HOW TO DRAW

HOW TO DRAW A HUMAN FACE

Steps to Drawing a Face Using a Simple Approach

Using this simpler approach, the first step is to draw a circle to represent the cranium. Next, a line can be drawn to determine the length of the face (Step 1). For most faces, this line should be approximately double the length of the original circle. Next, lines are drawn from the bottom of that line to the edges of the circle creating the of the face (Step 2). From here, we can locate the positions of the facial features.

Generalized Locations of Facial Features

The "eye" line is in the middle of the face. (Your eyes aren't way up on your forehead, so resist the temptation to put them there.) A line is drawn to represent the eye line (Step 3).

The "nose" line is found in the middle of the "eye" line and the bottom of the chin. When it comes to facial proportion, most noses will end at this line (Step 3). However, there are exceptions to every rule. Some people have really long noses and some have really short ones.

The mouth line is found approximately one-third of the way down in between the nose line and the bottom of the chin. A line is loosely drawn for its location (Step 3).

Next, we'll concentrate on the eyes. To find the overall width of the eyes, draw five oval shapes across the eye line. Most faces are about "five eyes" wide. Obviously, people only have two eyes. The "five eyes" just help to determine the width of the eyes (Step 4).

Once we know the width of the eyes are accurate, we can draw them in the proper location (Step 5).

Now, we'll determine the width of the nose. For most people, the width of the nose will align with the inside corners of the eyes. We can simply draw two lines down from the inside corners of the eyes to the nose line to find the relative width of the nose (Step 6).

Once we know the width of the nose, we can draw it in place (Step 7).

Now, we can figure the width of the mouth. This measurement varies from person to person, but for most folks, the width of the mouth aligns with the inside portions of the iris or the pupil. So, we'll simply draw a line straight down from this location to the mouth line to find the corners of the mouth. We'll draw a line here to indicate where the upper lip meets the bottom lip (Step 8).

Then we can draw the upper and lower lips, knowing that the mouth is in the right spot (Step 9).

Now for the ears. We'll extend the eye line out to determine the location where the top portion of the ears meet the head. They extend upward a bit and line up with the brow line. The bottom of the ears conveniently align with the nose line (Step 10).

Once we have the ears in place, we can add the eye brows. We'll use the tops of the ears to make comparisons. For most people, the brow line aligns with the tops of the ears (Step 11).

Before addressing the hair, we'll add a neck. The neck extends down from the bottom of the ears. For females, this lines extends inward a bit - resulting in a smaller neck. For males, this line still comes in a bit, but to a lesser degree. It's nearly straight down from the bottom of the ears (Step 12).

The shape of the hair is added next. In most cases, the hair extends off from the top of the cranium and may overlap portions of the forehead (Step 13).

Lastly, shading is added to develop the illusion of form (Step 14).

Here's a quick review of the general locations of the facial features...

The eyes are found in the middle of the headThe corners of the inside of the eyes generally line up with the edges of the nose.The "mouth" line is about one-third below the "nose" line and the bottom of the chin. This line represents where the top lip meets the bottom lip.The inside portions of the pupils or the iris generally line up with the corners of the mouth.The ears are usually found between the "eye" line and the "nose" line, but extend up to the brow line.