Character Forms and Proportions

The elements of art are the basic components of art-marking. It is impossible to create a work of art without using at least one of the seven elements of art. In order to be successful in art creation, an artist must be able to intelligently use the elements of art. Artwork can also be analyzed according to the use of the elements in a work of art.

When artists speak of proportions they are referring to the size relationships between objects and even the sub-parts of objects.  Often considered one of the hardest things to draw, the art of portraiture presents many challenges when attempting to draw with accuracy.  While a portrait artist is drawing accurate proportions of a human face she is trying to make sure that the facial features are not too big or too small compared to the rest of the face and that each feature is in the correct location.

Drawing correct proportions in a portrait is no easy feat however, artists drawing any subject matter typically are going to have to think about the size relationships between the objects they are drawing. As a result, this means thoroughly planning out the proportioning of their artwork from the very beginning. If you desire to draw proportions correctly this will require some visual measuring based on keen observations and some extremely simple arithmetic.