Free Download: Guide for Drawing Head and Body Proportions

Learn how to draw a human head and body using the correct proportions

Although the human body is probably the figure we know best, many of us would find it difficult to correctly draw its proportions from memory. The length of the arms, the width of the shoulders and hips, where the wrists hit the body... and the same goes for the head and face.

The relationship between all these body parts, which we have seen so many times, becomes a little less obvious when we sit in front of a blank piece of paper with a pencil in hand. This guide to anatomical proportions, shared with Domestika by Brazilian comic artist and illustrator Marcio Takara (@marciotakara), will help make the task of drawing people much easier.

In the document, Takara differentiates between the proportions of the face and the body. For the face, he begins by instructing us how to draw the shape of the head and shows us how to correctly position the eyes (in relation to each other and other facial features), as well as where to place the nose, cheekbones, mouth, and ears.

The size of a person's head and body are also related, which is something important to keep in mind while drawing. The same is true with the length of the arms and legs, and the size of the hips, hands, and feet. To illustrate this, Takara uses a color scheme that is very practical and visual.

Sign up for the course Female Character Design for Comics, in which Marcio Takara teaches you how to use traditional techniques to draw expressive female figures with volume and movement from scratch.

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