How to Draw Accurate Proportions with this simple trick!

[@kathrynbrooks6226]

As a child of about 7, I stumbled upon something similar to this that I still use today as a professional artist, but instead of seeing a 'Z', I saw when I was doing some sums, in the figure '2' the start of an eye brow and a nose. It's always been apparent to me and very useful.

[@ExitLight]

I “think” that you went from saying “z” to “V” and back to “z” so I was confused for a few seconds but I think this video was really great and helpful. I’ll never be able to be a portrait artist but still good to know!

[@davidjonkassan]

i did 🤦🏻‍♂️ gotta stop filming in the am before my morning coffee :)

[@40bdg]

@@davidjonkassan 😂

[@Pugggle]

I was totally confused when he started saying V lol

[@billhodges7835]

[ZOV]

[@barbarahenn-pander5872]

@@davidjonkassanyou could say Zed and pretend you’re Canadian! 🇨🇦

[@mahanly]

Best drawing tip ever. I did two sketches while I watched your vid and the likeness was automatic. Brilliant. A million thanks for sharing this hack.

[@davidjonkassan]

Glad it helps! Keep up the practice!

[@sandragustafsson3125]

Very interesting! Thank you for sharing! And can I just say, how incredibly much I love and appreciate how we in the art community shares hacks and tips and knowledge and experiences with each other! I just love how we all wants to lift each other up, instead of pushing each other down and competing against each other. I know there are communities where everyone just competes against each other, and I am so glad we artists don't do that! It makes my heart sparkle. 😊

[@ediesvideos3095]

Amen!

[@katjamohr8097]

Hey so true I feel so good to learn as much from other artists experience... Thank you ALL ❤

[@passinthru4328]

That last portrait of your friend is stunning.

[@davidjonkassan]

Thank you!

[@theboythatsayshootyhoo3865]

I have never heard of the van dyke z, but im a self taught character artist and i have been drawing the brow ridge and nose outline first on my character designs faces for years. I noticed it was much easier to create a distinct look for many different characters if i applied a certain shape language to those parts of the face first, while also having a distinguishable shape for the head in mind. I also noticed that drawing the brow and nose first for every drawing thereafter of a character design would help me maintain a consistent look, which is vital since im planning to draw a comic. being self taught is so fun because im always finding new methods online and in books, or connecting my own developed methods to artists ive never even seen before.

[@40bdg]

First of all, your drawings/paintings are amazing! Secondly, this was one of the best tips I've come across and I will definitely be doing this. Thank you!

[@davidjonkassan]

It's such a simple concept and makes a huge difference!

[@mouhcine8459]

It's a great video , and it was one of the best tips I've come across. I'll try it. Many thanks

[@edwinmeyer2215]

Excellent tip on portraiture. You are a wonderful painter. The few pieces of yours I’ve seen are beautiful and beautifully executed.

[@LaughingblueSu]

Thank you for speaking clearly and slowly! It is so rare these days.

[@kathleengarness1660]

I remember watching Richard Schmid do a demo at the Palette and Chisel back in the day. He drew a few swift lines demarcating the position of the head and shoulders, then went straight in and fully rendered her most visible eye in the three-quarter pose he had chosen that day. He said he gauged all the following measurements from the measurements of the eye!

[@heidiedgely9238]

Most interesting & I absolutely am in awe of your portraits, you capture the attitude of the sitter / personality especially well.

[@markokovacevic3225]

Wow, this is an amazing tips! any more vids on getting the proportions/measurements correctly will be appreciated! :) Thank you for sharing your knowledge!

[@CKelly-ie5pu]

I love your painting of Grace! She is so beautiful and the portrait is pow wow!!

[@Tam-z1j]

Oh my goodness, what a helpful tutorial....thank you...Thank you for the way you present your information which is so kind and full of gold. BTW, your own work is incredible!

[@davidjonkassan]

Thank you so much!

[@corpse7333]

It's way too much easier than this Loomis method. That Loomis thing messes my head. Thank You so much for making this so much easier for me. Thank You 🖤☔🍁🍂🧜🏼‍♀️🌊🫧🦪

[@Tam-z1j]

Oh my goodness...so helpful!!! Appreciate the way that you deliver your words...so kind and full of gold. BTW, your own work is incredible!

[@palnagok1720]

I use points of reference by looking thru a clear plastic clipboard with a rectangle drawn the same ratio as canvas. Then I use a carpenters sliding bevel to measure angles from corners and midpoints, triangulating the whole view onto the canvas...you can't miss getting a proper proportion as all your lines of intersection result in perfect placement of points. Connect the dots for guide lines. Simple ...join any 2 dots.

[@Garden366]

What a brilliant idea!

[@davidjonkassan]

Interesting technique, I'll have to give it a try!

[@deborahcook-goldman2227]

Your paintings look like photographs, amazing!

[@lorenzopassarini326]

It's not something nice to say to an artist!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@manonmanon1967]

Every time I watch your videos, I learn and thanks to that, I evolve in drawing. You sharpen my sense of observation. Thank you very much for this advice.

[@SiegfriedArt]

Thanks, David. Never heard about the Van Dyck Z, a very helpful tip indeed.

[@davidjonkassan]

Glad you found it helpful!

[@Splatterpunk_OldNewYork]

God Damn! You actually said the thing! I have been looking for the meaning of this term since I watched some artist bro mention it years ago when describing a portrait painting from life. Thank you thank you.. Best Christmas gift.

[@matthandy7039]

Thank you, I spent many years in art schools starting in my teens. Never heard of this.

[@jensingerlady]

Thank you David, I loved this van dyke method, and your calming voice.

[@avicennitegh1377]

Beautiful faces. Appreciate the different approaches to the Z

[@juliebrierley6631]

1st video of yours that I've seen. You are so talented

[@shalad4961]

I just stumbled across you. Great calm and straight to the point video!!

[@julieburdon-stone4607]

You are an awesome artist but I can also see now that you are a great teacher too. I look forward to seeing more of your videos and thank you for sharing.

[@davidjonkassan]

Thank you so much!

[@springnicole]

I have never heard of this hack. This is incredibly healthy as I have just gotten into classical portraiture. Knowing things like this makes it fun.

[@juanl.valverde]

Fantástic!

[@onpointsporthorses141]

This is a great tip.Thank you. And, I hope Grace knows how beautiful she is. I bet that her portrait was fun to do.

[@museumAF]

That was a good explanation. Thank you. I will try to remember this method when I next try faces.

[@beverlybenson9981]

I just came across your channel. Great tutorial. Thank you.

[@rissa_mariposa]

David! Been a fan for a while! I didn’t know you were on KZbin- just subscribed!

[@miguelsuarez8010]

With a live model, I draw quickly lots of loose random lines and refine them as I get closer to the likeness. It works pretty well. With photographs is more difficult. I'll try this method. Thank you.

[@davidjonkassan]

That's a great approach to drawing!

[@SuzanneRobb-q3x]

Yes I shall try that with some portraits that I am working on from photographs

[@davidjonkassan]

It works great for portraits!

[@TOMMYVILLARREAL]

Thank you for sharing this information!

[@angelaspaintings]

I love this! I am so happy to have discovered that you are posting KZbin videos!

[@karenrodgers56]

Thank you so much.. Everything jumps around when I am trying to draw or paint and this really helps.. Happy New Year! Karen in Cambridge

[@Kay-uy4xn]

Excellent! how brilliant for anyone struggling with proportions

[@theartyswan]

Thank you for sharing this. I have always struggled with the eyes nose relationships when painting portraits. Thanks for the hack it’s helped immediately 😊🎉 #theartyswan

[@merkilegur]

I teally enjoyed this video. This is the first time I have heard of this technique but I am very intrigued. Subscribed immediately!!

[@davidjonkassan]

Thanks for subscribing! Glad you liked it.

[@CaptainKirk1963]

Your great teacher.

[@davidjonkassan]

Wow, thank you!

[@dorcaslotspeich7610]

Awesome! Looking forward to the eye shape tricks! And lips! And face shapes!

[@davidjonkassan]

I'll add those to the list of things to cover, thanks for the suggestion!

[@marlene6489]

Thank you, David.

[@Michelle-q4t]

This is great. I felt that that something like this tip would make interpreting proportions for portraits easier.

[@davidjonkassan]

Glad it was helpful!

[@Andrew.Garrow]

Game changer thanks for this ❤

[@josepeka1189]

Amazing video. Thank you for explaining so clearly . Jose from Australia

[@cree8vision]

I studied with an artist who studied in Italy in the 1960s. We used to hold up a knitting needle to measure distances and to show where alignments met.

[@Sean-d3q2r]

You are an excellent artist wow

[@reybarreto7979]

I’ll give your hack a try and get back to you on how effective it is for me. For now I’ll just say it’s an interesting way of simplifying the process of establishing proportions. I’m thinking there may be other kinds of “Z” shapes one can use in other parts of the body. For example, there’s a Z if you trace the horizontal angle of the right collarbone, connect that to the vertical angle of the sternum down to the navel and from the navel to the edge of the left hip. This gives you an oblique “Z” that establishes the length of the torso and compares the width of the collarbones to the width of the hips, which are vital landmarks, as are other bony protuberances.

[@drfranke]

Great hack, David! Thank you!

[@amysbees6686]

Absolutely BRILLIANT!!!🎨

[@darranthompson8202]

Hi just came across your channel, and as a beginner, this is very useful I seen to draw a full on face when head turned😊😅.and your work is amazing. Take care. I've subscribed to your channel

[@FirstNameLastName000]

this is so useful thank you -- proportions are a huge struggle for me

[@KColleenStephenson]

Great tip, I am learning to oil paint and some of my lessons are with live models, this will be sooooo helpful!

[@reneantich7481]

Great tip! Thank you!

[@davidjonkassan]

Glad it was helpful!

[@jazmarz]

Great hack, and never get this in school but I will be using it now. Thanks for sharing this great tip.

[@davidjonkassan]

Glad it was helpful!

[@CaptainKirk1963]

Cool I like that.

[@keithr.4645]

Thank you so much!

[@Aatirmuhammad]

Thanks for the tip

[@hawkeye9382]

Thank you so much for sharing this with us!!

[@davidjonkassan]

Glad you found it helpful!

[@ouchg1892]

Ty

[@walterdagostino1348]

This is a great hack - certainly changes a lot of

[@bethduffus4598]

Great video. Your painting and drawings are beautiful.

[@davidjonkassan]

Thank you so much 😀

[@aliciamolloy5948]

Hi David thank you so much for this awesome lesson, really appreciate 🙏❤️

[@davidjonkassan]

Glad you liked it!

[@PamelaTitterington]

Thankyou so much for this advice it will really help to improve my work I will keep on checking in for more advice thankyou🎉

[@davidjonkassan]

Glad it was helpful!

[@rudbli3151]

Thank you very much for a very helpful work tip!

[@h.r.puffinstuff7099]

That portrait of Grace was amazing! 🤗

[@tammyhernandez3179]

I knew you meant Z it looks like a Z.Amazing work so much talent.

[@davidjonkassan]

It is a Z! Glad you liked the video!

[@leslieclipp9303]

wow…, just wow… thank you!!!!❤❤❤❤

[@davidjonkassan]

Thanks! I'm glad you found it helpful!

[@KeyArtGallery]

Fantastic 😍😍😍

[@brendajeannewyche]

This technique is very helpful. Thank you so much!❤️😊

[@RobinW-d5u]

Brilliant!👏🏻

[@SDW90808]

I shall try this. I’m practicing by using reference models from Earthsworld. I should be able to find some suitable subjects. Thanks. ❤

[@tperi9116]

cool tip thanks

[@watercolornewbies]

Very helpful. Thanks. I'm going to try this out

[@davidjonkassan]

Glad it was helpful!

[@timpalmerphoto]

Thank you David 😀🇬🇧

[@Mariana-ym6zf]

Pls help me understand what you mean by "underplane of the nose". It seems you go from tip of nose to a nostril and in another painting totally different... how should kne interpret it?

[@davidjonkassan]

The underplane of the nose is the shadow shape that falls underneath the nose.

[@ross1779]

👍

[@richardcarr9640]

gd answer..hope you try it at least once...cheers

[@helihobbit]

Really good tip thanks! I often use a triangle. It forms with the eyes and the tip of the nose. Looking needs more thoughtful effort than moving the pencil.

[@davidjonkassan]

Great tip!

[@karenb9517]

This is so helpful! Thanks so much!

[@davidjonkassan]

I'm glad you found it helpful!

[@PRINCEWISDOMARTTV]

This was amazing ❤ Thank you very much 🫡 More of things like this please

[@davidjonkassan]

Glad you liked it! I'll be sure to make more videos like this one.

[@pavelsokov]

Really cool tip David!

[@davidjonkassan]

thanks brother!

[@Bertrandism]

Oh wow, never thought about it! Thanks

[@davidjonkassan]

Glad it’s helpful!

[@annetteeverett8076]

How did I get to this age and not figure this out myself. Relying on just my eye - and I have a good eye - this is helpful and simple!

[@bodawei425]

Great tip! Will try it immediately. Subscribed.

[@dianecharest8365]

Thank you so much for sharing that.

[@ginajennings1664]

I’m so glad I found your video, I’m going to be binge watching when I get more time. I couldn’t hit the subscribe button fast enough.

[@davidjonkassan]

I appreciate you taking the time to watch!

[@janine9796]

Thank you this was really helpful

[@pintsizestories196]

Lately I've been trying more portraits. This is super helpful.

[@kasiako355]

Fantastic tip, thank you 🙏💖

[@hdub8093]

Good tip, although more accurately speaking, the underplane of the nose, Columella, runs from the tip of the nose to where it meets the frontal plane of the face above the Philtrum.. the bottom line of the Z is the boundary between the tip of the nose and the Columella

[@davidjonkassan]

Great specifics! Thanks for the add! I tend to think in abstracts in the beginning, basic shadow shapes.

[@ducksoff7236]

🙄

[@gaill7314]

Great advice idea..thanks!

[@davidjonkassan]

Glad it was helpful!

[@beverleydrew8069]

That is so helpful, thank you!🎉

[@deaconseptember2002]

This was very helpful....keep em coming!

[@DennisGranahan-e9h]

This helps, thank you.❤

[@kathleenclarke828]

thank you!

[@lecolintube]

Wonderful 🧡🕊️ So simple Thank you so much - subbed

[@kaygoski]

So good to know this thank you 😊

[@davidjonkassan]

You are so welcome!

[@sandywebsdale8247]

Thank you for such an informative video it has helped me a lot😀 Just subbed as well look forward to more🥰

[@fifthavenue8505]

I think you might actually be right! That is, correct! Thank you!