How to Draw a Proportionate Human Figure

Believe it or not, just about anyone can draw a human body to the correct proportion with just a few simple steps. Follow these instruction to learn how to draw a proportionate human figure.

Things You'll Need

• Pen/ pencil
• Paper
• Ruler

Instructions

1. 

   Draw the head. Make an oval-shaped head (which is the most common head shape) at the top of your paper.

2. 

   Measure off the rest of the body. The human head is approximately 1/7 the height of the body. Measure off the size of six more heads and make marks on the paper to show the measurement marks. You can use a ruler to help you measure the body based on the size of the head.

3. 

   Draw the hips. The widest part of hips are located halfway down the body. Draw a trapezoid shape with the widest line at the bottom to represent the hips and the waist. The average space from the hips to the waist is about 2/3 the length of the head.

4. 

   Draw the knees and feet. The knees are halfway between the hip and the feet, and the feet are of course at the bottom of the body. Draw two small circles to represent the knees. Draw small ellipses to represent the feet.

5. 

   Draw the elbows, shoulders and hands. Elbows fall at the waist, and the shoulders are right below the head on either side. Draw small circles to represent the elbows. To place the shoulders, lightly draw two more heads, one on each side of the existing head. Draw circles to represent the shoulders beneath each imaginary head. The hands fall halfway down the thighs. Draw small ellipsis to represent the hands.

6. 

   Connect the body parts. Draw ellipses to connect each body part. Once that is done, you can start practicing with shading and details.

Tips & Warnings

• Zoom in on the illustrations to help you see the images.