Checking proportion means measuring relationships, not trusting the first impression. You compare one length or angle with another, in the object and in the drawing, and see whether the pairs match.
This lesson is part of SPM subjects and learning resources. Next, read documenting how a revised drawing changes emphasis.
What should you compare?
Compare pairs, because a single length tells you nothing alone. The useful pairs are height to width, one object to its neighbour, and the angle of one edge to a horizontal or vertical line.
Pick one length as your unit. Everything else becomes “about half”, “one and a half times” or “nearly equal” to that unit.
Worked example: an invented still life
Imagine a still life of a tall jug, a short bowl and a lemon on a table. The learner draws it and feels the bowl looks too big.
The learner holds a pencil at arm’s length and marks the jug’s height as the unit. The bowl’s width measures about the same as the jug’s height. The lemon’s width is about one quarter of it.
In the drawing, the jug is 12 cm tall on the paper and the bowl is 9 cm wide. The lemon is 3 cm wide.
| Pair | In the real set-up | In the drawing | Match? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bowl width to jug height | about equal (1 to 1) | 9 to 12, which is three quarters | No, bowl too small |
| Lemon width to jug height | about one quarter | 3 to 12, which is one quarter | Yes |
The feeling said “bowl too big”, but measuring shows the reverse. The bowl is actually too small, and the fix is to widen it toward 12 cm.
Why the first impression misleads
The eye reads contrast. A small lemon beside a wide bowl makes the bowl look large, even when the bowl is undersized.
Measured pairs remove that effect. This is why a correction made by feeling can push the error in the wrong direction.
Angles count too
Relationships include direction. To check the tilt of the table edge, hold the pencil against it and compare with a true horizontal, such as the top of the page.
Note the gap as a rough angle, for example “about a quarter of a right angle”, then test your drawing against the same note.
Check yourself
In a sketch of a chair, the seat should be about as wide as the backrest is tall. On your paper the backrest is 10 cm tall and the seat is 6 cm wide. What do you conclude, and what do you change?
Answer
The seat is 6 out of 10, which is three fifths of the backrest height, not equal. The seat is too narrow.
Widen the seat toward 10 cm, then recheck the pairs around it, because the legs and the gap beneath the seat may now look different.
What to study next
Measure three pairs in one of your own sketches and write each as observation, comparison, change. Then check your wording with the structured-answer self-review tool. For a teacher to review your photographed sketches with you, see online one-to-one Drawing tuition.