Proportional Importance

Let me preface this by saying I am no master of proportions. This is simply a compilation of my observations and recent experiences with proportions and their relevance in art.

If you have seen any of my Instagram’s work, you will know it mostly consists of blocky, somewhat cute, cardboard figurines. Their proportions are, more often than not, lacking in accuracy and extremely skewed to the side of artistic liberty.

If you have also seen a relatively recent blog post about my interest in caricature art (which I sadly have not had time to pursue), then you would also question the validity of my following thoughts, as caricature art is incredibly skewed to the side of artistic liberty over realism.

Now why, you may wonder, would this boy write about proportions in art when he clearly doesn’t know anything about them? That’s where you would be mistaken. Just because I choose to dismiss standard proportions in most of my art does not mean I am unaware of them.

Bobble-head toys are funny. Why are they funny? Because they have big heads. My cardboard figurines are not particularly trying to be funny, but rather have a charm similar to that of a bobble-head. The blowing-up of one’s head proportionally can lighten the mood of even some of the darkest characters. Proportions, in fact, are used in bobble-heads, they simply are not accurate for the reason of humor and simplicity.

Similarly, there is caricature art. Caricatures humorously mock those being drawn by exaggerating their most noticeable features. If somebody has a round nose, you know there’s going to be a giant circle in the middle of the caricature mocking it. But the mocking is funny, and the disregarded proportions aid the humor of the drawing. Since it is often the person recieving the drawing who is being drawn, it is taken as light, banter-like humor between them and their close family and friends.

Proportions in realistic drawings are what it really comes down to.

If you want a drawing to be realistic, the proportions have to be spot-on. If you’re trying to draw a nice portrait, you want to make sure the nose isn’t too crooked, or the head too large, as it would often send the wrong message.

Artists love using circles and lines to get their proportions right. The trick is to not become attached to your “sketch” and to be willing to erase it and alter it until it resembles preciselt what you are attempting to draw in a proportionatly accurate manner. “Eye-balling something” is when you look at it and roughly sketch the shape of it. Artists need to do this when drawing things like monuments, landscapes, portraits, and anything in which there is a physical reference being observed for the piece.

Above is a sketch. There were lines used not only to get the basic layout of the picture (of which there was a photographic reference), but also to get the proper proportions for the faces and bodies. I used circles for the heads, lines for where shoulders would go, and boxes for glasses. Yes, this is the end of my sketch, but they start out incredibly rudimentary, often with little resemblance to the finished piece.

Some artists have the ability to do an inch of their drawing at a time, and finalize it as they go. Most artists, however, benefit from sketching out, extremely roughly, the entire drawing so as to get their proportions right, and finish it by adding waves of detail afterwards.

(The following pictures are less-so focused on proportions as on the process and “waves” of details added during each “phase”.)

I sketched the entire drawing. Then I inked the entire drawing. Then I added inked, stylized shading lines to the entire drawing. Then I erased the graphite from underneath the ink. Then I colored the entire thing with colored pencils (a layering process in itself). And finally, I added marker to really make the colors pop.

All of it was laid atop the proportions of my sketch.

The sunk-cost fallacy applies to art a hundred times over. You can think, after sketching for what feels like eternity, that you “deserve” to just move on to the next step. When you step back at the end though, with everything inked, shaded, colored, and completed… you will notice the proportions are off if you didn’t put the effort in up front.

Proportions can make or break every piece. Whether the used for comedic effect, such as in figurines and caricature art, or for portrait and landscape work in which they need to be accurate, proportions will be there. Make them the best you can.