Compare the heights of the nose and eye shapes to those
of the forearm, belly, and thighs. See how different the relative
heights of these shapes are from what we might expect in real life.FORESHORTENING
To foreshorten a figure, you must let go of what you know from experience
about the relative sizes of body parts and trust your eyes. Look at your model
as if he or she is a flat series of shapes one on top of another Measure the
height and width of each shape and compare it to its neighbor. Work
around the figure, adjusting anonymous shapes. Soon the body will lie
down in space, pleasingly foreshortened.This is the same drawing
photographed from above,
looking down the paper at
the angle at which I drew. We
appear to be looking down on
a woman standing beneath us.ACCELERATED PERSPECTIVE
To discover how this works, tape some paper to a
board. Stand its bottom edge on your lap. Lean thetop edge toward you and find a position where
you can comfortably look down the paper at an
angle of about 40 degrees. Keep the board steady
and draw. To make forms look correct, your hand
travels farther than you expect, which feels strange.
Proportions will only look correct from the angle
at which you make the drawing.Tilt the top edge of this book
toward you and look down
on this figure from above. At a
certain angle, her proportions
will appear correct.MEASUREMENT
AND
FORESHORTENING