why can't i find 8 heads high

[Badbrush]

Many years ago i read an online manga tutorial that said people were 7 heads high. Then in college all the art teachers said 8 heads high for anatomy. All the art books i have ever picked up have said 8 heads high although none of them had photos in.

I recently stumbled upon that manga tutorial again and looked at it thinking 7 heads high thats not right. So i decided to draw over many many photos and have yet to find 8 heads high, i got 7.5 at most. I then decided to start drawing over asians and found numbers between 6 to 7 heads.

I'm drawing over super models now and i'm seeing 8 heads.

why are we told to draw super models?

[Elwell]

7.5 heads is average. 8 heads is "ideal." Taller people will tend to have proportionally smaller heads, because skull size varies less than height.

[Zazerzs]

Its an ideal to learn proportions, Its easier to divide the figure into 8 heads. That way you know 1/2 way up is the bottom of the pelvis, divide that again and you get another landmark ect.

Once you have this ideal established you then know when you deviate from it. How to compare a life-drawing model to that ideal and see the differences will help in rendering better from life, as well in creating figures from memory. You get the control to play with variations and still have it look right..

[Muse among Myths]

Like Zazers said, it is an ideal proportion (it actually traces back to the Greeks, I find that fact way cool). Only very tall people are proportioned that way. Think basketball players. 7.5 is average, though 6-7 heads high is not uncommon of the person is shorter. I'd assumed it was for the aesthetics, but Zazers' comment makes more sense.

[Baron Impossible]

Don't forget it depends on your subject matter, too, and what style you're using. Loomis has "heroic" figures down as 9 heads in FDFAIW and I've seen 10+ used effectively in comics.

[Qitsune]

My fashion design teachers gave me crap for drawing 8 heads tall females, saying they were so short they looked like teens! I wouldn't have helped to point out that some of them (the teachers) were not even 7 heads tall and didn't look anything like teenagers!

[Muse among Myths]

8 heads too short? Frankly, it has bothered me drawing like that because the heads looked too tiny!

As long as the fashion designs were good, does head:body ratio really matter? I wasn't aware that anatomy took such precedence in fashion drawing.

[Qitsune]

It does in class! What else would they be teaching? You can't teach good taste or what is trendy, that's bound to change.

[Muse among Myths]

I thought fashion drawing would feature a focus on draping or depicting various fabrics and patternmaking.

My misconceptions appear to be considerably off target, my apologies.

[Flake]

Fashion illustrations can be as unrealistic as superhero comics for head lengths..

The thinking is that the elongated figure looks more elegant. (which is why most runway models are very tall in the first place), the illustrations tend to exaggerate this even more.

[Muz]

I find that the cranium method is alot easier to work with :).

http://conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=150545&highlight=cranium

[Muse among Myths]

Hey, that is pretty cool.

[Viridis]

Yeah, 8 heads is the ideal, but it's nothing you have to absolutely stick to. I tend to draw people between 5 1/2-7 heads high, and rarely any taller.

[Black Spot]

I have a small head, so that makes me a super hero.

[DeadManDrawing]

I have a large head, which makes me a chibi.

[Sunseaker]

I am 7.75 heads tall, damit! So close!