# Proko - Figure Drawing Fundamentals
## Metadata
**Status**:: #now
**Zettel**:: #zettel/fleeting
**Created**:: [[2026-05-26]]
**URL**:: [proko.com](https://www.proko.com/course/figure-drawing-fundamentals)
## Synopsis
### Gesture
- Along the longest axis
- CSs
- Exaggerate using intense corners and zigzags.
- 4 S lines
- Head + Neck
- Rib Cage + Waist/Lower Back
- Hip + Thigh
- Calf + Heel
- Spine
- Neck: most flexible
- Ending at shoulder
- Rib Cage: easy to rotate, hard to bend/extend
- Ending at waist
- Lower back: easy to bend/extend, hard to rotate
- Asymmetrical curves
- Not snowman. Like braid.
### Landmarks
![[Landmarks-of-the-Human-Body.jpg]]
- Font center line:
- Pit of the neck between the clavicles
- Tie-shape sternum starting from the trapezoidal manubrium.
- Belly bottom
- Pubic bone of pelvis
- Back center line: Spine, see above.
- Front lateral landmarks
- Clavicles can move independently, creating angles with the ribcage. Clavicles also change the position of nipples and their angle with the ribcage.
- ==Find tip of shoulder via clavicles==
- Other horizontal lines:
- Corners of ribcage
- Bottom of pecs
- Front corners of iliac crest
- Back lateral landmarks
- Connecting scapula give a similar handlebar shape as clavicles
- ==Find tip of shoulder via scapula==
- Triangle shape sacrum
- The top corners are back corners of the iliac crest, opposing the front corners.
- Arms
- Elbow tip is at the same line as epicondyles when the arm is straight, but moves down to form a triangle when the arm bends.
- Legs
- Bottoms of tibia and fibula form an angle downward toward the outside.
- Side of hips
### Robo Bean
- Ribcage + Pelvis
- Between boxes:
- Navel
- Stretched side: outward at ends because of the hard parts of ribcage and pelvis edges, inward in the middle.
## Mannequinization
- Neck and Head
- Ball chopped at sides
- Attach jaw
- Neck connection to the body is lower in the front and higher in the back.
- Torso
- Men as a wide open at the bottom edge of rib cage, while women as a triangular shape.
- Woman abs become wider around navel.
## Balance
- Use navel as a rough center point of gravity
## Exaggeration
1. Original pose
2. Mannequinization
3. Exaggerate by moving / rotation / twisting
4. Add details to the mannequinizated and exaggerated version
## Proportions
%%Open in Dropbox: <a href="#dropbox://Swipe Files/Proko - Human Figure Proportions.jpg" class="LinkRelativeTo">Proko - Human Figure Proportions.webp</a> %%
### Hale System
#### Advantage
Hale system has better coverage on depth of the body. The cranium is a sphere, so it is not foreshorten from any angle.
#### Locate the Cranium
- The head depth is larger than a cranial unit.
- In the front view, use top of head to bottom of nose when it is not foreshorten.
#### Gotchas
- In the top edge of the rib cage, the back edge is higher than the front edge. So the 2x2 square does not cover the back edge.
#### Pelvis
- Men: the width of pelvis equals to the rig cage. The width of ASIS equals to the 10th rib (bottom corners of ribs).
- Women: the width of pelvis equals to cranial units, which is wider than the rib cage.
- Iliac crest is 1/2 unit higher than pelvis box, while greater trochanter is 1/2 unit lower.
Pelvis landmarks in cranial units:
#### Limbs
- Hand itself is a bit longer than 1 unit.
## Measuring
- Measure triangles to help measure angles.
## Shading
- When shadow is small, highlight point is close to the center light. While the shadow is large, they can be far away.