I want to start off my response by saying this: Anatomy is something that takes years and years of practice to learn and perfect. Don't be stressed when you can't magically draw a perfect figure without these years of drawing under your belt.
However, the perfect book to help you get started on drawing the human figure is Figure Drawing For All It's Worth by Andrew Loomis. The best part? You can download the full book for free here.
Here are a couple examples from this wonderful book:
I could write a hundred posts about human anatomy (and probably will over the course of this blog's existence), but the question for today's post is specifically concerning proportion.
Here's a simple chart I sketched up to show the major proportions you should know.
Some extra tips:
- The distance from one shoulder to the other is three head-widths.
- The eyes are halfway between the chin and the top of the head
- The average figure will be about 7 1/2 head-heights tall
These measurements will not always be exact, since every human has slightly different proportions, but these are good rough guidelines to follow. When you're drawing from a live model, always measure and re-measure to be sure you get that individual's proportions correct. I've drawn models that measured 6 heads tall, and others that were 8 heads tall.
Characters in animation and illustration will often have very exaggerated proportions, which completely break from these guidelines. While it's tempting to only draw exaggeration and never learn realistic proportion, you will only be able to draw exaggeration well if you know your real-life anatomy.
Even Picasso learned everything he could about anatomy before testing what he could do with exaggeration and stylization.
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