Measuring in heads ?

[overclocked~fox~]

I find when i start thinking about measuring I kick into OCD mode and go at it for way too long.

What is the fastest way to keep things in proportion ? I sometimes feel like i should be memorizing how high and wide things are in heads.

But then when i do gesture drawings that aren't smooth and flow out like water..and im measuring a ton.. It feels like I am thinking too hard.

Let me know if you have had this problem and thanks in advance.

[crossmirage]

Remember simple pointers like "elbow is about where waist starts" or "elbow to fingertips = knee to heel". It's nice to be exact but often it eats up too much time that's better spent getting other things done like refining and rendering.

[arenhaus]

Perhaps you'd find it more productive to measure in terms of equal length relationship. E.g. length of thigh = length of torso = length of shin and height of foot combined. Angles work too: e.g. the nipple lies on the line connecting the shoulder arc to the pubic symphysis.

[overclocked~fox~]

Remember simple pointers like "elbow is about where waist starts" or "elbow to fingertips = knee to heel". It's nice to be exact but often it eats up too much time that's better spent getting other things done like refining and rendering.

Feel like there are more little things like this i could know.

[overclocked~fox~]

Perhaps you'd find it more productive to measure in terms of equal length relationship. E.g. length of thigh = length of torso = length of shin and height of foot combined. Angles work too: e.g. the nipple lies on the line connecting the shoulder arc to the pubic symphysis.

Yeah those are good. What about the length between the shoulder blades? How can you make sure you have your pelvic box in the right position~?

The pelvic box is the thing that gets me sometimes. In a really subtle way, its a little high or a little low.

[karmiclychee]

Yeah those are good. What about the length between the shoulder blades? How can you make sure you have your pelvic box in the right position~?

The pelvic box is the thing that gets me sometimes. In a really subtle way, its a little high or a little low.

I'm still working on this one myself, but the bottom of the pelvis is on the half-way mark (4 heads down) and the navel is on the 3rd head line. The height of the pelvis extends to just below or at the navel.

As far as measurement goes, you've gotta strike a balance between knowing your ratios with your abstract sense of wrong and right. Mark your guidelines and hang the figure over them rather than measure every small piece.

[arenhaus]

What about the length between the shoulder blades? How can you make sure you have your pelvic box in the right position~?

Shoulder blades move. There is no one "correct" distance between them.

The pelvis is too deep to be easily visible, but you can use several points to position it: pubic symphysis, iliac spines, and the sacrum. For correct positioning of hips, locate the trochanters and ischiac bones.

[JeffX99]

Hmmm...gesture isn't about measuring it is about action and movement, so don't get caught up in measuring there. Pick up "Drawing Essentials" by Deborah Rockman for great information about measuring (as well as evertyhing else related to observational drawing).

Also try not to get caught up in ideal proportions - the body is rarely in a pose that follows any pre-conceived measurements. Instead look for relationaships and measure angles, negative spaces, distances in comparison to each other.

[Kamber Parrk]

All the posters are giving you good stuff.

I spent the better part of yesterday lurking Briggsy Ashtons' site(s) after lurking the "Colors I will Strangle you" thread.

He's an instructor and offers this procedure on his site:

http://sites.google.com/site/djcbrig...inglifedrawing

[Xeon_OND]

For correct positioning of hips, locate the trochanters and ischiac bones.

I dunno if it's just me, but I find the great trochanters to be hardly visible in most but the skinniest models.
I wish it was as visible as the pit of the neck / illiac spines.

[karmiclychee]

I dunno if it's just me, but I find the great trochanters to be hardly visible in most but the skinniest models.
I wish it was as visible as the pit of the neck / illiac spines.

If I'm not mistaken, the trochanters are the actual "ball" part of the ball and socket joint of the pelvis and femur. If you can see the trochanter at all, you're probably performing a dissection.

That said, again, if I'm not mistaken, I believe the trochanters would be located somewhere between the apex of the outer curve of the upper thigh and the space under the illiac crest.

Again, you've gotta eyeball what you can't see. Know the skeleton and lay it over the meat in front of you using the branepower. My useless high school art teacher would yell at us "draw what you see, not what you know" - only semi-useful advice. Draw what you see using what you know, and use what you see to augment what you know.

[[email protected]]

If I'm not mistaken, the trochanters are the actual "ball" part of the ball and socket joint of the pelvis and femur.

You are mistaken: the trochanters sit on the outside of the leg, where you can feel them on the surface, and sometimes see them on the model. The ball part sits on the inside.

[Elwell]

If I'm not mistaken, the trochanters are the actual "ball" part of the ball and socket joint of the pelvis and femur. If you can see the trochanter at all, you're probably performing a dissection.

Not exactly. The "ball" is the head of the femur. The trochanter is the process that extends up from the shaft of the femur, and is an anchoring point for many of the muscles of the hip.

[karmiclychee]

You are mistaken: the trochanters sit on the outside of the leg, where you can feel them on the surface, and sometimes see them on the model. The ball part sits on the inside.

Not exactly. The "ball" is the head of the femur. The trochanter is the process that extends up from the shaft of the femur, and is an anchoring point for many of the muscles of the hip.

Thanks for the correction - still learnin'

Point stands - it's basically somewhere near the apex of the outer curve of the thigh since it pushes out from under the muscles of the upper thigh. I can actually lock mine in a weird way against some of the pelvic muscles. Not a fan.

[dpaint]

Here are some comaparative measurements from Will Pogany's excellent book Drawing Lessons.