Hi everyone!
I am back with a new video and this is going to be a tutorial on how I draw the fashion
figure using the 9 Heads technique, which I learnt from the book 9 Heads by Nancy Riegelman,
so a link to where you can find that book and other resources are listed in the description
box.
So feel free to check them out!
For this tutorial, I’m going to keep it super simple, and I’m not going to explain
too much about the basis of the technique because that can be kind of confusing especially
if you’re watching this and you just want to get started on drawing the fashion figure.
This tutorial is basically going to be me showing how I do it and you are free to copy
it step by step in order to learn my method.
And in a follow-up video, I will talk more about the 9 Heads technique and why it’s
used in drawing human body proportions, as well as how you can use the technique to take
off from here and draw different body types to suit your style and the characters you
want to draw.
With drawing the fashion figure, the 9 Heads technique is just one of the many ways to
learn the proportions.
There are also the 10 Heads and 12 Heads technique, but the 9 Heads technique creates a more realistic
figure.
So as you can see on the piece of paper here, I have drawn 10 horizontal lines down on the
page and between each line is an inch.
I’ve also labelled each line with the corresponding number to make it easier which line I am talking
about.
Then the space between each line represents the size of a human head.
In this video, because each line is spaced 1 inch apart, the head size of my figure is
also going to be 1 inch.
And I’ve also labelled each space as the corresponding head number, and I’ve also
drawn an oval in each space to represent the head shape.
And this just gives us an idea of why it’s called 9 Heads technique – because it’s
9 heads stacked vertically which will then help us identify the placement of each body
part.
Also, please note that you do not have to draw every single head.
You can do this for your first time, but all we really need to do is draw the 10 lines
spaced evenly apart, because that will save us time for our guidelines.
So now onto the measurements!
Between Line 1 and Line 2 is of course the head, so I’m drawing an oval shape.
Then a third of Head 2 is the neck so I’m just drawing two lines down.
Then half of Head 2 is for the shoulders and there are no set measurements for length of
the shoulder line.
It can be as narrow or as broad as you want.
And I will explain more of this in the follow-up video.
For now, I’m drawing the line to be wider than the head.
Then the top of Head 3 is the apex or the centre of this person’s boobs so I’m just
drawing two circles.
And starting with geometric shapes like this can make it easier to visualise the body especially
when you’re just starting out.
Next, the top of Head 4 is where the waistline will be, and because we tend to see small
waists in high fashion models, this line is usually drawn much shorter than the shoulder
line, but again it can be as wide or as narrow as you want.
Then a third of Head 4 is for the high hip line.
And as you saw me do before, I am connecting the previous line to this new line and it
creates a trapezium shape since the ideal hips are wider than the waist.
Then the top of Head 5 is where the crotch is, so I’m just drawing a triangle from
the hip line to this point.
All the way down to the top of Head 7 is where the knees are, and I’m just drawing circles
that are fairly far apart because the pose of this drawing is that she is standing with
feel slightly apart.
The circles also represent the joints.
And down to the top of Head 9 are for the ankles slash heels.
And because this is a fashion figure, models usually wear heels; therefore the entire feet
would occupy Head 9.
And we’re almost done.
Now it’s just time to add in the arms.
So I drew two circles where the shoulders are, just at the edge of the shoulder line.
And I will connect that to the top of Head 4, where the waistline is, because it is also
the line for the elbows.
Once again, I am drawing circles for the joints and connecting those back to the shoulders.
And the top of Head 5, which is where the crotch is, that guideline is also for the
wrists.
Then finally, roughly the size of Head 5, I say about 2/3 of Head 5 is where the hands
are going to be.
Now you can draw the hands as large as Head 5, but I wouldn’t draw it any smaller than
2/3 of Head 5.
And that is basically it.
To be honest, we don’t really need exact measurements to draw the human figure or the
fashion figure, and I will further explain this in the follow up video.
Unfortunately explaining it can make this complicated, that’s why I left it out.
So before that video comes out, feel free to check out the resources listed below.
Also keep in mind that these are guidelines only.
Guidelines are definitely just guides and not rules.
This technique is useful for anyone wanting to learn the basic human proportions in a
step-by-step manner.
I would highly recommend practicing this along with reference photos and real life model
studies to help you gain a better understanding of human anatomy.
And while there are guidelines to help with drawing what is considered the ideal body
proportions, this should not be where your learning ends.
Once again, feel free to utilise the tools and resources I have listed in the description
box.
And if you have other resources that you would like to recommend to me and other people watching
this video, comment them down below or tweet me @zyrabanez and I will add them to the list.
That is it!
I hope you enjoyed this video.
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Thank you so much for watching and I will see you in my next one!