Marquardt Facial Mask

Dr. Stephen Marquardt has spend many years analysing beauty and has developed a facial mask — simply a grid for facial structure — which he believes is the ideal human proportion that has been wired into our genetic code.

Matthew Innis has looked at this and tested the grid on a number of photos and paintings of “beautiful” people.  The grid does work pretty well, but on the same hand, it doesn’t always agree with our cultural ideals (such as Brad Pitt).

Despite any controversy, what I like about the grid is that it has use in painting figures.  It helps to simplify proportions and to look at the human face as a collection of planes.  It’s also very similar to the facial grid that Andrew Loomis developed, which you can find in many of his books.

Matthew Innis post on Marquardt’s mask >>>