heights of people

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GUIDELINES FOR THE

Brenda Hoddinott

P04 INTERMEDIATE: PEOPLE

This article discusses proportional guidelines that canhelp artists render more believable and accurate figure

sketches and drawings.

Humans have infinitely different but equally magnificent bodies that can be transformed

into wonderful drawings. Drawing peoples bodies proportionately correct is an integralaspect of figure drawing. This article is divided into the following four sections:

MEASURING HEIGHTS IN HEADS: This section describes the artistic process ofmeasuring the height of figures in heads. While the measurement unit of a foot is

always precisely 12 inches, the size of a head measurement unit can be different foreach person you draw.

INFANTS AND CHILDREN: This section discusses how head measurements canbe applied to children in spite of the fact that individual children experience

different rates of growth and their body proportions change at various stages ofdevelopment.

EXPLORING ADULT BODIES: I discuss the need for artists to respect all humanfigures as wonderful drawing subjects. Diverse adult body types are illustrated and

the visual differences between male and female figures are explored.

COMPARING THE PROPORTIONS OF ADULT BODIES: Despite their heightdifferences, the vertical proportions of most male and female figures can be

accurately rendered with three simple principles and a basic set of proportional

guidelines.

8 PAGES - 12 I LLUSTRATI ONSThis lesson is recommended for mature artists. The curriculum is easily implemented into instructional

programs for home schooling, academic and recreational learning environments.

Published by Hoddinott Fine Art Publishers, Halifax, NS, Canada 2002 (Revised 2007)

Nude f igur es are i l lust rated in this ar t ic l e; hence, the content is recommended for matureart ists. Art i sts under the age of 18 need permissi on from an adult before viewing.


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Copyright to al l articles, images, text, projects, lessons and exercises within this drawing class belong to Brenda Hoddinott and may not be reproduced or used forany commerc ia l purposes whatsoever wi thout the wr i t ten permiss ion of Brenda Hoddinot t .

E-mai l bhoddinot t@hoddinot t .com Web sites ht tp: / /www.f inearteducat ion.com an d http: / /www.drawspace.com

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MEASURI NG HEI GHTS I N HEADS

When drawing figures, forget about measuring their height in feet, inches, or

centimeters! Artists measure the height of a human figure in heads! This simply meansusing the length a persons head to measure the height of his or her body (naturally, the

measurement unit of a head excludes hair). For example, an average one-year-old child

is between 4 and 4 heads tall.

While the measurement unit of a foot is always precisely 12 inches, the size of a headmeasurement unit can be different for each person you draw. Human heads become

larger as they grow from birth through adulthood. For example, as a child matures from

a baby to an adult, the overall length of his or her head grows approximately three

inches. Even fully grown adult heads come in a vast range of sizes.

By comparing an infants head to that of

an adult, (Figure 401) you can get a good

sense of the drastic changes in size and

proportions, which occur as a human headgrows.

Figure 401: The length of my daughters head grewapproximately three inches between age one and

adulthood.

Even though head sizes vary considerably, guidelines can still be applied to people soas to render a body size that looks believable in a drawing.

I NFANTS AND CHI LDRENIndividual children experience different rates of growth and their body proportions

change at various stages of development. For instance, one-year-olds can be as large as

two-year-olds, and three-year-olds can be as tiny as two-year-olds. Hence, there is noway to definitively say that a child of a specific age should be drawn a certain height.

The most noticeable changes in human bodies occur during the first three years of life.

The proportions of infants bodies are very different from those

of adults. Babies heads are quite large when compared tothe rest of their bodies. Between birth

and two years, their heads grow

more quickly than at any othertime in their lives.

Therefore, the measuring unit of

a head is constantly getting larger

as the child gets older.

Figure 402: Babies bodies grow much morequickly than their heads.
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At birth most infants are between 3 and 4 heads tall, and

their heads are around 5 to 5 inches long.

Of course, newborns cant stand

up (Figure 403), so you need toimagine those tiny little legs

stretched out.

Figure 403: A newborns abdomen looksquite big because the internal organs arevery large in proportion to the tiny body.

Babies bodies change

considerably during their first

year. By the time infants reachone year they are approximately

4 to 4 heads tall and their

heads are 6 to 6 inches long.

Figure 404: By age one, babies appearchubby, with their disproportionately largeabdomens, long torsos, and short legs.

By age two, a toddler is

around 4 to 5 heads tall.The trunk of the body (often

called a torso), and the head

grow more slowly than the

arms and legs from this ageonward.

Figure 405: The legs of a two-year-old arethe fastest growing parts of his or her body.

A toddler of three is

approximately 5 to 5 heads tall

(Figure 406), and his or her headis approximately 6 to 6

inches long.

Figure 406: The body of a three-year-old begins to look more like that of achild, rather than a baby.

When you observe groups of children of the same age, you

see an assortment of body structures, including short, tall,chubby, thin, muscular, and slender.


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Figure 407 shows

four children whose

stages of

development rangefrom a young child

(on the far left) to

an adolescent (onthe far right).

Refer to the lines

behind each of them

to measure theirheights in heads.

By adolescence,

childrens body

proportions closelyresemble those of

adults.

Figure 407: Four children ofvarious ages and heights.

EXPLORI NG ADULT BODI ES

Between the ages of twenty-five and thirty, the bone structures of adults havecompletely formed and they have reached their maximum heights. The vast array of

shapes and sizes of adult bodies is primarily determined by genetics and life styles.

Respect ing al l hu man f igur es

Imagine if you could randomly select and then compare hundreds of adults of the sameage. Youd discover a broad range of various heights, weights, and body structures,

each inherently beautiful. Figure 408 shows a few diverse adult male and female figures

of the same age. In Figure 409, you can appreciate the bodies of mature individuals.

Figure 408: Eleven adults of the same age, with equally beautiful bodies


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Figure 409: Attractive bodies of four mature individuals.

Compar i ng bodies f r om Venus and Mars

In addition to height differences, each individualman and woman has a unique body shape, which

can differ significantly from those of others. Manypeoples bodies dont even fall within generic

proportional guidelines. Keep this in mind as youconsider the following attributes of a female body

as compared to a male (refer to Figure 410):

Bone structures are smaller. Waist is higher and longer. Breasts are larger. Hips are wider.

Jaw is smaller. Neck is more slender. Ankles and wrists are smaller. Thighs are wider.

More body fat gives a rounder and softerappearance.

Buttocks are fuller, and proportionatelylower.

Hands are smaller and more delicate. Calves are smaller and less developed. Feet are proportionately smaller. Muscles tend to be less developed.

Figure 410: In the interest of simplicity, generic female and male bodies demonstrate differences.


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TI P

When you plan todraw a standingfigure, make sure youchoose a long enough

drawing space. If youdraw the head first,keep in mind that thelength of the headdetermines the finalheight of your figure.

Measure out the totalheight of the figurebefore you begin tosketch the body.Theres nothing morefrustrating thanrunning out of paperby the time you get tothe knees.

Overall, men are taller than women, and their bone structures are larger. Their under

forms are more visible, because they tend to have less body fat than females. Mens

muscles are generally more developed, and determine most of the independent forms

that artists visually define in drawings.

COMPARI NG THE PROPORTI ONS OF ADULT BODI ES

Again, Id like to stress that adult bodies are so diverse than no set of proportionalguidelines could possibly apply to everyone. However, despite their height differences,

the vertical proportions of most male and female figures can be accurately rendered

with three simple principles.

First of all, visually divide theheight of any adult model into

quarters (Figure 411). If

youre working from a photoof a standing figure, you can

measure and draw five lines to

divide the figure into fourequal sections.

Then, apply each of the

following three simple

principles to your sketch ordrawing:

Armpits are one quarterof the way down fromthe top of the head.

Wrists and crotch are atthe halfway point.

Bottoms of the knees arethree quarters of the way

down from the top of the

head.

Most womens bodies are

physically similar to one

another, and men also have

many physical characteristicsin common. However,

generally speaking, men and

women look very different from one another. For example, men tend to be taller thanwomen. An average adult male can range in height between seven and nine heads. The

average height of a female is between seven and eight heads.

To keep things simple, both the male and female figures in Figure 412 are eight heads

tall. I think youll agree that very few adult bodies actually look like these drawings. Ihave chosen classically proportioned figures with pronounced forms, as created by their

bones, fat, and muscles, to provide you with insights into where various anatomical

forms are located. I have divided the total height of each figure into eight equalsections, and numbered the lines 1 to 9.

Figure 411: The totalheight of a figure isdivided into four equalsections.


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Despite their various differences, the man and woman in Figure 412 share several

physical and proportional similarities. Take note of the following:

Top of the head touches line 1. Entire head is in between lines 1 and 2. Chin touches line 2.

Top of the shoulders is approximately one third of the way down from line 2. Armpits are along line 3. Lower sections of the elbows align with line 4. Wrists and crotch are along line 5 (halfway down from the top of the head). Hands fit into the space between lines 5 and 6. Tips of the fingers line up with the mid thighs between lines 5 and 6. Lower sections of the knees are on line 7 Bottoms of the feet are on line 9.Naturally, the

proportions of someparts of mens andwomens bodies are

different, such as:

A mans nipples arehigher on the chest.

A females navel isslightly lower.

A males shouldersare wider.

Women have longerand smaller waists.

A mans ribcage islarger and longer.

A females hips aregenerally wider.

Men have longerhands and feet.

Figure 412: Classically

proportioned figures of a maleand female demonstrate their

many similarities anddifferences.

The next time you see a group of men and women, examine and compare theirproportions. While you may find a few exceptions, youll discover that most people,

regardless of their body structures, fit into the guidelines discussed.


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Brenda Hoddinot t

As a self-educated teacher, visual artist, portraitist, forensic artist, and illustrator,

Brenda utilizes diverse art media including graphite, technical pen, colored pencil,

chalk pastel, charcoal, cont crayon, and oil paints.

My philosophy on teaching art is to focus primarily on the enjoymentaspects while gently introducing the technical and academic. Hence, in

creating a passion for the subject matter, the quest for knowledge also

becomes enjoyable.

Brenda Hoddinott

Biography

Born in St. Johns, Newfoundland, Brenda grew up in the small town of Corner Brook.

She developed strong technical competencies with a personal commitment to self

directed learning, and the aid of assorted Learn to Draw books. During Brendastwenty-five year career as a self-educated civilian forensic artist, numerous criminal

investigation departments have employed Brendas skills, including Royal CanadianMounted Police and municipal police departments. In 1992, Brenda was honored with a

commendation from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and in 1994, she was awarded

a Certificate of Membership from Forensic Artists International.

Her home-based art career included graphic design, and teaching recreational drawingand painting classes. As supervisor of her communitys recreational art department,

Brenda hired and trained teachers, and designed curriculum for several childrens art

programs. In 1998, Brenda chose to end her eighteen-year career as an art educator inorder to devote more time to writing, drawing, painting, and developing her websites.

Drawspace http://www.drawspace.com incorporates her unique style and innovativeapproach to curriculum development. This site offers downloadable and printable

drawing classes for students of all abilities from the age of eight through adult. Studentsof all ages, levels and abilities have praised the simple step-by-step instructional

approach. This site is respected as a resource for fine art educators, home schooling

programs, and educational facilities throughout the world.

Learn- t o-draw books

Drawing for Dummies: Wiley Publishing, Inc., New, York, NY, this 336 page book is

available on various websites and in major bookstores internationally.

The Complete Idiots Guide to Drawing People: Winner of the Alpha-Penguin Bookof the Year Award 2004, Alpha - Pearson Education Macmillan, Indianapolis, IN, this

360 page book is available on various websites and in major bookstores internationally.
mailto:[email protected]://www.finearteducation.com/http://www.drawspace.com/http://www.drawspace.com/http://www.finearteducation.com/http://www.finearteducation.com/http://www.finearteducation.com/http://www.drawspace.com/http://www.finearteducation.com/mailto:[email protected]

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