Do you use the rules of proportion when drawing a live model?

Question

I know that rules such as the face is five eyes across and the corner of the lips are in line with the center of the eyes is helpful when drawing a portrait from memory, but does anyone use this method when drawing a live model? (For example, do you draw a vertical line of symmetry?)

Answer 1

With enough practice, those rules become almost instinctive, so, rarely do I have to make any conscious measurements of proportion.  I DO use guide lines to help me rough out facial features.  From whatever angle I am seeing the head, I still draw in an approximate centerline, horizontally, for the eye placement, and vertically for the nose alignment.

Answer 2

These rules are a guide only, and dont really apply when you are drawing a model from life.

I do visualise a vertical line and you could lightly draw this on your paper if it helps, but the simple trick is to look and keep looking at the model. Your proportions come from the model him/herself - taking into account both the body shape and pose, as things as foreshortening come into play depending where you are viewing from.

One trick is to hold your pencil, always at the same arms length, and use your thumb to estimate first the entire length of the body, then the width, then other measurements between points and this will give you a rough guide to proportions. And always trust as you measure - i remember drawing someone laying flat, with their feet towards me at the level of my waist. I couldnt quite believe that their feet filled 1/3rd of the picture and had to steel myself to draw it that way, which turned out to be correct.

Once practiced it is less necessary to keep measuring, however i do use this for theinitiall and overall measurements still, just to ensure i draw to a size that fits within the paper - it is easy to end up with a tiny drawing or one where the feet are squashed in at the bottom of the page without room to place them properly!

:-)

Answer 3

I've internalized the rules and all that, but when I work from the model I start by trying to get the gesture right then I go to work on the space the model is in.

The reality is we are between five and eight heads high.  That is quite a variation and it is certainly a variation you are likely to run into in figure drawing.  As Quentin Crisp is reported to have told another model, "Darling, if you care about what you look like you shouldn't be doing this."

When drawing a live model make it a good drawing before you try to make it a good likeness or "correct".