When it comes to drawing faces, many people find it hard as they don’t fully understand human facial proportions. By proportion, we mean the relationship in size and placement between two objects.
Of course, many techniques exist that one can adapt to draw facial features perfectly. You will learn that in this post. Hence, follow with rapt attention.
How to Draw Face Step by Step For Beginners – From the Front
In this case, Loomis’ approach, which is more complex and accurate, will be our topic of discussion. The goal is to arrive at a perfect drawing of a face, so follow with undiluted attention.
Step 1 – Draw a Circle and a Cross
The first step is to draw a circle with two lines that intersect and connect in the center. Let the circle represent the top portion of the head, while the intersecting lines will help determine the locations of the facial features.
Step 2 – Produce a Square inside the Circle
Inside the circle, draw a square that touches the circle at each corner. Let the square represent the face edges. Here, the top line will become the bottom hairline while the bottom line will become the nose line, and the center line the brow line.
Step 3 – Draw the Chin
Take an accurate measurement of the distance from the center line to the bottom line with your pencil. To mark the location of the bottom of the chin, use this measurement right from the bottom line of the square. After, from each side of the square, draw the edges of the chin so they connect at your marked location.
Step 4 – Locate the Eyes
Since the basic structure of the shape of the face is in place, locate the eyes with the height of the head to better determine the correct location of the eyes on the face. In most cases, the eyes are found on a line in the center of the head.
The center line that we drew in step one represents the brow line. With this, we are aware the eyes would be below this line, in the center of the head. Here, we can then draw a line for the “eye line”.
Step 5 – Draw the Eyes
Now that the location of the eyes is determined, it is time to draw them. Prepare for another measurement like the width of the eyes, the width of the head, from ear to ear, which in most cases measures the same length of five “eyes”. In essence, we need to draw the eyes with accurate proportions so they match this approximate measurement.
Step 6 – Locate and Draw the Nose
The nose follows while moving down the face. The bottom line of the square that we drew in step two carries the bottom of the nose. Since the width of the nose varies for each individual, it is mostly as wide as the inside corners of the eyes.
To better find the width of the nose, draw the two light lines down from the inside corners of the eyes.
Step 7 – Locate and Draw the Mouth
Even though the mouth measurement isn’t the same for each individual, it is always slightly higher than halfway between the bottom of the nose and the chin. Hence, draw a line to mark the positioning of the mouth.
Since the eyes can easily help us determine the width of the mouth, and in most cases, the corners of the mouth align with the inside edges of the pupils, drawing light lines from the pupils to the “mouth line” will do the trick.
Step 8 – Draw the Ears
Drawing the ear follows. Here, the locations of the features of the face can help us determine the location of the ears. With the top of the ears generally aligning with the brow line, and the bottom of the ears with the nose line, so also know that the ears come out of the head and extend upward slightly. That is the ears will extend outward from the head, near the eye line.
Step 9 – Draw the Hairline
The hairline follows. To draw the hairline, know that someone with long hair that overlaps the forehead will mostly hide the hairline, but ensure you know its location. In most cases, the hairline is located on the top edge of the square drawn in step two.
Step 10 – Draw the Hair
Since the hairline is in place, drawing the hair is next. For shorter hairs, they slightly extend only off of the top of the head, while longer ones extend quite a bit. Anyway, In both cases, the hair extends out from the head and is not to be drawn directly on the head.
Step 11 – Add the Neck
Now the floating head needs a neck. In most cases, beginners make the neck too narrow. However, according to norms, the neck should extend down from the bottom of the ears. When female necks are slightly more slender, males’ own are broader. Hence, simply extend two lines down from the bottom of the ears to draw the neck.
Conclusion
Note that when drawing a portrait, no one size fits all. Likely, there’s always a slight proportional difference from one person to the next. But with the techniques in this lesson, you should better understand the locations of the features of the face. However, in case we prefer our portrait drawings to look similar to the person, then relying on observation to capture all the nuances will do the job.
Since you have fully acquired enough information on how to draw a face and the locations of these necessary facial features, drawing anyone you want should be a piece of cake. However, remember that knowledge only constitutes one part of it. As the popular quote says “Practice makes permanent” so also you need constant practice to achieve constant progressive results with your drawings from time to time. Therefore, we wish you the best of luck on your artistry journey.
