Concepts of scales and proportions: Sketching of human figures,  activities, natural and man-made elements.

✏️ Concepts of Scales and Proportions in Sketching

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Sketching is a fundamental tool for planners, architects, and designers to visualize spaces and communicate ideas. Two key principles govern effective sketching: scale and proportion. Without them, drawings lose their accuracy, realism, and communicative power.

1️⃣ Concept of Scale

Scale is the mathematical relationship between the real-world size of an object and its representation on paper or digital media.

  • Architectural/Planning Scale:
    • Large-scale (e.g., 1:100) → Detailed sketches of buildings, streetscapes.
    • Medium-scale (e.g., 1:1000) → Urban blocks, neighborhoods.
    • Small-scale (e.g., 1:10,000) → Entire cities, regional plans.
  • Human Scale: Relates built environments to human dimensions, ensuring comfort and usability.

📌 Example: A park sketch at 1:500 scale shows benches, pathways, and trees, while a city master plan uses 1:50,000 to highlight land-use zones.

2️⃣ Concept of Proportion

Proportion is the relative size of elements within a drawing or composition. Unlike scale (which is fixed), proportion ensures harmony and realism in how objects relate to one another.

  • Human Proportion:
    • Classical rule → An average adult is about 7–8 heads tall.
    • Body parts have ratios (arm span ≈ height, hand ≈ face length, etc.).
  • Object Proportion:
    • Buildings, trees, and vehicles should be sized relative to human figures for accuracy.
  • Contextual Proportion:
    • A lamppost must look taller than a person, but smaller than a building.
    • A bicycle should not appear larger than a car in the same sketch.

📌 Tip: Use reference grids or modules to maintain proportions consistently in quick sketches.

3️⃣ Sketching Human Figures & Activities

Planners often include people in sketches to show scale, liveliness, and usability of a space.

  • Standing Figures: Used as a height reference (average 1.6–1.8 m).
  • Sitting Figures: Depict benches, bus stops, outdoor seating.
  • Activity Sketches: Walking, cycling, children playing, vendors working—help illustrate how spaces function.
  • Silhouettes & Stick Figures: Quick, simplified human sketches are enough to convey movement and proportion.

4️⃣ Sketching Natural Elements

  • Trees: Represent scale of open spaces (small shrubs, medium trees, large canopy trees).
  • Water Bodies: Ripples, reflective shading, proportionate to surrounding context.
  • Topography: Hills, slopes, or natural barriers drawn in proportion to buildings and human figures.

5️⃣ Sketching Man-Made Elements

  • Street Furniture: Benches, lights, dustbins—scaled in relation to human use.
  • Vehicles: Cars, buses, bicycles—drawn in proportion to road width and pedestrian figures.
  • Buildings:
    • Door height (≈ 2 m) matches average human scale.
    • Windows, floors, and facades proportionally aligned with human activities.

6️⃣ Why Scale & Proportion Matter for Planners

  • ✅ Ensures realism in communication.
  • ✅ Helps stakeholders imagine the usability of proposed designs.
  • ✅ Provides a relatable human connection to space.
  • ✅ Avoids distortions that mislead design decisions.

🔑 In summary:

  • Scale = fixed ratio between real and drawing.
  • Proportion = harmonious relationship among parts.
    Together, they allow planners to sketch human figures, activities, and natural/man-made elements in a way that is accurate, relatable, and visually convincing.