Today you will practice drawing faces. Artists learn how to draw people by observing carefully. Faces, noses, eyes, lips and ears can be very different. Artists look for these differences.
Faces are also alike in many ways. The straight lines in the picture above are guidelines for drawing the front view of a face. Sometimes artists use these guidelines. These guidelines help you draw:
-
shape of the whole face
-
eyes
-
top and bottom of the nose and ears
-
lips
-
forehead and hairline
Watch this video to learn how to draw the front view.
CLICK HERE IF YOU CAN’T SEE THE VIDEO.
A side view of a face is called a profile. Sometimes artists draw guidelines before they draw a profile of a face. These guidelines help you draw:
-
shape of the whole face
-
eyes
-
top and bottom of the nose and ears
-
lips
-
forehead and hairline
Begin drawing with very light lines. Draw all the main parts of the face first. Then change the lines so your drawing is a portrait. A portrait is artwork that looks like a real person.
Albrecht Dürer. Constructed Head of a Man in Profile, ca. 1512–13. Pen and brown ink and dark brown wash (244 x 188 mm). Purchased by Pierpont Morgan, 1910; I, 257b. The Morgan Library and Museum. New York.
This profile drawing was created by Albrecht Dürer. He was a famous artist who lived in Germany. He drew this profile using guidelines.
Draw a front view and a profile view of a face by following the steps below.
-
Fold your paper and use the folds as guidelines. (steps 1-4)
-
Draw an oval shape for the outline of your head
-
Add neck and shoulders
-
Add all the details of the face
-
ERASE all the pencil lines.
