How to draw feet from the front: the width, the ankle and the toes

It's tempting to draw a foot from the front as a leg that ends in a flat paddle with five equal toes in a straight row. The standing foot measured here is drawn differently. It spreads out more on one side than the other, its two ankle bumps sit at different heights, the big toe is as wide as two of the others, and the tops of the toes step down toward the little toe. This guide measures one bare standing foot from hands and feet, volume 1, seen straight from the front. The same foot from the inside, the outside, the back and in between is in how to draw feet at different angles, its two side views are measured in how to draw feet from the side, its back in how to draw feet from the back, and the turn halfway to the side in how to draw feet in three-quarter view.

Everything is measured against the foot itself. The main unit is the foot's width across the toes, which we call a foot-width. The leg's width, the toes and the ground line do the rest.

How wide the foot spreads

Across the toes, the foot is a little more than one and a half times as wide as the leg just above the ankle. It doesn't spread evenly. Past the edges of the leg, it sticks out about three times as far on the little-toe side as on the big-toe side. The big-toe side runs almost straight down from the leg; the little-toe side fans out.

So a line straight down the middle of the leg doesn't land in the middle of the foot. It lands on the second toe, on the half nearest the big toe. Use it as a check when you draw this foot.

The foot is widest across the toes, a little above the ground.

The ankle

The ankle shows a bump on each side. They aren't level:

• The inner bump, on the big-toe side, sits a little less than one foot-width above the ground.
• The outer bump, on the little-toe side, sits lower, by about a tenth of a foot-width.

The bumps make the ankle a little wider than the leg above it. Under them the outline comes back in, almost to the leg's width, before the foot spreads out into the toes. Drawn from the top down, the outline goes: leg, bumps, a short narrowing, then the fan of the foot.

The toes

The toes take up only the bottom of the drawing. From the ground, they reach up about a third of a foot-width.

• The big toe is about as wide as the next two toes together, nearly a third of the foot's width. Its front is about as tall as it is wide, and its lower edge sits a little below the others'.
• The small toes each come out a little narrower than the one before it. The little toe is about two thirds as wide as the second. Each small toe is taller than it is wide: the second and third about one and two thirds times, the fourth about one and a half, the little toe about one and a quarter.

The tops of the toes step down from the big toe to the little toe, each a little lower than the one beside it, and the steps grow toward the little toe. The little toe's top sits a little under half the big toe's height below the big toe's top. Draw that slanted line first and fit the toes under it.

From the front, each toe is a rounded face. In this drawing the big toenail sits a little above the middle of its face, and the smaller nails a little below the middle of theirs. The nail takes up about two thirds of the big toe's width, and less on each smaller toe, about half on the little toe.

How to draw feet from the front, step by step

1. Draw the leg as two lines coming down, and mark where it is narrowest above the ankle.
2. Draw the ground line and mark one foot-width on it, a little more than one and a half leg widths, with most of the extra on the little-toe side.
3. Add the ankle bumps, the inner one a little less than a foot-width above the ground and the outer one a little lower.
4. Bring the outline in under the bumps, then let it spread out toward the toes: almost straight down on the big-toe side, fanning out on the little-toe side, and round it off along the ground.
5. Drop a line down the middle of the leg. Where it meets the toes is the second toe.
6. Draw the slanted line of the toe tops, about a third of a foot-width above the ground at the big toe, stepping lower toward the little toe.
7. Fit the toes under it: the big toe as wide as the next two together, the small toes each a little narrower than the last.
8. Add the nails, the big one a little above the middle of its toe and the small ones a little below, about two thirds of the toe's width on the big toe and less on the smaller ones. Finish with the darker lines down the shin, across the ankle and onto the toes, then the light lines inside the leg and foot.

Common mistakes

• Spreading the foot evenly on both sides of the leg. Here it spreads about three times as far on the little-toe side.
• Putting the ankle bumps level. The inner bump sits higher than the outer one.
• Drawing five toes of the same size. The big toe is as wide as the next two together, and the others get narrower toward the little toe.
• Lining up the toe tops in a straight, level row. They step down toward the little toe.
• Making the toes too tall. From the front, they reach only about a third of a foot-width up from the ground.

What this does and does not cover

This is one drawing of one standing foot, seen from the front. Other feet have other proportions, so take the numbers as a description of this drawing. The leg is cut off above the ankle, so its width is taken where the drawn leg is narrowest; measured from higher up the leg, the spread toward the little-toe side comes out larger still. The outer ankle bump's peak is a short flat stretch of outline, and its middle is used. The toe bottoms are the lower edges of the toes' fronts, which sit above the foot's outline on the ground. The big toe's top and its inner edge are drawn as light lines, so those two reads are a little less certain than the rest. From the front, the length of the foot and of each toe can't be seen, so they aren't measured here. Feet in shoes, on tiptoe, seen from above or from below aren't covered either.

A short exercise

Look at one bare foot straight from the front, with your eye about level with the ankle: a phone propped up in front of the foot, its lens at ankle height, works. Check where a line down the middle of your shin lands on your toes, and which ankle bump sits higher. Draw the foot from the front: leg, bumps, the narrowing under them, then the foot spreading more on the little-toe side. Then draw the slanted line of the toe tops and fit the toes under it. Does your big toe come out as wide as the next two together?

The foot in this guide is the standing foot from hands and feet, volume 1, drawn at sixteen angles, 22.5 degrees apart, with an open hand and both of Lincoln's hands from Leonard Volk's casts. The same foot at other angles is in how to draw feet at different angles, and the fingers of the open hand are measured in how to draw fingers. For the same way of measuring applied to the head, start with how to draw the head at any angle.