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Description
This compares two ways of using the box to construct the head and face. They give similar results, and the principles are the same. As you can see, the midpoints of the boxes line up on the brow-line. The eye lines also line up from one to the other. This is because although the boxes are sized differently and aligned with different anatomical landmarks, they are attuned to the same overall proportion of the heads according to the rule of thirds.

On the top right I explored the relation of the front of the head with respect to side. Rule of thumb is that the head is twice as wide in profile as in front view. This is accurate only if one measures from the widest points of the zygomatic processes (cheekbones and arches) on the front view to compare with the side view measured from tip of nose to the occiput- or a vertical line dropped from it. Otherwise, the width of the head in profile is considerably less than twice that of the front view.

Personally, I like the simpler model of two parts that encompasses the skul and adds the jaw. The other model divides the lower portion of the head arbitrarily from under the nose. Both have advantages. The advantage of the three-part model is more precision. The two-part model enables speed (both to construct and to check). And, as explained, the real power of the box is in turning heads in angular and oblique perspectives. Before that, however, one needs to use it to construct the head and check its proportions in parallel views from the front and side.

You say, "why bother? I can draw." To which I answer, when you're hot your hot, and when you're not, you're not. It's the darndest thing that the ability to draw comes and goes, so we can't rely on inspiration all the time. There has to be a fallback, a method, a relatively mechanical method, that compensates for bad days. When it comes to heads, this is it. Just don't confuse the different methods. The box is the same - the way it's used differs from one method to another.

For more on the box, see www.deviantart.com/sol-caninus…

Description
This compares two ways of using the box to construct the head and face. They give similar results, and the principles are the same. As you can see, the midpoints of the boxes line up on the brow-line. The eye lines also line up from one to the other. This is because although the boxes are sized differently and aligned with different anatomical landmarks, they are attuned to the same overall proportion of the heads according to the rule of thirds.

On the top right I explored the relation of the front of the head with respect to side. Rule of thumb is that the head is twice as wide in profile as in front view. This is accurate only if one measures from the widest points of the zygomatic processes (cheekbones and arches) on the front view to compare with the side view measured from tip of nose to the occiput- or a vertical line dropped from it. Otherwise, the width of the head in profile is considerably less than twice that of the front view.

Personally, I like the simpler model of two parts that encompasses the skul and adds the jaw. The other model divides the lower portion of the head arbitrarily from under the nose. Both have advantages. The advantage of the three-part model is more precision. The two-part model enables speed (both to construct and to check). And, as explained, the real power of the box is in turning heads in angular and oblique perspectives. Before that, however, one needs to use it to construct the head and check its proportions in parallel views from the front and side.

You say, "why bother? I can draw." To which I answer, when you're hot your hot, and when you're not, you're not. It's the darndest thing that the ability to draw comes and goes, so we can't rely on inspiration all the time. There has to be a fallback, a method, a relatively mechanical method, that compensates for bad days. When it comes to heads, this is it. Just don't confuse the different methods. The box is the same - the way it's used differs from one method to another.

For more on the box, see www.deviantart.com/sol-caninus…