I'm having difficulties with angles and positioning.
3yr
David Nordstrom-Rasmussen
I find it incredibly difficult to measure things because of factors I believe are out of my control. I work on paper as opposed to being digital artist. At this moment in time, I currently measure things by using a ruler and a marking down who long an object is to an eighth of a centimeter. This works for determining length very well. My problems start to arise when it gets to angles and positioning. My glasses' prescription is out of date and my eyesight has been somewhat compromised as a result. This makes objects very slightly blurry. Also, I can't hold my arm or hand in a position without them slightly shaking. I don't why that is though. Is there anybody here in a similar position that has figured something out?
3yr
I've found using comparative measurement (how many heads high is the figure? What is the height to width ratio, etc) to be incredibly helpful. When starting I'll often find the center or halfway point of what I'm drawing and use that as a reference point as well.
Definitely get your glasses and vision settled out. Its hard getting things like that or other health issues taken care of or checked out, especially with how expensive it can be. That being the case, the worse the problem gets the more expensive it'll be to fix so if you're able to, tend to that now. We won't be able to make art if we're too sick or injured!
What kind of measurement are we talking about though? If it's a physical measurement, then there's nothing which can beat a ruler. It's great if you're drawing something technical like an architecture blueprint, But if we're talking about visual measurement, ruler is less of use because we don't bring or hold ruler while we're drawing or painting. As you've pointed out, angles and positioning plays a huge part when it comes to drawing.
So when it comes to visual measurement, the best thing to rely is our own visual judgement. Because length in visual sense is less about actual measurement in centimeters, but more of ratio. How is the length of the skull compared to its width, for example. The length may be something like 25-28 cm and the width may be something like 16-17 cm, but what we see is not all that, but it's a 3:2 ratio.
There's a technique to measure visually by using a pencil or a brush handle, (check out Proko's Drawing Measuring Techniques). It's great for some people, and less so for other people. So play around and see if the technique is for you.
But before that, I will strongly advice you to get a new prescription for your glasses. I use glasses myself and I can clearly say that it's the best single investment in art for me. It seems to me that this is your biggest obstacle to measuring visually. Making sure our visual instruments (our eyes) are at its optimal capacity is a key to any visual measurement.
