Description
Train your eye to measure and compare sizes accurately. Proportion is what makes drawings feel right — a beautifully shaded portrait still fails if the eyes are the wrong size. This exercise builds the habit of checking before committing.
Steps
- Choose a subject — a face, figure, or simple object
- Hold your pencil at arm's length and close one eye; align the tip with the top of your subject
- Slide your thumb to mark the bottom of a reference unit (e.g. the head height)
- Count how many of those units fit across the width, and how many fit vertically
- Mark these proportions lightly on your paper before drawing anything else
- Begin drawing within those marks, checking constantly: is this part wider or narrower than I estimated?
- Step back every few minutes and compare your drawing to the reference
Tips
- Always measure with a fully extended arm — a bent arm changes the measurement every time
- Close one eye to eliminate depth perception when measuring
- Measure negative spaces too — the gap between the eyes, the space under the nose
- Step back often; proportion errors are invisible close up but obvious from a distance