Human Body Proportions

In our article about human head proportions, we said that there are no perfect proportions. This is true not only for the proportions of the head but also for the proportions of the body.

But as with the head, there are common standards that help simplify the process of depicting a human figure.

The main thing is to understand the basics of proportions. Later, you can deliberately stretch them to portray Slenderman or compress them to portray Mario. But in any case, it is important to understand the basic relationships within the human body.

One of the most convenient units for measuring the proportions of the human body is the head. Using the head as a unit makes it easier to compare different parts of the figure and transfer these measurements to paper.

When comparing the head and body, the following measurements can be used:

head height;
head height with neck;
head diagonal;
hand length and width.

The height of an adult human figure is commonly represented as approximately seven to eight heads. But as mentioned above, we are all different, so this rule is only approximate. The relationship between the head and body varies from person to person and depends on many factors. For example, the head generally appears larger in relation to the body in shorter figures than in taller ones.

Human figure divided into head-height units to show body proportions.

The figure below shows that if you draw a standing person with the arms outstretched to the sides, the body can be approximately inscribed in a square. In other words, a person’s height is often close to the distance between the fingertips of the outstretched arms.

Human figure with outstretched arms showing the relationship between height and arm span.

In the same figure, you can see how human body proportions change with age. For example, in children the head is much larger in relation to the body than in adults. You can also see that the limbs become proportionally longer as the body develops.

The height of a newborn is approximately equal to four head heights, the height of a seven-year-old child to about six, and the height of a fourteen-year-old teenager to about seven.

Human height can be divided approximately into two equal parts. The midpoint of the figure is generally located around the pelvic region, roughly one head height below the navel.

Human body proportions measured using head height, head with neck, and hand length.

The height of the torso is approximately two and a half heads. One of the main parts of the torso is the rib cage, which is approximately equal to the height of the head with the neck. The width of the shoulders is approximately equal to twice the height of the facial part of the head, from the chin to the upper forehead, or about two hand lengths.

The pelvis is the second major component of the torso. In general, the female pelvis is relatively wider than the male pelvis. In a typical male figure, the shoulders are noticeably wider than the pelvis, while in a typical female figure, the difference between shoulder and pelvic width is usually smaller. However, these relationships vary considerably from person to person.

Arm length corresponds to approximately three head heights. With the arms lowered, the tips of the middle fingers usually reach around the middle of the thighs. The upper arm is about one and a half head heights long. The elbows are located approximately at the waistline.

The forearm and foot are approximately equal in length to the diagonal of the head. The length of the hand is close to the height of the facial part of the head. The fingers account for roughly half the total length of the hand.

The length of the legs is approximately equal to three and a half or four head heights. The thigh and lower leg are approximately similar in length, although their exact relationship varies from person to person.

All of the body proportions described above are approximate. As an example, the team of Drawingforall.net used an average adult figure about 172–175 cm tall.

Drawing of the Farnese Hercules showing the proportions of a muscular male figure.

As we have said, in reality, people differ greatly from one another. This means that the proportions of the human body you are drawing may differ from those presented above. Nevertheless, these measurements provide useful reference points that can be adapted to the individual figure.

So what should you do with this information, and how can you apply it in practice? First, learn the basic relationships described in this article. Knowing them will help you notice when the parts of a figure look too long, too short, too wide, or too narrow in relation to one another.

Knowledge is important, but it becomes useful through practice. Using the information from this article, draw people with different physiques and in different poses. Making many such sketches will help reinforce these relationships until estimating them becomes more natural.

Over time, you should not need to measure every part of the body and compare it with another. With regular practice, these basic relationships will become familiar, and measuring and comparing them will become increasingly automatic.

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