How to Draw a Face

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How to Draw a FaceFRONT VIEW

Leonardo Da Vinci Leonardo once

wrote, “Know the proportions in human beings and other animals and learn the forms of all things on the earth. The more you know, the better you will paint.”

Leo’s Notebook

Leonardo was constantly taking notes about the world around him. He filled many notebooks with sketches of animals, people, and nature.

He took many measurements and was always trying to find a perfect balance so that his art had proportion.

Another Drawing from Leo’s Notebook:

What is Proportion? Simply…

Proportion means that you make the parts fit well with each other.

More Specifically… Proportion in art is the relationship between two

or more elements. When we talk about proportion in art works we

are using comparing the size of one object in the artwork to the size of another related object in the artwork. You can also compare: height, width and depth of the objects size of one area to the size of another area amount of space between two or more elements

Proportion is usually not even noticed until something is out of proportion. For example, if a person has a head larger than their entire body, then we would say that they were out of proportion.

Good Proportion

Out of Proportion

Other works with excellent Proportion:

The Self-Portrait:

Here’s a drawing Leonardo drew of himself as an old man.

A picture that an artist

makes of him/herself is called a self-portrait.

Face Mapping

Face Mapping is a technique used to set up the proportion of the features on a face.

By drawing lines that act as guides, you can figure out where parts go and how large they should be.

This will help make your face look more realistic.

With some practice, maybe you’ll be the next Leonardo da Vinci!

Let’s Begin…

Draw an Oval in the center of your paper

Using a ruler, split the oval in half horizontally and

vertically

Make sure to draw lightly. These lines will get erased.

These are called lines of symmetry because your face is symmetrical. This means that the features on your right are the same as your features on the left. The top and bottom are a different story.

Draw a line between the midline and the top of the

oval.

Draw a line between the midline and bottom of the oval

Draw a line between the bottom line and the chin

Each of these lines represents where something on your face will be drawn. Watch carefully as each section is revealed.

Hair Line

Middle of the eyes

Bottom of the nose

Bottom of the bottom lip

•Eyes•What shape are eyes?

Drawing your Self-Portrait:

•Parts of the eye

Drawing your Self-Portrait:

Iris = Colored part of your eyeEyeball = White part of your eye

Pupil = Black part of your eye, located in the center of your iris, allows light into your eye so you can see

Tear Duct = Little pink bump where your tears come out

DRAWING THE EYES

Did you know that the eyes are actually located in the center of the head, contrary to popular belief?

You could also fit five eyes in the width of your head.

Don’t forget to draw your eyebrows right above your eyes!Your eyebrows are more than thin lines. Make sure to take the extra time to draw the hairs. Which direction do they grow?

See what I mean?

•Eyes•Looking at your eyes in a mirror draw your iris, pupil, eyelid, and any other lines or qualities that make your eye unique.

Drawing your Self-Portrait:

• Iris• Colored Part• Circle• Usually hidden on the top

or bottom by the eyelid

•Pupil • Black• Circle • Center of Iris

HOW DO WE DRAW A NOSE?

Drawing the Nose

Notice the placement of the

nose. The bottom of the

nose rests on the third line down

Drawing the lips•Draw your top and bottom lips to create your mouth.•Think of your upper lip as two small circles side by side.•Think of your bottom lip as one bigger oval. How do the lip

muscles look? Think about how they

function together and why it is the shape

that it is.

Drawing the Mouth

Notice that the bottom

of the bottom lip

touches the bottom line.

Also notice that the mouth stretches from the middle of one eye to the middle of the other eye.

Drawing the EarsNotice that the

ears stretch from the

middle of the eyes to the

bottom of the nose

Drawing the HairNotice that the hairline starts

at the top green line

Drawing the NeckNotice that the neck stretches from ear to ear.

Some neck widths will vary depending on

the person

Finishing UpErase all of

your mapping lines.

You can now add extra details like

strands of hair, eye lashes or any other

unique marks.

Make sure that your chin and jaw lines don’t remain a perfect oval. “Flesh out” the chin by looking at your own as an example.

You can also use value to make facial features appear three dimensional