how different head shapes fit into Loomis. Loomis is a good reference, but it is not the law. It is a good thing that you caught the mistakes early on. However, take as long as you have to with your drawing, I can relate because you see people like Stan, and his former teacher Jeff get to a point of likeness with such ease. Don't worry, it'll come. You may want to take your drawing to a finish to the best of you ability, and place tracing paper over it to redraw and correct the mistakes you see on your drawing on the tracing. I hope this helps.
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Samuel Sanjaya
My measurement exercises. This exercises made me realized that gesture can effect the proportion itself. Or that's what I think, not too sure. I find that drawing figures is like a balancing act between gesture and proportions, too heavy that one side is off, then the drawing will fall apart. I think that's why I need to learn this in order to tip the scale freely, without breaking it. I hope I can get some critiques on this assignment.
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Vera
10mo
Hello. Here are some of my measuring practices. In the first drawing, I measured the figure mostly by looking at the shapes and angles. One thing I found difficult was measuring and keeping the correct proportions of the legs. Advice and critiques are appreciated. Reference images are from line-of-action.com.
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Martin Dubček
Good job, keep it up, practice makes the master.)
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@pmak22
Hi all, I've been trying to get get in reps of measurements, resisting details. Initially, I had been using the methods prescribed in the course and while it had been accurate, I found the process fairly laborious when my goal also was to get a better eye for proportions. I watched the Dorian Iten's Accuracy Guide that @Jesper Axelsson posted below and started feeling a lot better about the process. It feels looser and feels more intuitive. I think it might be a little less accurate but I try to still use my pen as a guide to sort of mix the methods. I will say that in both methods I have the same issues. That being the head size always being too small, same with the hands/feet. My goal is to do probably a dozen more before moving forward. Also as an aside, while I know I'm still learning, the 5th measurement is pretty rough, which I attribute to being very tired and distracted when I did that one.
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John Harper
Hey pmak22 (Can you give the sources, I would like to try a few of them?).
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John Harper
At this stage, I found myself frustrated as well. My proportions were off, making me want to focus on measurements. Then I saw that my gesture was shot when I focused on measurement. The two functions are both essential but seem to oppose each other. I bought a couple of proportional dividers from Derwent. I set one so that one side was 1/2 the other side. I set the other one so the short side represented 1/3 of the other side. Then, I focused on the gesture, using the dividers to "find" my proportions. Eventually, I was able to start getting away from the dividers. I STILL RELY ON THE DIVIDERS when I want to do a measured drawing. But using both the divider and focusing on gestures have helped me greatly.
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Jesper Axelsson
Hi @pmak22, nice studies! You seem to be learning a lot about measuring. Don't stress over it though😎. Training your eye takes time and you don't have to do stay on doing only this exercise until you master it. Think of it more like a bootcamp, where you get introduced to the techniques and get a good grasp of it. The fine tuning will happen in the drawings you make in the future where you use these techniques whenever necessary to make the drawings as good as you can. Also be aware, that you might not always want to copy what you're seeing exactly, but rather design things in the way you prefer to have them. However, training your eye and hand to be able to copy exactly is not a bad thing. - I agree that you're making the heads and feet too small. In image two, note how you've made the head to narrow front to back. Remember to make room for the brain. The head is basically a brain case with a face attached on it. You also tend to make the shoulders too high. Hope this helps :)
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Eveline Rupenko
Hello! Here is my practice for this assignment! First I drew a pose trying to use measurement, then I tried to overlap my drawing (red) with the tracing from the original image (blue) and see how much it overlaps. Sadly it turned out to be much more off than I initially thought. but by the last one, it seems I got a little bit better. Also noticed a common mistake strand I have, usually I draw a chest wider than it is. I guess a few more rounds of this will be enough to get a solid grasp!
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@kotka
Having a really hard time adapting this to a digital environment. My big PC broke so now I can only use a small laptop screen or Ipad tablet for viewing pose photos. It's very hard to get good measurements from a small screen. Does anyone have any tips? Unfortunately, I don't have access to a printer that can print A3 images.
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@pmak22
@kotka Since you listed A3 as a paper size, I'm going to assume you don't reside in the US, however, are there places you can send files to print easily? In the US, you can email/upload images to be printed and picked up within a few hours to drug stores like Walgreens/CVS or shipping stores like Fedex. That being said I also might assume those companies are meaningless to you :/
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Ingrid
Hi, here's some of the measuring practise I have done recently. I compared the original photos to the drawings digitally: Blue lines are the "correct" lines from the reference photo, while the red lines are the "wrong" lines in the drawing. This makes it easier to see where I was off. Sorry about the weird shadows on the photos i took btw. Critique/ feedback is very welcome!
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Jesper Axelsson
Cool! - If you're interested in measuring and accuracy, you might appreciate checking out Dorian Iten's Accuracy Guide (Accuracy Guide Lesson ). I found it and his accuracy exercises https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMX3K3YMbd8&t=7s really helpful. - I've heard that Leonardo Da Vinci started his figure drawings with a vertical line and maybe a marking of the halfway point. I've tried this myself, and I feel like having this vertical line (that you've decided is intersecting a specific point on the body) to relate to is really helpful, yet very simple. Hope this helps :)
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Ann
1yr
Hello, here are my first proportion practices. Would be happy to receive any feedback or criticism. Thanks in advance! 
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Jari Palomäki
They look great. I wish i could draw so good. If there's some area's to be focused for improvement, they must be the foot's.
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Benjamin Green
I think the proportions are pretty spot on. The drawings look accurate too in terms of positive and negative space and plumb lines. The point of the exercise was measurement, which was surely accomplished. Only thing I can say is the drawings look a little flat because so much of the inner detail was omitted. Plus strict measurements and adhering to the rules makes for stiff drawings.
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Igor Cornelis
it has caracter ! great proportions
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Luke Ng
Any advice for keeping a steady hand when measuring? My hand keeps moving, especially when I am moving my desired measuring unit across the subject I feel like I can't "stack" my measuring units accurately.
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Mike Karcz
Use your other hand to brace your arm. Just goes keep doing it. Build that shoulder strength.
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@elkad
Measuring practice! It was kinda tedious but a great exercise, I really learnt a lot especially by checking against the reference and re-drawing
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@asgota
Hey, this is my proportion practice. What can I improve about them?
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Christopher Beaven
I was going to suggest overlays to check your work but it looks like @Jesper Axelsson has done that for you! His advice is on point. Horizontals, Verticals and angles. I would also add that you're figures are pretty darn close! At some point you have to ask yourself how close do you want/need to get. How much creativity do you want to inject in your work? Do you want to be able to copy the photo perfectly? Hope that helps! Keep drawing through effort you will become a master. Just gotta put in the time :)
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Jesper Axelsson
Hi @asgota, really nice drawings! - You seem to be well aware of plumb lines and vertical allignemts. I would also recommend checking horizontal allignments. - Certain angles seem a little of. Horizontal allignments will help with this, but keeping an extra eye on the angles might be a good idea. - I would recommend paying more attention to the thickness of the parts of the body. In the first one, you've made his torso and upper leg thicker and the arm thinner than in the reference. Hope this helps :)
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@opaqueapple
Hi all, I finished some Observational studies applying the measuring techniques; The first set of 5 is just the figures themselves. The other half are my notes. Any Critiques would be much appreciated, thanks!
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John Harper
That is an awesome practice. I'm gunna start doing it as well. I do most of my stuff non-digital so I will have to use tracing paper.
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@fooze
Hey everyone! here are a couple of my measurement assignments. they're just gesture lines for now because i was too overwhelmed to add any details ;-; If you have any feedback/critique, i will greatly appreciate it!
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John Harper
When I took the picture of my drawing, I got a lot of shadow. Sorry. Anyway, notice that I captured Channon's gesture and based the drawing on her robo-bean. That might help you "see" that her body is facing away from the camera. I hope this example helps.
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John Harper
I'm going to try to draw these same poses and make some comments. Channon is only 7 heads high, and you've drawn her facing forward too much. Good try though. I'll post later on today (got to go to work).
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Johnathan
Good stuff here. I think you lost some of the gesture in the drawing of the woman though (at the hip area), keep up the good work though
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Sandra Süsser
Tried triangulation here. Still find it hard to generate the envelope when the middle line is not at the highest points.
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Sandra Süsser
First attempt at creating a measured / envelope drawing (without details). Ran a bit out of time so the stick isn’t quite right and also other parts, but I keep practising. my question (maybe a bit unrelated): this was sight sized drawing. How is the drawing technique called where the original subject and the drawing aren’t of equal size? Just scaled drawing or does it have a certain name?
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