Project - Measure Proportions

Lesson by

7.8K

Assignments 872Lesson NotesDownloads 6

Project - Measure Proportions

Lesson by

Stan Prokopenko

in Drawing Basics

7.8K

Assignments 872Lesson NotesDownloads 6

Deadline: Submit your assignment by 07/25/2023 for a chance to be featured in the next critique video!

Use the reference photo and all the measuring methods you learned in the previous lesson to practice drawing a portrait with accurate proportion.

Keep in mind that your layin will get harder as you move from big shapes to smaller details. Don't draw too small, otherwise the shapes of the features will be too small and harder to draw accurate. Keep the photo next to or in front of your paper to avoid distortion.

Expect a careful layin to take about an hour. Don't rush. Worry about accuracy, not time.

Remember - big to small, use straight lines, measure units, double check, find plumb lines, judge angles. Try to have fun!

Level 2, you're doing the same thing for this one. This exercise doesn't change no matter what your experience level is.

The Musketeer photo reference is from the Musketeer Model Pack by Grafit Studio

Gloria Wickman

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Unfortunately I wasn't able to use a paper size as big as recommended so this was done on a 9×12 sketchbook sheet. It was a fun exercise and I tried my best to stay away from drawing contour lines and focus more on straights and slight curves. I think the proportions of the face are more accurate than the cravat and shoulders which I originally wasn't going to fill in but then was having fun and decided to go for. Critiques are always very welcome!

Rodolphe MIGON

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Here is my attempt; it wasn't easy.

@jbarra

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I gave it two tries

Tyson

•

I forgot about just using straight lines somewhere along the way.

Emmi McKee

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10d

My Attempt at the portrait before watching the demo. Ive never been confident in my ability to draw people so this took me way out of my comfort zone. Im fairly happy with how this turned out, there are somethings id like to change but i think i need to move on.

Tommy Pinedo

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11d

The first three photos from the left are my first attempt showing the steps before watching the demo. The last three photos are my second attempt after watching the demo and as well showing the steps. The demo helped me get a good idea how to start this drawing, because at first I was a bit lost. One major thing I learned was that this is a very hard thing to do, which is to get accurate proportions. Watching Stan not get it perfect made me realize ok, its hard even for him so I should not be hard on myself. I think this requires tons and tons of practice patience, and experience. So for anyone that is having trouble please don't give up because this is very hard which is normal. It is hard for me too. Fun exercise which I will be doing.

Tommy Pinedo

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11d

Also wanted to share how I compared my drawing to the actual portrait. The left one is my first attempt before the demo and the right image is my second attempt after watching the demo. This is great self feedback! Thank you for this! :)

@lstr

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13d

Ended up doing this one digitally (using a faux pencil brush and a paper texture), because the analog method of standing up and holding out my arm with the pencil etc. got so frustrating and physically uncomfortable for me. Measuring digitally felt a LOT easier, almost like cheating - though of course I still stuck to the intended method and didn't start actually measuring in exact pixels or whatever, and it did still take a few hours. I'm happy it did at least turn out as accurate as it did. Being able to just leave measurement lines and notes overlaid on the image instead of trying to keep track of everything mentally felt especially helpful. Eyeballed all the upper body clothing bits extremely quickly because I was feeling so Done by the end, lol.

Văn Hiếu Võ

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15d

The girl was so much more difficult to draw because her face doesn't have as many sharp angles and straight lines, and I also drew her bigger. Not brave enough to draw her hair. I found the nose hardest to get right because in both drawings I got it wrong. I think because it kind of "floats" in the middle of the face. I had to double-check once with the guy's nose and twice with the girl's in Photoshop to figure out what went wrong.

Rachel Dawn Owens

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14d

Nice measurements! Proportions look excellent and your mark making is beautiful

@sharonkush

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16d

Took a long time but I’m happy with the results.

J. Menriv

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18d

Project - Measure Proportions

J. Menriv

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18d

Step 1, Step 2, and a visual I made to help me better understand the lay-in guidelines.

Andrea Anaya

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19d

Tried this out again. This is actually my third attempt which came out the best. I spend about 20 minutes on each. I'm not really going into a lot of detail and I've been focusing on the big shapes and really simplifying lines. I think it helps a lot!

pinkfin

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23d

I think i messed up. Proportions were always hard for me and i don't think i did so well with this project. Would be really happy to hear some critique.

Melanie Scearce

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22d

I think your vertical proportions look pretty good! You just need to figure out the best way for you to measure your horizontal proportions.

@sanosuke123

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26d

my attempt for this exercise

@thenotsogrim

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26d

Hi, excuse me, maybe I shouldn't start the assignments at midnight, but I need a bit of help... so Stan has the vertical units measured (digitally) to get the five units with the hat, and then he lays in those vertical lines on paper but... the printed out reference image is much smaller than the page that he's drawing on? I may not be getting this, but isn't this eyeballing as well? The scale is different between the two pages, so how do we know where each separator goes at this point by actually measuring? I get that one unit is the hat's height, but how can we apply that to the page if we are not working one to one, side by side?

@thenotsogrim

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26d

Well, I tried anyway, but I wouldn't say I really measured anything properly after the parts that Stan showed. I tried here and there (and it worked well a few times), but I'll have to practice this somehow in the future.

Chris Cernoch

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27d

I cheated a bit and did the photoshop overlay at the big shape stage to see if I was too far off. I ended up adjusting the mouth and beard quite a bit but mostly kept the rest of it. I was happy though because I had a feeling the mouth was too low before I did the photoshop check. Second photoshop check on putting in the features revealed that the left eye is a bit too high... Would appreciate any comments! I'd say this took me about an hour and a half :[]

Xana Mendonca

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29d

My attempt. Tried to do it first without the video but it is hard to do without a follow along. Had to correct a lot of parts after and i guess i over worked it.

@fraxls

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30d

Here is my attempt. I feel sorry for the person in the picture to be portrayed as I have portrayed them. The proportions are off, and it's a lazy attempt. I will probably do another go after the demo, but I feel that this is really only something that someone would do if they are doing realism, not any other style but correct me if I'm wrong. This process is way too tedious for me and I much prefer to either just eyeball it or I will just basic shapes to block out the subject or I will put them in an envelope as stan says. But that's the extent. It ruins the fun for me to go to this extent. Spending an hour just laying out proportions c'mon. Anyway here it is.

Melanie Scearce

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29d

The way I interpret this exercise is as a way to train your eyes so that you can more accurately eyeball proportions. It is very tedious! But by taking your time to visually see the comparison of these different reference points, and by doing it repeatedly, over time you develop that intuitive skill that translates to eyeballing more accurately. I think this is a very fundamental skill that all artists should develop regardless of style :)

Connor Tolan-Mask

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30d

It took a little over an hour of measuring to put down just the big shapes. Wanted to make sure the proportions, the positioning, and the angles were similar or close enough to move on to the smaller shapes.

Juan Muniz

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1mo

First attempt for this... Honestly I don't hate it! I've practiced a bit if head anatomy so I definitely used that knowledge to speed things up a bit.... What do you guys think? Might give it another whirl but we'll see

Martha Muniz

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Good start! I notice you're utilizing the division markers for the measuring units across the page which is great. I would recommend continuing in the smaller areas, especially for the facial features, with plumb lines also at an angle, so for example, measuring the angle from eye to eye. This helps keep things more in unity to each other, without the need for anatomical knowledge. Hope this helps!

@rakeshuniyal

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1mo

first attempt

John Edgeworth

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1mo

If this is your first attempt before the video, then when you watch the video with the instructors help you will see, each and every step you will need to take, to shape the face, and the area's needed to shade. You will see a massive jump in your 2nd attempt as compared to the first.

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Stan Prokopenko

Founder of Proko, artist and teacher of drawing, painting, and anatomy. I try to make my lessons fun and ultra packed with information.