In this first part of lesson 9 we draw the human form and we start with an adult male

, our knight.

Here is a thumb nail of the last part of this lesson. take your time and your drawing will improve!

Drawing a Man - For This lesson we are going to continue using our steps by beginning with the creation of shapes like tubes, cylinders, ovals, circles and rectangles. Remember that everything you see is made up of these basic shapes and it is a good way for you to start a drawing. When drawing these basic shapes of an object you will be able to get a good feel for the perspective and the size relationships of everything.

The General Scale of a grown person - Generally, a man in the standing position can be measured in eight different parts and each part is about the same height as the man's head. You can see in the drawing here that I have made eight different sections with each one being the same size as the man's head.

This is how you should start your drawing. Lightly draw eight horizontal lines about one inch apart then draw an oval for the mans head so it takes up the top one inch section.

An important thing to remember - This is the scale for a human being! And this scale is very important in the world of fantasy drawings because when we distort this scale we come up with some very interesting things. For example: If you were to make the head bigger than one eighth of the whole you might have something that looks like a goblin. What if you make the head smaller than this scale? You might be working on something like a troll which has a body that is much bigger in proportion to the head. If you wanted to draw an elf you might make the body more slender and the arms and legs longer than the average human ratio.

In future lessons we are going to experiment with this distortion of the human figure but for now we will be simply drawing this classical human figure - it is after all the basic hero shape!

Now do this lesson. Draw out your eight section rectangle about at one inch increments then draw a rough oval in the top section for the knight's head.

Continue on to the next lesson - Drawing the shapes of the rest of the body

Figure it out! Human Proportions: Draw the Head and Figure Right Every Time

When the proportions are right, the drawing looks right! Most artists whose work features the human head and figure don't have the time or opportunity to draw directly from models, so it's essential that they acquire the skills and tools to draw them accurately without using direct reference. Now, thanks to Chris Hart's foolproof method, even beginners can quick-check the proportions of their head and figure drawings, identify errors, and swiftly fix mistakes. Richly illustrated with drawings from various angles, this follow-up to Hart's bestselling Figure It Out! includes step-by-step demonstrations and lessons that lead readers through the process. 

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