Drawing a face can be quite challenging for numerous artists. Even a small variation in the proportions or the placement of facial features can result in a distorted portrait. Assuming you are a novice seeking to improve your skills or someone wishing to explore my perspective on this topic, I have prepared an elaborate 4-step guide on Drawing a Face or Portrait tailored for beginners and aspiring artists. Feel free to follow along and enhance
While many artists focus on creating portraits, have you ever observed that the drawing resembles the person but you can tell that something is off? The key factor here is the Proportions - they are crucial in achieving a life-like portrait. Therefore, let's begin by establishing a strong foundation.
Useful tools for this process: A Skull Model and Anatomy Pictures.
STEP 1: Get Basic Shape ready to draw a face.
To divide the circle into 4 quadrants, extend the vertical line to the length of the radius, creating 3 equal parts along this line.
Alternatively, begin with a rectangle and divide it into 3 parts horizontally and 2 parts vertically. Utilize the top 2 parts to outline the circle, shaping the head or cranial mass.
Add Jaw to your structure.
Determine the chin's length and then connect the ends to the circle as a tangent. Jaws come in different shapes (triangular, square, round) and sizes, so your choice will be based on your point of reference.
Cut Off the sides.
Vertically slice off the sides of your circle's diameter. Your skull is not a perfect circle, but rather cut from your sides.
STEP 2: Add Guidelines
Draw a triangle that will comprise all your facial features and help you with no spilling or exaggeration of the features.
Add quadrants to the sliced-off part adding perspective to your head and help you visualize how the planes fold around the head.
These sliced-off parts also give you a base for establishing your hair, brow and nose lines (as in the images below). Slicing the circle mostly helps in perspective drawing, while slicing off doesn't hold much importance in front facing portrait.
Draw a triangle encompassing all your facial features to prevent any distortion or exaggeration of features.
Introduce 4 sections to the removed area to add depth to your face and aid in understanding how the surfaces wrap around the head.
These sections also serve as a foundation for outlining your hair, eyebrows, and nose (as shown in the illustrations). Using sections in a circle is particularly useful for creating perspective, although it is less crucial in frontal portrait drawings.
STEP 3: Feature Placement
You are now free to begin sketching the characteristics according to these instructions:
The triangle's line serves as a reference point for determining the endpoint of the eye and eyebrows.
The length of brows may vary slightly based on the reference since we are all unique in our build.
Ear Placement = Always in the Lower Quadrant Away from the Head
See the placement of the ear here >>>>
Eye Socket = half of the distance between Brow and Nose lines
Lip Line = 1/3rd of the distance between Nose and Chin lines.
STEP 4: Length or Proportions of Features
Feature Measurements & other pointers to remember.
Eye width = Nose width
Distance between Eyes = Nose width
Lips Width = 2x nose width OR
= 2x eye width OR
= Lip line when touches feature triangles on both sides gives the
length of lips
For some, it could be fresh and thrilling information, while for others, it might be familiar. Therefore, give it a shot and assess if you have been committing any errors. It might not click immediately, but after the 3rd or 4th attempt, you will begin to appreciate the power of proportions.
Enjoy Drawing!
Recommended Book: Figure Drawing by Michael Hampton
Kommentare