How to Draw Proportions

The Sculptor and Art Student's Guide to the Proportions of the Human Form, By Dr. Johann Gottfried Schadow

From an 1883 volume on the proportions of the human figure, The Sculptor and Art Student's Guide to the Proportions of the Human Form, an average female is depicted. See more examples from the book here.

Above - From the BBC series "How Art Made the World" that demonstrates how Polykleitos posed his famous Doryphoros statue.

On the right - The Sculptor and Art Student's Guide to the Proportions of the Human Form, By Dr. Johann Gottfried Schadow which was based on the pioneering study of human proportions by Polykeitos (Polycletus, or Polykete). From an 1883 volume on the proportions of the human figure, The Sculptor and Art Student's Guide to the Proportions of the Human Form, an average male is depicted. See more examples from the book here.

Art Education for High Schools, The Prang Company

In this illustration from an art educaton manual for high school students the body is the equivilant of seven and one half heads.

Art Education for High Schools, The Prang Company

Other dimensions of the body expressed in heads.

Hand Proportion Made Simple (Paperback) by Ivan Whillock
Head Proportion Made Simple (Paperback) by Ivan Whillock
Albrecht Durer (1471-1528) On Human Proportion

Art Education for High Schools, The Prang Company

From the same high school ar manual the female body is illustrated as the equivilant of seven and one half heads.

Human Proportions for Artists (Spiral-bound) by Avard T. Fairbanks (Author), Eugene F. Fairbanks (Author)
This is a comprehensive studio guide to human proportions listing over one hundred measurements of both male and female figures with head and face details. Measurements are in both inch and metric systems and fractions are in columns from heroic to 1/12 life size. Section are included on relative and comparative proportions and of dynamic symmetry.

Cast Drawing Using the Sight-Size Approach