mjnousak: So I saw this on an

http://eschergirls.tumblr.com/post/151155124338/ozziescribbler-submitted-a-friend-stumbled

So I saw this on an EscherGirls post and thought, ok, those proportions looked familiar. I’ve been reading Burne Hogarth’s art books (Dynamic Figure Drawing), where he recommends a roughly 1:8 Body to head ratio, with a half head for the neck.
Here’s an image from the book with a quick explanation.

So this makes for very tall looking people, but the difference between Hogarth’s art and this is Kitty is super goddamn skinny. That and her feet are up like she has on heels (because…reasons I’m sure)

Kitty’s legs are too long, and her hips are too high. the blue boxes are as tall and wide as her head. Sow I just stacked 8 of em on top of one another (and a half for the feet.

So I figured I’d work some (VERY CRUDE) photoshop magic. Here’s what it would look like with her hips in the right spot.

I edited the pictures here so you can see what it SHOULD look like with closer to Hogarth proportions (without giving her extra body mass). Mind you, Hogarth’s drawings are usually of well built/muscled folks, so someone as skinny as Kitty here would be a rarity (if not outright nonexistent). Hogarth ladies are closer to normal and that SERIOUSLY helps them not look alien despite the long proportions.

Though his shading is…well…”DYNAMIC” a bit extreme ) as the title implies (, I overall like Hogarth’s style. I wouldn’t use it personally because his shading is so round and bulbous, it’s certainly nicer than…well, pretty much anything that usually earns a spot on the Eschergirl’s blog (I swear Rob Liefeld didn’t learn how organs work).

Mind you, for someone who’s PROBABLY a teenager (probably? how old is Kitty in this picture?) a 1:6 or even 1:7 ratio would be better.

That’s 1:7 ( Her head size stayed the same size in each image, I just adjusted the body), looks much better! Though the legs are way too curved (Yes, your legs are supposed to be a bit curved, but that is way too much). Here’s all 3 side by side for comparison.

Hope you’ve enjoyed this quick proportions lesson! 1:8 is a nice proportion set. Buuut not if you’re going to make your characters this thin, unless you’re trying to show them being rather thin. 1:7 is more average.