How to Apply Proportions to Any Head Angle
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About instructor
Educator, painter, writer, and art historian. Author of Figure Drawing: Design and Invention.
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In this lesson, we review head proportions from various angles, focusing on consistent surface lines and how features like the cheekbone affect aging. The key is to keep proportional markers while adjusting for perspective and individual facial traits.
You said cranial mass is a "sphere" or a circle, and the jaw is in proportion 1/3 - 2/3. But, quite often, it seems to me that you do not respect this proportio, often having less than 1/3, As in the first drawing you making in this video...
Something I don't understand?
Thanks for your feedback!
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4mo
I suggest thinking of the cranial mass as 2/3 of the whole height and the jaw 1/3 the height of the head. It's an average but may shift or change (especially in foreshortened views). It doesn't need to be perfect or exact for me. Only a loose framework.
Hope this helps.
Notes from the lesson! Lots of great information to absorb here.
I admit I was a little confused about some of the information presented in the Head Proportions Made Easy lesson, I had to watch that one a couple times to understand some of the concepts, but all of that information fell into place greatly while watching this lesson!
Pardon for my messy handwriting!
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6mo
Great notes!
I have a question! While looking at the relationship between the shapes of the features, I sometimes find myself having to cut off from the chin to compensate for making the jaw/shape of the head too long relative to the model in the beginning. During figure drawing I imagine this would cause problems for the overall proportions of the figure. How do I deal with this? Or is it strange that I am often making the jaw too long?
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7mo
I make changes to the figure all the time as I work. It's great to have a template to aim for and rules but sometimes experience and errors are necessary parts of the process. In other words, I wouldn't worry too much. You're aware of it and that's the most important thing.
This one was super helpful to cement things further and I’m feeling more comfortable with the system!
The top of the skull in perspective is my enemy 💀
omg these are so good! Do you use the sphere as described in the method? I'm really having a hard time finding it useful, I know its an oversimplification, but when I try to use it I never know what its supposed to represent. Is it the shape of the cranium? But then it would be differently sized between angles... If I just use it as a random starting point then I have no idea how the jaw / other features are positioned in relation to it... I saw that you used the sphere in some, but some also look like you just sketched out the whole shape, is that right?
These lessons are excellent! I would love to learn more about how to draw the underplanes and the neck, I have a hard time understanding that part.
Holy Smokes, Mr @Michael Hampton I am a bit ashamed to ask this question after all the lessons and exercises (which I have seen and done. I'm just missing the latest one) but I am still confused with the brow line, and the length and width of the jaw. I mean, is there like a "landmark" for the eyebrow position, like the center line of the sphere in the Loomis method? I understand the "glasses" metaphor for the angle, but I mean the initial placement. How high or low in the ball is the initial brow line? How do I know if I'm placing it correctly? In the exercises I was just guessing based on the reference. Regarding the length, you explained is 1/3 of the total space of the head in the front, but how about in the extreme poses? How do I know if I am shortening or lengthening my lines too much? Is there a point of reference, a landmark in the ball, or in those angles or something to measure? Same thing with jaw width. Do I just guess by eye? I hope you or anyone in the community can help me. Thank you so much in advance.
The brow line is very similar to the equator around the cranium.
The major axis of the brow line should be roughly in the center of the circle.
I HIGHLY recommend that, instead of trying to find logic here, you just do 50 or so sketches of heads from different angles and verify that the brow is roughly on the equator.
These rules are not precise, even in the breakdown I did below you can see how none of the lines are exact. Just an oversimplification that can help you break down each individual pose.
You can also draw over references and add the guidelines if you're really struggling.
@mischawilliams might also be helpful for you
Thank you again for another great lesson! I'm a little confused about sunglasses versus the bean, how do they match each other? Is it the subject of the next video?
When you first posted these, I tried recreating them and got nowhere near your level. Practiced them obsessively over the last 10 days, and they're still challenging but soooo much better now.
Thanks for the inspiration!
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1yr
ooh these look great!
