Throwback Tutorial: Proportions and Basic Joint Editing

This was originally from a tutorial on my old Stardoll Graphics blog. The information here I think is still pretty useful for both graphics and fashion illustration, so enjoy!

From Saturday, December 13, 2014

When drawing or editing figures, it is very important to keep proportions in check. If done right, they make the model appear more natural and realistic.

Proportions
Knowing proportions helps when resizing faces and poses. This can be difficult to judge at times so it helps to keep these guidelines in mind.

This tutorial uses Stardolls as a visual example, but since dolls are very similar in build to the real human form this can be referenced when drawing people too.
People come in all shapes and sizes but our proportional structure is almost the same, pretty cool right?

The 1/2 addition in head size for the female doll is from their pointed foot, without heels they would be only approximately 6 heads.

This proportion guide helps a lot when it comes to editing with a cropped body. Even through the entire body is not there to measure, there will always be some part to go from.

For example, when adding a Stardoll head to a custom body, I can size it correctly in reference to the side of her shoulders.

Joints and Bones
When it comes to basic pose editing, we need to know exactly what can be edited. In real life, there are restrictions when it comes to what we can move. Two of the biggest things to consider when making or shifting poses are:

a) Does the bend/shape rest on a joint?
b) Does the bend work naturally?

This is more directed when editing the Stardoll 'default pose' as it is a very straight form and we need to determine which areas can be altered.

Here is a simple placement of the joint areas in the body, in these areas you can cut and adjust the limbs to create a new pose.

Something I tend to do when drawing or editing is try to move my body in a similar fashion. It helps to see or feel how the pose will become, and if it's impossible or doesn't feel natural then I look for a better solution. To also look at real-life references or models helps too.

As an example, I quickly cut and arranged the body - try to spot which joints are incorrectly placed:

Here are the joints:

The limbs are not symmetrical, with some being longer and shorter in areas. They also seem exaggerated, but looks more painful than dramatic.

To fix this, I softened the poses with looser movement and altered the joint placement.

This is similar to the pose workings on Stardoll Stylista; normal Stardoll clothing can be worn, but it's a nice change-up from the regular look.

Hope this helped!

- Brittany

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Thank you to my wonderful models, HRHMadeline and kawaii.otaku