tutorial:

Face Drawing

an easy guide to drawing a face

Face drawing seems really difficult, this is because we are generally only seeing the finished product. However, face drawing is not that difficult when you know how to use guidelines that help you to draw the facial features correctly.  In this tutorial, we will be looking at how to draw face proportions using a few guidelines to help us accurately make a face drawing.

necessary materials

Learning how to draw faces requires very simple materials. These include: Pencil Ballpoint pen Eraser Sharpener Good paper (200 g/m – 250 g/m recommended)

a step-by-step guide to face drawing

step 1: drawing the  head shape

Draw a circle on the page. From there we can draw a vertical line down the center of the circle, this will help us to create symmetry in our face drawing.

STEP 2: DRAWING THE GUIDE LINES

The next thing we will do is draw the guidelines that define where each feature of the face will be drawn. Each of these lines will help us to place the different features of the face.

step 3: sketching the eyes

Looking at your reference, try to begin with the inner corners of the eyes. The inner corners of the eyes should connect to the second horizontal line from the top.

STEP 4: sketching the nose

The placement of the nose begins on the center horizontal line. The bottom of the nose should remain above the middle horizontal line. You can use the vertical line to help place your nose.

step 5: sketching the mouth

We draw the mouth in the bottom gap between the two last horizontal lines. 

STEP 6: sketching the eyebrows

The aim is to create a seamless symmetrical shape that moves up along the sides of the nose into the forehead and flows into the eyebrows.

step 7: the facial structure

Once you have a grasp of the facial structure you can add some light shading with your pencils. We want to give structure to cheekbones, the nose, and bone structures.

STEP 8: shading for a realistic face

A good suggestion is to use a ballpoint pen because the ink comes out sparingly, giving you more control over dispensing the ink. Using a pen gives your work a clean and sharper quality.

tips to remember

Take your time. Work light. The little adjustments matter. Use your eraser. Compare features in scale. Use a reference image to guide you. Have fun!