Not step 1


This is not the beginning of the process of making a drawing; rather, it's information you need to know before you can get started. I'll let you know when the actual drawing begins.
Several years ago, those wacky Greeks discovered that the human figure, and other things, conformed to certain fixed proportions. This knowledge is what enabled them to make all that cool statuary, not to mention those famous urns.

Draw two horizontal lines, defining the height of your figure. Divide the height in half. Divide the top half into quarters down one side, and thirds down the other. While you're at it, divide the bottom half into thirds as well.

There you have the basic layout of the human form. 		sticklayout1a
The head is one quarter the length of the top half. The shoulders fall 1/3 of the way down the top half. Two-thirds of the way down is the female waist. Three-fourths of the way down, the male waist and the elbows. At the halfway point, the crotch and the wrists. The kness are actually elusive little buggers, but they go a little more than 1/3 of the way down the bottom half.
sticklayout2a
Now, the more forward-thinking among you are thinking ahead: 'But what if I want to draw something other than a figure standing facing forward like an idiot?' There, as they say, is the rub. This is not step one. In fact, just knowing the basic proportions doesn't get you very far along in the process of drawing actual people doing actual things. But you really do have to know it before you can proceed.

So, let's proceed...

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