Using the head to measure the male upper torso

Instructional Video: Artist John shows how he roughs out a drawing of the male upper torso of figure model Dave using the head as a measuring guide. 

(Partial transcript, edited for length and public consumption) 

I'm just going to draw a straight line down to just establish his stance. I'm kind of building his, his body up with forms and shapes.

So, I'm just looking at him with my pencil and I'm going back to my drawing and I'm kind of matching the, that angle of his pose. It's a fairly simple pose.

You kind of use your pencil as a little guide, you kind of establish his, the height of his head. And we're gonna use that as a unit to build on, to draw his body.

So, I'm looking at his head using my pencil to make a little mark with my finger on the pencil and just keep your arm locked in one position as you look at his body.

His chest is about one head high, which is about here.

That's where his pecs end, and the rest of his abdomen starts.

His (upper) abdomen comes down from the base of his pecs to his navel.

The (lower abdomen) is from the base of his right rib down is another head height.

We're just establishing little markers, little markers to kind of help guide our drawing going forward.

(In summary), I'm just making landmarks here. My first unit of reference is his head height, then you have his chest is about one head. The space from the base of his pecs to his navel is about another head height, the space on his navel to the (bottom of his lower abdomen) is about another head height.

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