Human anatomy advanced-body proportions.pdf

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Human Anatomy Fundamentals: Advanced Body
Proportions
In our last session we learned the basic, generic proportions and joint alignments of the human
figure, and if you've been practicing you should be ready for some diversity. The most obvious
differentiation may be between men and women, but an illustrator must also be familiar with the
ways the body also changes according to age (while it is still growing) and type.
Male vs. Female Proportions
Male and female proportions are so different that even a skeleton (or certain parts of it) betrays
its sex. Bear in mind, however, that on a vertical axis there is no real difference: the joints don't
move up or down. The variations are almost entirely on the horizontal axis, i.e. in the width of
certain parts of the body. So how do we feminize or masculinize our basic figure? On the
structural level we're still working on, there's actually just one big difference to master, and the
rest are small helpful details.
The Shoulders/Hips Ratio
The primary difference is the relationship of shoulder width to hips. Women have a much
broader pelvic bone than men, since they need to be able to bear and give birth to a child. This
one, central fact has consequences throughout the body. It means that in women the hip line is
the broadest part of the body, and a narrower waist appears by contrast, while in men the
broadest part is the shoulder line, and the waist is hardly different from the hips. The overall
female silhouette, then, is an hourglass as opposed to the male trapeze shown below.
To give an idea of measurement (take these with a grain of salt because the impression of the
overall silhouette trumps accurate measurements every time), on our basic figure below (middle)
I have dropped down guidelines from the sides of the head, and then again from a distance
equivalent to one head from the central axis. These lines define two yellow zones where the
figure's shoulder and hip bones are contained.
To make this neutral figure female, the pelvic bone is broadened so that the hip joints are closer
to the outer side of the yellow area. The shoulders may vary but always within this zone. (Notice
what this does to the legs: the thighs taper in much more from the hips to join the knees, which
haven't changed position. Men's legs look more vertical relative to women's).
To make the neutral figure male, the pelvic bone remains narrow while the shoulders joints are
actually just outside the yellow area. Here again they can vary but they'll always tend to the outer
side of the yellow area. This again translates in the way the two sexes hold their arms, which you
can glimpse in the previous image and observe in daily life: women's elbows tend to be held
close to the body, and the arms at rest naturally follow the body's contours. A woman has to
deliberately hold her arms away from her body. Meanwhile, men's shoulders being "further out",
the arm at rest dangles away from the body and is not naturally held close.
Smaller Differences
Waist Line and Elbows
A woman's waist line is level with the belly button but a man's appears much lower. This makes
the torso on a male look longer. This is worth remembering, as in my early years I drew equal-
length torsos and same-level trouser lines for both sexes and wondered for a long time why the
men didn't look right. Also, be careful not to align the elbows with this apparently lower waist!
The reference for the elbow joint remains the belly button, so that unlike the female figure, if the
impression we have of a man's waist is where his trousers start, the elbows will look much
higher.
Rounded vs Angular
In anticipation of the fleshed-out body we'll eventually be drawing, it can be useful to sketch
women with rounded shapes and men with more angular trapeze shapes as this reflects the
general impression of each body type.
Generally speaking, a woman's body is made up of soft rounded shapes: breasts and buttocks but
also the fact that when not modified, the female body stocks more fat under the skin. Men's
bodies are more angular and have harsher lines when they are muscular. This of course is subject
to great variation, and this device is eminently adaptable—using angular shapes for a skinny
woman, for instance, and soft ones for a fleshy man. Still, note that in reasonably slim bodies, a
woman's stomach is gently curved and her buttocks are rounded. A man tends to flatness both in
the stomach and buttocks.

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