Proportional Issues

[ExilE]

Hey guys, I have noticed that I have a little dilemma. It seems like whenever I try to draw something I am looking at, I mess up the proportions really badly. Any tips or things I should work on to correct this? Thanks in advance.

[lewiston]

you should measure what you see. try to find proportions on what you draw and put them into relation (like: okay - the lenght of the arm is about that long as the distance from his chin to his hipbone... or whatever...)
you should also try to find ankles of things (like the hips are cranked in an ankle of about 10°).
The best thing to do is hold your pencil on the stretched arm, to get dimensions.

then you can put any other things in relation. Like 'negative spaces' (between arm and body) or enlarge things in your mind (like 'this upper arm would come out at his cheekbone...)

It'll make things a lot easier...

[Dizon]

he probably meant *angles not ankles lol...yeah what he said...

BTW draw what you see not what you think you see and just follow the lines!

[Veles]

And, if you have time and a patient or inanimate model before you, you should try to acctualy measure it; like get a scale, walk up there and measure most important parts to get the real sense of it's dimensions...

And when you draw, don't draw only what you see, but also what you don't see. You must see the entire model or a space or whatever you draw before you acctualy draw it from a single viewpoint. If you draw a man from the front, you must also get his back in a picture, or else it will not look right, even if you get the proportions OK. Always draw volumes, never flat planes.

[Elwell]

You aren't by any chance drawing with the paper flat on a table, are you? Make sure you are looking at it directly, either upright or downwards, not obliquely.

And yes, measure, measure, measure.

[ExilE]

Thanks for the replies, and yes for figure drawing I use an eisle (sp?).