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PMucks — Profile Proportions
#drawing #face #female #profile #proportions #sketch #tutorial #pmucks
Published: 2014-10-18 19:17:37 +0000 UTC; Views: 74292; Favourites: 790; Downloads: 760
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Description
I created this as a reference for myself while practicing profiles and I thought somebody might find it useful. The numbers are the actual measurements in centimeters. Drawn in graphite on sketch paper, about 15 cm square.A few things to note:
Tip of Nose to Ear = Brow to Chin
Bottom of Nose halfway between Brow and Chin
Eye 1/3 below Brow
Lip 1/3 below Nose
Upper Lip lines up with Forehead
Front of Eye lines up with back of Nose and Lip
Ear falls between Brow and bottom of Nose
This can all vary between different faces, sometimes a little, sometimes a lot, but usually not to an extreme.
I hope this helps!
Also see my Face Proportions diagram:
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Comments: 24
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This is great, except for the part you say "this can vary but not too much" - yes it can! There are many different face shapes and qhen the jaw and the nose are different that changes a lot.
Also, this particular person you drew definitely has an overbite, so thee's that 
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Well, actually I said *usually* not by much, which is true. There can be extremes, but you'll never see someone with, for example, a mouth that's twice as far from the nose as the eye is, unless it's a medical anomaly.
However, I can see how that line can be misinterpreted, so I changed it.
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i missed the "usually" then, sorry. and that is true, also the spot where the ear is placed is the same pretty much always, i think what does vary quite often are the vertical lines [the forehead-nose-lips-chin line basically
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I agree with you regarding the variation of the vertical lines. This particular example is of an average female, probably early 20's. A 70 year old man with a big nose would certainly not fit very well into this diagram. The horizontal lines vary up and down too, especially depending on age.
Probably the most useful thing people can learn from this diagram is the placement of the eye. Many beginners draw the eye too far forward toward the bridge of the nose. Knowing it's behind the back of the nose is really helpful in placing it right.
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yes, that's true, the eye is very tricky! ear too in my opinion. this is very helpful, i hope i didn't sound like i don't think it is!
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"This can all vary between different faces, but usually not by much." I think, though I'm very beginner, it is these differences that make the face unique and where our attention needs to go while drawing??? this is useful for me thanks
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I think individual features like the shape of the eyes and lips give someone their unique look more than proportions do. Most adults will have proportions similar to the diagram, with very little variation.
Proportions change with age more than anything. If you look at a picture of someone when they were a child you can still recognize them by their features, even though their proportions have drastically changed.
Consider the subject of caricature. The proportions are often not even humanly possible, yet it still looks like them. It's really the features that matter.
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good points... I think you are right as consider them... big help to think about and practice for a beginner like me. I'm interested in all kind of drawn and painted portraiture... long way to go before I can get those features and proportions by reflex so I can play with them to explore your points...
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Thank you very much for this Illustration PMucks! It surely helps a lot.
Reminds me of the stuff from Andrew Loomis.
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Well, that makes sense because I've studied a couple of Loomis books. Excellent teaching material.
Thanks, I'm glad I could help.
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Thanks very much! I am trying to get into more portraiture and this helps very much. I have several books on the subject but they all disagree with each other %(
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You're welcome
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Thanks! Always glad to help.
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Nice job, actually printed it out and put it in my reference book. Well done.
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Great job! And thank you, have been looking for something like this for a long time
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Thanks! I hope you find it useful.
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