Tips For Drawing The Human Face

Drawing a portrait or a complete human body might seem hard, but you know what they say: practice makes it perfect. Here are some useful tips that will help all the beginners realise how to properly draw the human face and realise their mistakes from their previous work. Get a pen and a piece of paper and get those fingers working today!

Observing and copying what you see might be the most useful technique you could practice if you want to master the face anatomy. Studying what lies beneath the thing we know as the FACE might help you with your further work. On the other hand, there are people who can perfectly copy what they see in front of them without even knowing the basic features of a human face.

Some artists prefer to draw from their imagination, and if you are one of them then you might need some time to practice and make your drawing look natural and human-like. So, let’s take a look at those tips that will make you the artist that you want to be.

Start with the basic geometry shapes

Everything you draw can be composed out of simplified shapes, so just to have a clue of what you are going to do and avoid unnecessary erasing do this as a first step. For an example, if we are looking at a human head face on, it can be depicted as a circular shape. Depending on a person or OC (original character) you are drawing this shape can be more oval like an egg or somewhat of an irregular circular shape – but you get the idea.

Some artist prefer to add two basic shapes when they are drawing a human face. Circle for the top part of the head and a shape similar to a triangle for the bottom part where the chin is located. So, once you know this, finish you basic sketch and let’s move on to the next tip.

Go for the proportions

Here is one great tip: If you have trouble placing eyes, ears, nose and lips on the face you are drawing all you need to keep in mind are these simple proportions. Part the head shape with a line horizontally and vertically. Place the eyes on the middle of both right and left half of the horizontal line. Next, part the lower half of the vertical line in 5 equal parts and place the lips and nose on the second and third line counting from your chin. Now you can start drawing the human face.

Face is not a plain surface

One must always keep in mind that a human face is not a plain surface. This means, that some parts are indented and others are convex, which is what defines the distinctive features of our faces. An artist should always think about these things which will help him achieve the illusion of depth on his drawing and make it look natural and convincing. Think of which parts of your face cast shadows to other parts and think of which parts get the most light. For example, upper lip tends to be slightly protruded compared to the lower lip, meaning that it will cast a little bit of shadow on the lower lip. The same goes for the brow ridge, eyes, cheek bones and your nose – all of these parts will likely cast some kind of a shadow on the parts of a human face located below them.

Draw face from different angles

Drawing a human face from different angles and in different lighting is crucial to mastering to draw any person’s face. One must get a sense of how a human head looks from many directions, which one can do by simply looking at the mirror.

Eyes are the soul

Take your time drawing the eyes, as they have so many details that can make your drawing look unnatural. Think of eyes like a sphere that they are, don’t just focus on the color, shape and proportions. Eye surface is highly moisturised, which means that any light source will be reflected in our eyes. Add little details that will show the shape of eyes, depth and even a reflection of something.

These are only some of the tips that can help you along your path as an artist. Apply them starting now and see the difference in your work. And don’t forget to practice and practice until you make it perfect.