One Art Trick I Learned In College That I Dont Think I See Being Talked About Online That Often: Measure

one art trick i learned in college that i dont think i see being talked about online that often: measure things out using your pencil & fingers

like bring up your pencil as a straight edge to figure out the angle of certain things- if this is IRL hold it up to line up to where the objects angle is, if its on your screen line it up to the screen like this

and, this way you can also figure out relative distances

for instance here, the distance between dafoe's eyebrow and hairline here (on that line) is the same as the distance between his chin and the collar of his shirt at a different angle. by using a straight~ish "line" of an object like a pencil or your finger, it's easier to have a visual reference to track how far apart these things are.

you can also multiply these or use halves to a similar effect- for instance, dafoes shoulder here is 2 1/2 of his forehead, approximately

this way- when you're doing a study or using a reference, you can check to see if these relative distances are the same in your own drawing. this way, you can really maximize your studies and make sure you're art is relatively proportionally accurate to your reference image.