Figures at 5, 10, 20 and 40 m

What to look at

All four heads are on the horizon: same height as the viewer, same floor.

Each doubling of distance halves the figure.

Feet mark the distance; heads never move. Draw the feet first.

What this scene is for

Four identical 1.75 m figures at 5, 10, 20 and 40 m. This is the reference to open when you are placing people in a drawing and want to know how big they should be, and it is the scene behind the site's figure height calculator.

The mistake it settles

Moving the heads. When everyone stands on the same ground and the camera is at standing height, every head lands on the horizon however far away the person is — only the feet move down the page. Drawing a distant figure with its head lower than a near one puts them on a hill.

The camera

Measured off this render

Taken from the same camera model the tool draws with, on the 1340 × 754 PNG above.

Draw it from these numbers

1. Rule the horizon across the sheet at 56% of the picture height — 422 px down on this 754 px render. Every other line in the scene is measured from it.
2. Two vanishing points on that line: 393 px from the left edge, and 5,459 px beyond the right edge — far enough out that you should match the grid angles instead of chasing it.
3. Set the scale from the 1.75 m figure at 5.1 m: 456 px tall, with 91% of it below the horizon. That share is the camera height divided by the object's height (1.6 ÷ 1.75 m), and it is the same for every object of that height anywhere in the picture.

Open the reference in the tool to move the camera, change the lens, or add your own objects at real sizes; the share link keeps your version. Draw over the PNG at 30–50% opacity in any app with layers.