Body Proportions

Our idea of Ideal Body Proportions have changed over time Our idea of Ideal Body Proportions have changed over time A set of rules for body proportions is called a “Canon” A set of rules for body proportions is called a “Canon”

Ancient Egyptian Art Had interesting and Had interesting and strict rules for body proportion A "front view“ eye on a side view head A "front view“ eye on a side view head The shoulders are shown full frontal, but the legs and face in profile The shoulders are shown full frontal, but the legs and face in profile Both feet and hands are shown from the side Both feet and hands are shown from the side

This helped to make most Egyptian art look very similar This helped to make most Egyptian art look very similar

WHY? showing each body part from a different angle gives the most information about the person. if they showed the shoulders in profile, you would lose one, if you showed the feet from the front they are less recognizable as feet.

Art in Medieval Europe Very few Rules – Inconsistent Proportions

Inconsistent Proportions Notice how the Prince’s head looks too big for his body, while the Princess’ head looks just right

DaVinci’s Vitruvian Man The Italian Renaissance ( ) brought in a new rule for body proportions. The Vitruvian Man is a famous drawing done by Leonardo DaVinci in The drawing is based on the ideal human proportions as described in a book by Vitruvius, an ancient Roman architect. In this case, measurements are based on the palm of the hand as one unit. A man is 24 palms

In this canon, the human body fits into an overlapping circle and square. DaVinci has shown the hands and feet from the side and from the front. This tells us that this system of measurement is not as strict as the Egyptian Canon

Current Rules Rules used now are closest to the rules of the Greeks. Now-a-days we measure body proportions using the head as the unit of measurement The average person is 7.5 heads tall.

How many heads tall is Queen Latifah?

7 ½ - 8 heads tall!

Gesture Drawing

Quick poses

Quick strokes with your pencils

Gesture is often used as a warm up in art classes

You can leave your gestures as they are or…..

You can use them as a base for a longer or more finished drawing

You can also do Gesture Drawings of objects

It’s important to note that gesture drawings are for practice not necessarily for display in a museum!

Warm Up

Create a cool scribble drawing 20 minutes

Must have areas of light, medium and dark

Can be a design or pattern or represent an object

You can use color, or stick to black & white Marker, pen or dark pencil seem to work the best

Assignment Step 1 – Gather several pieces of newsprint and a piece of vine charcoal Step 2 – Decide who will model. (take turns? Or a few volunteers? Steal someone from the art 12 class?)

Jessica and Paige will set the model up in a variety of poses with a variety of props and will tell the model when its time for a new one. These are quick at first, when the model changes poses you start a new sketch. 30 s, 60s, 2 mins

Put your name on each of your pages. Place them in a pile on the bottom shelf of my rolly cart. Put the charcoal away, clean up and continue with what you were working on yesterday