How to Draw the Human Body

Drawing the human body can be easy as long as general proportion guidelines are kept in mind. Each body part should be measured and drawn to the appropriate length. Here is how to draw the adult human body using the head as a measurement tool.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Paper and a pencil

1. The length of your drawing's head can be used to find the proper placement of the rest of the parts. Take a look at the example illustration. Notice how if you were to stack 7 heads, it would equal the height of an adult male.

2. The average male can be divided into measurements if the head is used as a measuring tool. The body is 7 to 7 1/2 heads tall;the shoulders are generally 2 heads wide; and the hips are a little over 1 head wide.

3. The average female can be divided into measurements if the head is used as a measuring tool. The body is 6 to 7 ½ heads tall; the shoulders are around 1 ½ heads wide; and the hips are are 2 heads wide.

4. Use these measurements to help you draw the human body. Start by drawing the head. Make sure that the shoulders, hips and body length match the proportion of the head according to the information in Step 2 and Step 3.

Tips & Warnings

• The human hand is usually as long and as wide and the face.
• Each body is different, so the information in Steps 2 and 3 may vary from real-life models. If you have this problem, simply measure the head of your model and see how the head size corresponds to the rest of the body.

[studchuckles]

on 1/2/2009 Though simplistic, this technique could be effective if properly used. Do keep in mind the warnings and footnotes that the creator added on this application. Finally, this should NOT be an end-all lesson for all body figures that one may attempt to reproduce. A great starter.