Animation Commons Human Body Proportions and Simple Pose Drawing
GCC Academy
Hello, I’m Kang Ji won, and I’ll be teaching the basic drawing course
In this lesson, we will learn about
human body proportions and simple material drawing
First, we will learn about the characteristics of
basic human body proportions that are most commonly used in art
Next, we will learn about the lines commonly used when depicting the human body
Finally, we will learn the technique of croquis
based on the lines of the human body
Characteristics of Basic Human Body Proportions
In the previous lesson, we explained the principles of drawing
and the characteristics of symbolic expressions, including basic lines and planes
In animation, comics, and all types of drawing
what are the most commonly drawn shapes?
The answer is a person
The human figure is something that is frequently drawn
but the deeper you delve into it
Let’s apply the lines we learned earlier to the human body and see how they are used
First, I will explain the basic human body proportions
Human body proportions are often studied based on the 8-heads tall standard
I will explain using the 8 heads tall human body as the basis
First, let’s designate the areas at the top and bottom
And with the 8-heads proportion, we can divide it into two parts
with four parts above and four parts below
f we split it in half, the lower half is the legs
and the upper half, from the head to here, is the torso
If we split it in half again at the center
The upper half is divided at the chest level
The lower half is also divided exactly at the center of the legs, at the knee level
If we split the first section again
So, in order, it would look like this
Head, Chest, Iliac crest (start of the pelvis), Bottom of the pelvis order
Upper thigh two thirds, Knee, Achilles tendon
bottom of the feet order
And the width of the shoulders is
about the same as three heads placed side by side
Like this, one head would fit on
each side of the head, extending the width of the shoulders
This ratio is not an absolute truth
of course this is 8 heads proportion
and in reality, most people are around 6 to 7 heads tall
Since everyone has different body types
the idealized 8-heads proportion
which is often presented as the standard in studies
Now, shall we take a closer look at the detailed positions?
From torso to collarbone
The collarbone can be positioned by dividing the space
between the top of the head, the chin, and the chest into three equal parts
And if it is positioned at approximately this one third mark, it is in the ideal location
The position of the clavicle is quite important, so make sure to memorize it
The ribs are located exactly at the halfway point
between the chest and the iliac crest
Another important point is that the elbow is typically aligned with the position of the ribs
If you place your elbow against your body
you’ll notice that it aligns perfectly with the end of your ribs
Also, the upper arm and lower arm are in a 1:1 ratio in terms of length
The arm is divided into two equal parts at the elbow
If we shift to the side view
the shoulder is positioned slightly
behind the center of the body
Please remember this position as well
and the leg
The lower leg, calf, is longer than the thigh
Typically, the thigh is about 4 units in length, while the calf is about 3 units
The starting point of the knee is around the 2/3 line of the thigh
and the knee's end is positioned about halfway between this line
This line here
So, the length of the knee would be about 0.5 heads in proportion
about this much
Now, the fingertips are located
about two-thirds of the way down from the pubic bone to the thigh
roughly at the halfway point between these two lines
located about one-third of the way down the thigh
Since arm lengths are generally similar
in proportion for most people
this can be considered a fixed rule, much like the length of the elbow
If the arms are longer than this proportion, they would look like gorilla’s arms
The start of the instep is positioned slightly lower
than halfway between the Achilles tendon and the tips of the toes
Based on this explanation
the line would be positioned like this
Make sure to remember this framework
The human figure drawn earlier is based on this skeletal framework
When starting the initial sketch, it's a good idea to begin with this skeleton structure
I will explain the process of how to draw it step by step
To draw that skeletal framework
it's important to first understand the curves of the human body
So, in this session, let's learn a bit about
the curves of the human body
First, let's take a look at the shape of the torso from the side
If you look at the two shapes marked here
you can see that they gradually become thicker as they go downward
and they are slightly tilted backward, forming an oval shape
The pelvis, on the other hand, is in the shape of an oval that tilts slightly forward
You can draw the pelvis as an oval shape
or as a box like form
Now, let's take a look at the curves from the front view
The curves of the human body generally follow an S-shape
A common mistake for beginners is
focusing only on drawing exaggerated
balloon like curves to express muscles
These overly bumpy shapes can often
make the figure look more like a Michelin tire character
It’s best to avoid muscle shapes that resemble padding
and instead focus on understanding the flowing curves of the human body first
What makes up the main part of the action?
It is the arms and legs
Let's first take a look at the curves of the arms and legs
Let's first look at the outer side of the arm
First, the deltoid muscle comes out like this
And next, the triceps
It goes inward
However, in the case of someone with more muscle
as you can feel by looking at this muscle diagram
there is a slight bulge here as well
But for an average person
this area goes in quite deeply
It goes all the way down to the elbow and then comes back out
so about two thirds of the arm
And the position up to the wrist
which makes up about one third of the arm, also goes in
And then the hand is positioned
Shall we take a look at the legs as well?
The outer side of the leg comes out at the pelvis
slightly bulges out at the top of the thigh
then dips in as you go down
If it bends around that 2/3 point
it looks the most similar
And the lower part of the thigh
about one-third, definitely goes in
And it continues in until it reaches the knee
It slightly bulges out again at the calf
The calf makes up about two-thirds of the lower leg
The Achilles tendon and ankle
which make up about one third of the lower leg, gently curve in
And that position would be where the foot is
Usually, even with just this marking
it creates a believable curve of the human body
Shall we now complete the other side and draw the human body?
If you look at the inner side of the arm, it starts from the armpit
The armpit is right at the opposite end of the deltoid muscle
Next, the biceps area, meaning the arm up to the elbow
When there's muscle, it bulges out like this
but when it's lean, if it gently dips in here
it looks more stable
If this were drawn with an inward curve
then the elbow area would simply be omitted like this
If drawn with an outward curve
it’s better to have the elbow area slightly dip in
And the upper part of the arm comes out
while about half of the forearm
including the wrist, dips in again
The area around the wrist is almost a straight line
Next, the hand comes out in the same way
Let's take a look at the inner side of the leg as well
The adductor muscle, which is about half of the leg, slightly bulges out
And the lower half of this area goes in
It slightly dips in again
But here, it's also called the sartorius muscle
There is a muscle that slightly bulges out here
Because of this, sometimes the muscle's shape
is expressed like this
If you express it like this, it adds a bit more vitality
And for the knee, you can continue the outward curve
from above and draw it so that it bulges out
to the end of the knee
Also, the area between the knee and calf slightly dips in
then bulges out again at the shin
and then let's divide this into five equal parts
If this is the 2/5 point here
Now, if the length up to the ankle is divided into 2/5
the Achilles tendon area should dip in slightly
The remaining 1/5 portion is the area of the ankle bone
If you finish by extending the inward curve outward
this will define the position of the ankle bone
And once you mark the foot here
the leg will be complete
Let's take a quick look at the torso as well
For the torso, start from the armpit
and draw a line
that comes out like this
As it goes down, it should gradually narrow
and the waist should curve inward like this
If it's a very average body type
you can draw it almost straight for this area
the pelvis, the pelvic region
again
This line slightly bulges out
but if there is muscle or fat here
you can draw it like that
The line gradually widens up to the femur
and then you can connect it to the leg
In fact, the pelvic area doesn’t drop in a perfect curve
There is the shape of the pelvic bone like this
Based from this point
Strictly speaking
Like this
this area slightly bulges out
and here, you can express it with a slight straight line
In the body
it’s most accurate to express this
with a slight straight line as a small point of emphasis
Now, let's take a look at the side profile curve
The side profile truly highlights the importance of curves
Let's first take a look at the back side of the body
The back of the head will start with the bump of the skull like this
Next, the cervical spine is important here
and it curves in a perfect C shape
It's not a straight line, it's not the kind of neck
And then moving to the scapular area, this is the scapula
The area around the scapula slightly bulges out
The spine continues all the way down to the lower back
Then, the buttocks slightly bulge out
Between the buttocks and the thigh
this area slightly dips in as a point of emphasis
Then, the thigh muscle, if present
bulges out slightly before it dips in again
If it's a body type with less muscle
you can have this area dip in completely like this
But if it dips in too much like this, it won't look as good
If it's a body type without muscle, it will dip in here
And of course, the area behind the knee will naturally dip in as well
Then, the calf slightly bulges out
I won't explain the proportions again
Then the Achilles tendon dips in, the heel bulges out, and it's finished
This would be the direction of the shape
Now, let's draw the inner part of the body and finish it up
There is the face
and following the curve at the back of the neck
draw the front in the same direction
Between the body
neck, and clavicle
If the torso is drawn as mentioned earlier
the connection between the body, neck, and clavicle naturally fits in
The curve briefly breaks here
and the line that
comes out around the chest area, with the sternum
being the highest point, is located at the front
In the abdomen area, depending on the body type
it can either dip in like this or simply come out like this
Usually, when drawing simply
it's common to just use a line that comes out like this
I prefer inward curves
This is also drawn with that inward curve
Then, it slightly bulges out at the pubic bone
The torso ends with a curve that rolls inward
Now, we need to start again from the hip joint
This area includes the pubic bone, the slight upper part of the pubic bone
and if we think of the pelvis as a box
it would be the corner or edge
where the sides meet, this would be the starting point
The hip joint has a slightly inward curve
Now, for the front of the thigh, the quadriceps
draw the line that comes out along the muscle
s you go downward, the line should become almost
straight line with one that slightly narrows down
The knee slightly bulges out
and the front of the shin
will bulge out slightly if there's muscle, like in this sample
If there's no muscle, you can simply draw the line inward
in a smooth curve, following the shape
of the calf muscles at the back
If there is muscle, you can draw a slight outward curve
and then continue the line the same way as the back line
And now, the front of the ankle also follows
a nearly straight line, slightly dipping in as it continues
You can complete the foot at the point where the ankle bends
It’s easier to think of the foot as a trapezoid
when viewed from the side
For the front view, if you draw the foot as a slightly elongated triangle
it will make drawing the foot from the front a bit easier
Commonly Used Lines in Body Drawing
Next, let's actually practice
how to draw the torso
The point is to create a shape like a bean
when connecting the torso line and the pelvic line
When practicing drawing the torso, overlap two oval shapes like this
Connecting the space in between like this will be helpful for practice
Now, let's take a look at it in detail
First, draw a wide oval vertically at the top
This corresponds to the ribs
The torso bone
Next, draw a wide oval horizontally at the bottom
This corresponds to the pelvic bone
Then, thinking in three dimensional terms
draw a center line through each oval like this
This marks the center point of the body
Next, connect the two ovals with a curve
Considering that this is the abdomen and this is the back
The space here is slightly narrower than the upper and lower parts of the torso
However, as mentioned earlier
you can also draw it like this, like this
the back to curve slightly inward, and the abdomen to curve outward
Connect them with a gentle curve accordingly
Once you've connected them, the torso is complete, it's easy right?
Let me draw another example
Now, I'll draw an angle from below, a low angle
Draw the top oval, then the bottom oval
and connect the middle part of the ovals with a line like this
Once you've marked the center, draw a line where the abdomen slightly protrudes
outward and the inside curves slightly inward
To make this look more three dimensional
I mentioned earlier, the space here should curve inward
So, what would it look like in a cross-section?
It would look something like this
his middle cross section should also be slightly like this
You can express that the inside is slightly narrower
The line in the middle would be drawn like this as well
Consider the position of the side view line and draw it accordingly
If you draw a slightly longer curve than the width of the torso bone
and position it a little lower, this will represent the clavicle
In a bottom-up angle, this is drawn in the center
but in a normal curve, draw it slightly on the front side of the body
Since the clavicle is at the front
Then, for the pelvic bone, draw a circle as a box at the bottom
then split it in half and draw a circle
on the bottom surface like this
Then, draw the cylinders extending
from this circle like this
and you'll have the perfect thighs
Now, by adding some details here
the torso will be complete
Practicing drawing the torso in a bean shape
is great for creating dynamic and lively poses
When you add flesh to the connected bean shapes
you'll complete a torso with this kind of feel
I'll try drawing a few more for practice now
It would be great if you follow along as you watch
If you overlap the circles like this to create the bean shape
Overlap the drawings, and
draw the center that you have in mind
and then think of this side as the front and this side as the back
If you connect them naturally like this, the torso will be complete
Draw the clavicle and shoulders at the front
and the neck will be positioned around the middle, just behind the clavicle
With the neck, the head will be attached roughly like this
This is the shoulder
Like this
When the two circles are close and overlapping
it's great for drawing angles
like high or low angles
And as we drew the circle earlier
and extended it downward, it forms the thighs
Now, let me draw a few more bean shapes
This way, it turns into a human form
In this way, the side profile of the person is quickly completed
By using the curves we used earlier and drawing them out
the arms are also completed
Once you refine the details, it will turn into this shape
Very simple, right?
If you practice drawing the torso in this way
when you didn't know this method before
the torso might feel
somewhat straight or rigid
However, by changing the top and bottom ovals
and practicing adjusting the posture in different ways
as well as connecting the spaces
you'll be able to create much more dynamic and lively poses
Especially when expressing movement
most of the dynamic aspects are
captured in the arms and legs
which often causes the torso to be drawn stiffly
By using this method and practicing
it will be very helpful for creating a more three dimensional and flexible human form
Next, let's look at how to represent the human body using lines
When representing the human body with lines
draw the arms and legs based on the outer line
Like this
For the side
First, draw up to the legs like this
and this will give a rough front view feeling
For the side view, draw the torso based on the back(spine)
and for the legs and up to the torso
draw them based on the front view
Now, for the head and torso
For the pelvis, it's best to draw a simple shape
whether it's a circle, square, or any other geometric form
So, when sketching or setting up a human pose
Sometimes
you draw lines like this for the core or center of the body
When you add lines like this, be sure to draw them in this way
This approach is not recommended because it doesn't provide any clear understanding of the body's structure
When drawing on the skeleton, you need to imagine and draw
outer lines for the rest of the body
When drawing from the beginning
it's better to base the drawing on the outer muscles
that are most expressed
as this will help convey the movement more effectively
The sense of movement is more clearly expressed in the muscles than in the bones
Now, let's take a look at the more detailed lines
Earlier, we discussed the fundamental curves of the human body in more detail
but now let's focus on a simpler, practical approach
that can be easily followed
and applied when doing croquis or figure studies
First, draw a gentle right angle for the arm
Draw a curve that bends inward
from the bottom to the elbow
Draw it slightly longer than the shoulder
and if there are muscles
add a gentler curve to represent them
From the elbow to the wrist, draw a gentle S-curve
not a sharp one, but a soft, flowing S-curve
Draw the upper part of the arm with a slight outward curve
and then a slight inward curve, similar in length to the upper arm
Then, mark the wrist position horizontally
and draw the opposite curve in a mirror image
to complete the shape of the arm
Shall we?
The armpit is located where the triangular shoulder muscle ends
Now, this part here
The parts that go in and out are exactly the same
It's this easy, right?
For the legs, draw a gentle curve
from the pelvis outward without curving inward
Then, from here, move straight to the knee
For the knee, draw a wide inward curve
and from the calf, draw a gentle S curve
Now, for the ankle, mark its position
Then, using the center as a reference
draw a long triangle sideways
and that will complete the foot
If you add details here
it would look something like this
There is a part that's been omitted here and what might it be?
Yes, it's the ankle bone
It's ideal to include the ankle bone here
but we can just draw it on the opposite side as well
Now, for the opposite thigh
draw a very gentle S-curve
with the top coming out and the bottom curving inward
Then, make the knee slightly protruding
From the knee, break the line
and draw another gentle S curve
mirroring the opposite side
Also, the direction of the calf isn't completely straight
as you can see, there's quite a bit of space left here
It has a slightly inward curve
And once you finish by
adding the protruding ankle bone
the shape of the leg will be complete
It's all complete now, right?
Now, let's take a look at the side profile
First, draw the shape corresponding to the head
The shape corresponding to the head should be drawn
as an oval, slightly tilted backward, similar to the torso bone
Then, draw the neck with a forward curving line
based on the back of the neck
For the scapula and back
draw a slight outward curve, and continue with a curve inward down to the waist
Draw it extending downward smoothly
and make the buttocks protrude slightly
Based on the drawn curves
draw the torso and pelvic shapes
It would be helpful to refer to the bean shape we used earlier
Then, when considering the pelvic shape as a square
draw a slightly inward curve
at the front corner of the pelvis
Draw the line for the thigh
extending forward to the knee like this
Make the line slightly narrower as it goes down
add a slightly protruding knee
and from the knee
draw a continuous inward curve
down to the ankle for the calf
If you want to simplify it, you can just draw it all in a straight line like this
Don't forget that in the side view of the leg
the leg is drawn based on the front perspective like this
Once you've drawn this, the general nuance of
the human body has been mostly expressed
Now, for the back part of the leg
from the bottom of the buttocks to the point where the knee ends
draw a very gentle S-curve all the way to the back of the knee
Similarly, draw an S-curve
for the calf as well
The curve for the calf is larger than the one for the thigh
The calf area is larger, and as you go down
the curve almost disappears, becoming quite minimal
As you can see by now
the key curves that define the dynamics of the human body
all include S-shaped curves
Even when you look at the entire leg, it's an S-curve like this
The leg surface has an S-curve from the thigh to the calf
and the back has another S-curve from the spine to the scapula and down to the waist
Catching the important nuances is
much more important than memorizing detailed muscle names
And now, for the front of the body, if you connect the appropriate lines
as we learned with the bean shape, it will be nearly complete
It is now complete like this
Basic Croquis Practice
Now, let's do the final practice with a croquis
We will do a croquis using the curves we just learned
Therefore, the important part is capturing the nuances of the human body
Even if you can't perfectly draw
the shapes or capture every detail
down to the fingertips
as long as you draw the key lines
you can clearly see
what the pose the person is making
The focus on the liveliness of the human body is
what makes croquis different from regular figure studies
Now, let's practice croquis
by focusing around the key lines that highlight
the important points of the human body
Where the key points of the human body are?
As emphasized earlier, for the torso
in side or back views where the spine is visible
you should focus on drawing the spine line
When the spine is not visible, like in the picture
use the longest line between the left and right torso lines
which in this case would be this one
You would draw based on this line
For the arms and legs, draw along the outer line
and when it's a side view, focus on the front line of the leg
If the arm is here
you would follow the clavicle line
so the arm should be drawn based on the upper or front line
If the extended part is
the inner side of the arm
Then think of this side as the outer side
and it's better to draw it from this perspective
The most important parts are the ones where the movement is most visible
Focus on drawing those areas
The points I mentioned earlier
are the areas where the movement is most clearly visible
And another important point is the horizontal line of the clavicle and shoulders
As I taught you in the process of drawing
the torso with the bean shape
once you've added the torso, clavicle, and limbs
you'll have captured all the key points
Now, I'll demonstrate a croquis myself, step by step
The important thing here is
deciding what to omit
and what to focus on within the given time
Croquis is often done in 5 or 10 minutes
but typically, it can be 3 minutes, 1 minute, or 30 seconds
In cases like street croquis
it could be as quick as 5 or 10 seconds
You might wonder what can be drawn in such short time frames like 5 or 10 seconds
but let me try a 5-second or 10-second croquis first
If the picture in front of you is
of an actual ballet move
it would take about 1 or 2 seconds to perform that pose
In that case, how do you draw it?
You can simply draw it like this
Approach it like making a quick note
with your hand to capture the movement
of the person you're observing
Because we're not submitting this
as a final version anywhere
The most important thing is not whether the lines are perfectly finished
but whether you've drawn the lines, and more importantly
how much attention you've paid to observing
So, even if the final drawing isn't perfectly recognizable
the croquis becomes meaningful
because you've been actively observing
and capturing the process
When I do street croquis, I often end up with a notebook
full of these kinds of nonsensical scribbles continuously
But I found that these kinds of practices have been really helpful for me
Because during the time spent
focusing your eyes while drawing with your hand
the experience of observing
becomes a greater learning process than simply completing a perfect drawing
So, approach it with that mindset that
it's like quickly taking notes during a lecture
When we take notes during a class or lecture
if we focus too much on making the notes look neat and tidy
we can sometimes miss important points
The important thing is not about if the note is tidy or not
The process of making it look nice
comes later when you organize it
For quick croquis
it's best to approach it with the mindset of jotting down a note
Next, for a 30-second croquis
start by using the head as your primary reference
If you've ever tried drawing, you'd know that
it's really difficult to draw the body first and then the head
So, drawing in reverse from the toes is very challenging
but drawing from the head down to the toes is much easier
So, start by drawing the head first
then define the visible shoulders, clavicle
and shoulder line
and next, quickly capture the movement and pose
You can just quickly capture the most dynamic part
of the pose that you think conveys the movement
Usually, a lot of observation happens here
and that's often where the 30-second croquis ends
and it's perfectly fine, too
Because all the most important parts of the movement have been captured
Now, we can gradually start to see what the movement is
As I’ve mentioned several times, the goal is not to draw perfectly
Drawing a perfect shape doesn't make any sense at this stage
Catching this movement and this curve is the most important part
Now, let's take 1 minute
In one minute, we can add more detailed features to the human body
but it would be difficult to go into too much detail
So, the goal within 1 minute is
to try to draw the human body in a slightly more complete form
where you can feel the surfaces rather than just the lines
If you spend
an extra 30 seconds as mentioned earlier
you should aim to complete the arm and leg shapes
by drawing the opposite side
focusing on the key points without going into too much detail
That should be more than enough
At this point, drawing hair
or adding more detailed expressions would be a bit too much
There's not enough time to go that far
Now, the 3-minute croquis is the typical time for a croquis session
From here, you can just catch the nuances
of the simple facial features
Like this
You can slightly show the nose
and you can draw things like muscle lines
jawbones
and hair, but it's better to focus more on expressing
the general shapes and nuances at this stage
If it gets more detailed, it will start to become a copy
If the person is wearing clothes
this is the time to simply express the folds of the clothing
This is also the time to roughly depict
the larger areas of the muscle shapes
By adding more detailed descriptions like this
you will complete the type of depiction suitable for a 3 minute croquis
Now, the croquis for the 3 minutes is complete
It’s okay if it's very inaccurate, so try not to press the pencil too hard
Instead, quickly sketch the lines with a light touch
as if you're gently guiding the pencil, which will be more helpful
And the important thing is that when doing a croquis
you shouldn't be drawing while looking at your own drawing
Instead, keep your eyes on the photo
and continue drawing the lines separately
focusing on the reference image
If you only focus on your own drawing, you might become more obsessed with completing it
which can make you neglect the most important part
of the croquis, which is observation
So, it ends up becoming a creative drawing of mine based on the original
rather than focusing on the observation that the croquis is meant to achieve
Then, the effectiveness of the study diminishes
The important thing is to never detach
from the photo or model while drawing
Please keep that in mind
Let's summarize what we've learned in this session
First, we learned about the proportions
based on the 8-heads tall human body
We understood the standard proportions of body parts
and the skeletal structure that serves as the central reference point
Second, we learned about the curves used to express the human body
We understood the lines that go into and come out of the curves in the human body
as well as the overall nuance conveyed through the curves
Third, we learned how to practice
the human body through croquis
We learned the key points and considerations for each time segment when doing croquis
Thank you for your hard work
The characteristics of basic human body proportions Basic human body proportions The arms have a 1:1 from the elbow The thigh and calf have a 4:3
Shoulder width equals to 3 heads The end of the ribcage is at the midpoint between the nipple and the pelvis From the head to the torso and legs 1:1
The curves of the human body Torso vertically oval tilted backward Pelvis horizontally oval tilted forward body's curves flow in S shape not jagged
Commonly used lines in human figure drawing For arms and legs, focus on drawing the outer lines For side view of the torso, draw based on the spine
For the side view of the legs, from front view The arms follow an S shape, bending at elbow The side view of the legs is also drawn in an S shape
Basic croquis Use the spine line for the torso, the longest torso line of the left and right if the spine isn't visible
For limbs, use the outer line, for side view, legs followfront line, arms back line Clavicle and shoulder lines are completed with the limbs for torso