Hello everyone, I'm V21e, welcome to this new article. I'll be talking about how to draw a face from different angles... Of course, with an explanation of how to adapt it to your style!

 

I'll cover everything from simple angles like the front view to more difficult ones like high-angle shots or low-angle shots. I'll discuss some useful tools available in Clip Studio Paint to draw your character from any angle you want. Let's get started!

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1. Artistic Style and Considerations

Drawing is a representation and/or reproduction of reality. As a representation, drawing is subject to deformation and therefore serves as a mode of expression. Artistic style is the way an artist handles the elements of drawing: volume, form, perspective, colors, line, light and shadow, etc.

 

According to Scott McCloud in his book "Understanding Comics" (1993), he uses the following diagram to describe artistic styles.

 

●Realism (Left). This style strictly adheres to reality and clear rules in every sense: proportion, depth, anatomy—all these matrices are perfectly replicated based on reality itself.

●Simplification and Iconicity (Right). This involves highlighting essential characteristics to create an iconic and recognizable drawing. Its rules are generally based on psychology and appeal to human instinct.

●Abstraction (Top). This is the most artistic style. Every artist has a degree of abstraction. The more artistic whims an artist has to express themselves better, the more rules of realistic drawing and iconic associations they break! Its purest state is "no rules" or the pure expression of the artist. That's why it's not surprising that abstract art is so strange.

 

Why do I mention all this? I consider it important to clarify that this article will be truly useful for those who use a style referencing realistic perspective. It doesn't matter if you alter colors, if it's cartoony, manga/anime, or semi-realistic; as long as its volume can be represented in a three-dimensional space, this tutorial is for you!

For anyone who uses an artistic style that doesn't fully respect realistic perspective... I suggest you write your own rules as you follow this tutorial. I believe you have more to create than I can teach.

2. Canon of Human Proportion

The canon of human proportion is an ideal for how to represent a human being.

 

For beginners, the human proportion canon usually taught is the realistic one. Illustrator Andrew Loomis clearly documented realistic proportion canons in his book "Figure Drawing; For All It's Worth" (in English). It features specific proportions for men and women of various ages.

 

The important thing about canons is knowing how to accurately place the elements of a face, both from the front and in profile.

 

Here is an example of realistic proportion in an adult male:

●The eyes are at the halfway point of the face.

●The ears are the same size as the distance between the eyebrows and the tip of the nose.

●The corners of the lips align with the middle of the eye.

●The nose is positioned halfway between the eyebrows and the chin.

 

As mentioned above, proportion can be altered to bring expressive and unique ways of representing the human face.

 

Some famous canons of proportion include the “fashion figurine” (present in fashion design, 9-10 heads); the “heroic” proportion (present in American comics, 8-8½ heads); or even the Chibi proportion (a cute way of representing a character popularized by manga/anime, where the character's head size varies but is close to the size of their body, most commonly between 2-4 heads).

 

We could elaborate more on the topic... but what drawing style do you use? How do you draw your character? What unique characteristics do they have? How do they look from the side and from the front? If you don't have an answer to these questions, it's necessary to first create a character sheet.

 

A character sheet contains the most essential elements of a character: colors, proportion, peculiar characteristics, and some drawings showing how they look from other angles.

 

For this article, it will only be necessary for you to know how to handle your character's proportions from both the side and the front.

In the next section, I will give some tips and tricks using Clip Studio Paint tools for anyone who wants to create a character sheet. If you're already familiar with the topic, I recommend skipping to the Perspective section.

 

 

3. Tips for Character Sheets

In this section, I will talk about some Clip Studio Paint tools that can speed up the drawing process for a character sheet. I'll cover symmetry rulers, the grid, and many other variations like 3D models. I will attach other articles to provide you with new tools.

3.1 Symmetry Rulers

Clip Studio Paint's symmetry ruler allows you to create symmetrical drawings with little effort. You can customize the number of symmetry points to draw characters facing front, or even mandalas! It saves a lot of time and effort when working.

This tool can be found in the [Tools] section, under the [Ruler] icon.

In the rulers section, many types of rulers will appear. The last one on the list in the [Sub tool [Ruler]] is the Symmetrical Ruler.

 

With this tool selected, simply drag the ruler to draw it on the canvas.

To have a ruler at a 90° angle, I suggest holding down the [Shift] key while drawing the ruler. This tool can be used for drawing both horizontally and vertically.

 

With these steps, you can draw symmetrically!

 

If you no longer want the symmetrical ruler applied to your drawing, go to the [Command Bar] and deselect [Snap to special ruler]. The [Command Bar] is located by default above the canvas display.

To reactivate it, simply enable [Snap to special ruler].

 

If you want your ruler to apply to all layers and not just the active layer, go to the layer with your active ruler, then go to [Layer Window] → [Set ruler display area] → [Show on all layers].

You can hide the ruler by deselecting all options in the pop-up window.

 

If you want to delete a specific ruler, go to the tool palette and select the [Operation] tool. Then, in the Sub tool bar, select the [Object] tool.

Then select the ruler to be deleted. The controllers will appear, meaning you have successfully selected it. Right-click → [Delete]

To delete all rulers, select the ruler icon on your active layer, then Right-click → [Delete Ruler]

If you want to know more about the symmetry ruler, I suggest reading the following article. User LizStaley also has more articles on different rulers and their uses in Clip Studio Paint. I highly recommend them!

3.2 Grid

To ensure our character maintains consistent proportions from both the front and side views, it will be necessary to use a special ruler and the grid. In this section, we will talk about the grid.

The grid is a very useful tool for quickly checking if a character looks proportionate or not.

This can be activated by selecting [View] → [Grid].

To deactivate it, simply repeat the previous steps.

 

If you want a larger or smaller grid, go to [View] → [Ruler/Grid settings]

 

A pop-up window will appear where you can change the number of divisions shown in the grid. Adjust it according to your needs.

3.3 Special Rulers

Special rulers allow us to draw multiple lines in the same direction. The rulers can be adjusted to create curves, circles, zigzags, anything! In this case, we want to generate horizontal parallel lines to check if our character is proportionate.

To access these special rulers, go to the tool bar, select the [Ruler] tool. In the sub tools section, select the [Special ruler] tool.

Go to the [Tool Property [Special ruler]] window and in the [Special ruler] section, select [Parallel ruler]. This icon is usually located above the Clip Studio Paint color wheel.

With this done, we can add our special ruler to start working.

Hold down [Shift] and draw a horizontal straight line. This way we ensure it has a 0° angle.

 

 

To delete a ruler, it's done in the same way as a symmetry ruler. Go to the tool palette and select the [Operation] tool. Then, in the Sub tool bar, select the [Object] tool. Select the ruler to delete, right-click and select [Delete]. (For a more illustrative guide, go to the symmetry ruler section)

 

I focused on making sure the most important elements of my character aligned: the eyebrows, the nose, the base of the eyes, the hairline, etc. This ensures that our character has a plausible volume when drawing them from different angles.

 

If you want to know more about special rulers, I suggest you read the following article.

3.4 3D Models

3D models serve as a quick and simple base for drawing your character. They are also a strong learning foundation for drawing characters at difficult angles, saving time and effort.

To access 3D models, go to [Material Palette] → [3D] → [Body type]. Both male and female models will appear.

 

Select the 3D model you want to use and drag it to your canvas. The 3D model will appear automatically.

You can easily manipulate the 3D model with the [Object] tool. To access the [Object] tool, go to the tool palette and select the [Operation] tool. Then, in the Sub tool bar, select the [Object] tool.

If the 3D model is selected, you can see 2 menus and a skeleton controller.

Menu "a" is for manually moving camera angles (1) and for moving the orientation and position of the entire 3D model (2). Menu "b" is for customizing the 3D model, from poses to light orientation.

This is the basic handling of a 3D model's camera angle.

If you want to move the character's camera with a few clicks, in menu "b" of our 3D model, go to [Specify camera angle from preset].

A small menu will appear with many preset positions that can be applied to your 3D model. For a basic character sheet, you only need its frontal and lateral spatial orientation.

 

If you want to delve deeper into handling 3D models or have any questions, you can consult the following tutorial or go to section "5. References" of this article.

4. Perspective

Perspective is the perception of depth in drawing. It is a property of drawing, just like light, shadow, volume, shapes, colors, etc.

 

When we think about using perspective, most people probably think of vanishing points, rulers, and methods to maintain the proportionality of objects on a plane.

 

On the internet, perspective is usually taught using the plane and vanishing points (1, 2, 3, 4, 5...) as it's the most realistic approach.

 

This method is not the only one that allows for perceiving depth. It can also be achieved through object superposition, color differences, environmental gradient, size differences, blur, etc.

 

The important thing is knowing how to create a plausible three-dimensional volume perception, even if it's not strictly correct. The following drawing is an example.

The hand, height, shoes, and background are exaggerated/disproportionate to represent the deformation due to the objects' proximity to the camera. This type of strategy is usually used in manga and comics. It's an artistic mode of expression.

 

Another abstract characteristic in the drawing is that my intention was to draw the character in a top-down perspective, while the background perspective is a fish-eye view. This is with the intention of showing the city in the background and not just the ground of the scene.

 

By combining both elements in the scene with the deformation elements in perspective, it fulfills its narrative function: a scene where the character blocks a light while the entire city can be appreciated in the background.

 

If you are interested in consulting books on the subject, I recommend "Perspective. Volume 1 and 2. Technique and Visual Storytelling" by Marcos Mateu-Mestre and the book "How to Draw: Drawing and Sketching Objects and Environments from Your Imagination" by Scott Robertson; Tomas Bertling.

 

If you want to go deeper into the topic, architecture and technical drawing books are quite useful... although honestly, not much knowledge is required for this tutorial [laughs]

 

If you want to facilitate the use of perspective rulers for drawing, I suggest the following tutorials by user Nadia.

 

4.1 Plane and Shape Simplification

Once we know how to represent simple three-dimensional objects on a plane, we can begin to draw more complex objects, such as a face.

 

It's complicated to draw a highly detailed face from different angles from imagination.

This is why we use simple geometric shapes as support before proceeding to more complex steps. The most common geometric figure used as a base is the circle, and then it is supported by others such as pyramids, cylinders, rectangles, and cubes, depending on the part of the head you want to portray.

 

The reference lines that divide our circles or squares usually coincide with the height of the eyebrows and nose (left) or the height of the eyes and ear (right). This is another reason why simplified three-dimensional figures are used as reference, as they facilitate facial mapping.

 

This initial mapping allows us to add our own stylistic traits. A greater distance between reference points, for example, can be characteristic of an artist's style or even an entire genre of drawing. Have you noticed the difference in jaws or eyes that generally exists between comic style and manga style? These differences can start in facial mapping. The technique of using geometric references as a base encompasses all drawing styles, not just a specific one: to understand an object, the first step is to understand its simplest geometric shapes!

Now the question is: What are the most relevant traits of your characters? I invite you to identify what characterizes them and add simplified object strokes that are comfortable and functional for you to locate their unique qualities in the limited geometric space you are designating as a “mold”.

 

Below I show you how I think about spatial perception using simplified shapes.

 

In my particular case, I use guide lines and spheres in the draft to determine the orientation of the face. A specific stylistic trait of mine is that I define the location of the nose with a circle.

 

While defining the face, I imagine the triangular volume of the nose, the indentation of the eyes, the prominence of the eyebrows. The lips and ears take a secondary priority in my drawing style.

 

To finish, I add details until I am satisfied with the result, always ensuring the drawing is proportionate and presentable.

 

With the use of simplified shapes, you can draw anything!

 

If you have doubts about how to simplify a character into shapes, I suggest you look for character sheet references. The highest quality ones are found in both Eastern and Western animation industries. Try to see examples of what you aspire to draw. Observe what you like and think about how you could integrate it into your drawings.

 

Speaking of references... we're going to need a lot [laughs]

 

5. References

To draw something, it's almost always necessary to consult references. By not doing so, we subject ourselves to our personal conception of the object, full of errors. Have you noticed how painters need models to create their beautiful portraits and paintings? If professionals like them need references, so do we!

Photos, 3D models, dolls, references from other artists, sketches, other drawings... all of it is necessary to learn!

 

References are not equivalent to plagiarism or artistic theft. There is a fundamental difference between the two: while plagiarism is only morally wrong when used for profit, the use of references is not only not immoral, but also necessary. Everyone at some point needs to learn to draw, everyone at some point needs inspiration, everyone at some point needs to immerse themselves in a style, in an artistic method to pursue a goal in their own career.

 

Apart from 3D models: What purpose can they have other than being a free-to-use tool for artists? Mangakas have always used mannequins and wooden dolls for references on proportion, foreshortening, and anatomy. Condemning plagiarism is fine as long as it's not consented to and used for profit, but denying an artist the use of references is depriving them of growth and work in their field.

 

 

That said, Clip Studio Paint has an integrated library of 3D models. In its repertoire, we can find everything from basic figures (such as spheres and cubes) to more complex figures (like 3D human bodies). All these models are customizable according to our needs.

 

I won't go into detail about the use and customization of 3D models in this tutorial... it would be too long an article. However, here on Clip Studio Paint TIPS, there are plenty of articles to learn how to use them. The articles I personally suggest are the following:

 

The Clip Studio Paint ASSETS community has a vast amount of 3D models with different characteristics. I highly recommend using them!

 

Some of my recommendations are the following:

 

This head is called "Azaro's Head" (Azaro's Head in English). You can find it on the internet if you don't have Clippy coins, but this version by user bramsels is optimized and easy to use for Clip Studio Paint.

The Clip Studio Paint ASSETS library is not limited to human anatomy models; it also features 3D anthropomorphic animal heads, animal parts like horns, and fantastic ears like those of elves. Have fun checking out the community's contributions!

 

A final 3D tool I consider necessary to mention is the perspective grid. It has been very useful for casually drawing characters in perspective; it's my favorite among the mentioned tools.

 

For photos, you can search for references on Pinterest and Google... Or take them yourself with your phone!

 

For those who want to consult books, "The Form of the Head and Neck" by Uldin Zarins can be quite useful specifically on how to draw the face.

 

For general anatomy, "Anatomy for Sculptors, Understanding the Human Figure" by Uldis Zarins, Sandis Kondrats and "Strength Training Anatomy" by Frédéric Delavier are my favorites. The latter book is about how to get in shape [Laughs] but the quality of the illustrations and correct naming of muscles make it suitable for use as an anatomical drawing reference.

 

I've given some ideas here, but the fundamental question to answer is: What do you want to learn? and find references that help you solve the answer.

6. Types of Angles

There are different planes and angles for drawing a character:

Angles:

1. Overhead

2. High-angle

3. Frontal

4. Low-angle

5. Under-shot

6. Dorsal Low-angle

7. Dorsal

8. Dorsal High-angle

 

Frontal angles are the most important, so I will focus on them in depth. Dorsal and rear angles, however, will receive a general tutorial with their respective observations.

 

The face orientations I will explore are front view, 3/4 view, and side view.

Planes are narrative camera frames. They are frequently used in animation and comic/manga production. This is not a topic I will discuss in this article. You can consult about narrative planes and angles in my article "Photographic Composition in your Drawings."

6.1 Frontal Angle

It is characterized by a horizontal camera angle.

Since we already have the character's front and side views, in this section I will focus exclusively on the ¾ angle.

 

I recommend creating a new document with the character's front and side views and, between both drawings, leave enough space to draw your characters' faces in 3/4 view. Using the special parallel line ruler, create guide lines for the character's relevant features: eyebrows, eye base, hairline, etc.

 

Once the most important features are located, we can start working.

 

First, let's focus on the eyes. In a 3/4 view, the eyes look different from each other. The more hidden eye appears smaller compared to the one in front. This is due to the spherical shape of the eyes and their position in perspective within the face. The orientation of the eyes determines where the eyelid is directed. The eyelid appears more open where the iris of the eyes is located.

 

Depending on the degree of rotation you draw on your character, the nose may cover part of the eyes, keep that in mind!

Let's continue with the nose. The simple geometric figure that makes up the nose is generally pyramidal. In a 3/4 view, one of the nostrils appears partially or completely hidden from sight.

To know when a nostril will be partially or completely hidden, you can deduce it by observing the position of the cheekbones and cheeks.

 

If the cheekbones prevent the eyes from being at the edge of the less visible side of the face, the less prominent nostril will be partially covered.

 

If the less visible eye is touching the edge of the face, the less visible nostril will be completely hidden.

Regarding the lips, their basic geometric shape consists of cylinders or ovals, one on top of the other. The mouth is somewhat curved, so in the 3/4 position, one lip is often partially or completely hidden.

I instinctively place the corners of the lips where they will look prettiest [laughs]. However, you can locate them by following the orange lines in this drawing: from the sides of the chin towards the eyes, you can find a guide for the corners of the mouth.

6.2 High-Angle Shot

It is a view from above with an approximate 45-degree inclination.

The simplest geometric shape of a face from this angle is a cylinder. In a high-angle shot, the eyebrows, eyes, and lips follow the cylindrical tendency of the face. Due to perspective, these areas appear deformed, making our character seem to be smiling or annoyed, even if they have a neutral expression.

The most important details regarding the high-angle shot are the following:

 

●The indentation of the eyes and the prominence of the eyebrows reduce the distance between the eyebrows and the eyes.

●Nostrils will never be visible from a high-angle shot.

●Ears appear further from the face or above eyebrow level.

●The forehead appears larger than the chin.

 

All these characteristics affect the frontal, 3/4, and side positions of the face.

 

Drawing a face from the front in this perspective is simple compared to the 3/4 and side views. It's similar to drawing in a frontal angle.

 

High-angle gazes are very engaging. When a character looks up, it makes them appear with an intense and even aggressive look (even with a neutral expression), while a downward gaze at this angle can look solemn and even angelic.

 

Remember this detail: the upper eyelid always covers the top part of the iris, regardless of where the gaze is directed. For this very reason, if our character looks up, the lower eyelid will not touch the pupils. The only cases where the iris is not covered are when the character has an expression of terror or surprise on their face, and even in these cases, it depends on the style used.

 

The 3/4 position can be challenging in this perspective. The volume of the brow bone, the spherical shape of the eyes, the cheekbones, lips, and nose are the main facial features in this perspective. I consider the most challenging parts to portray to be the eyes, especially the one that is more hidden. When representing it in a drawing, one must consider the elements that cover it (the brow bone, the nose, etc.) and its correct alignment in perspective with the other eye. Its drawing and position are counter-intuitive.

 

I suggest you first draw your character with your existing knowledge of perspective, without references. The idea is to draw until you finish the drawing or give up, whichever comes first [laughs]. For this section, I drew my character twice without reference. The first time was a failure; the second time I was more methodical. The second drawing is the image below.

 

This exercise will allow you to self-evaluate your artistic abilities and clarify what you are interested in learning. Did you struggle with the lips because your character looked sad or had a strange grimace? Search for information on lips and lip anatomy. Did you find it difficult to represent the size of the eyes? Search for information on eye anatomy and how they appear in a 3/4 high-angle perspective.

 

With these resolutions, I suggest you make a new drawing. This time, use all the references you found useful and also 3D models.

As a final exercise, put your two drawings in a document and observe their differences. What do you like about your two drawings? What improvements have you noticed? What would you like to improve?

 

My answer to those questions would be the following:

 

"I liked the three-dimensional representation of the most visible eye in my first drawing; it has a lot of personality. With the use of the 3D model, it was easier for me to evaluate the spatial position of the eyes, and it also allowed me to have a greater volumetric perception of the character. I would like to improve the eyes and the position of the more hidden eyebrow; they are difficult to represent."

 

The side view of the face in a high-angle perspective is simple. It's similar to drawing the face in a frontal angle. The lips are barely visible, and the nose and eyebrows take on greater prominence.

6.3 Low-Angle Shot

It is a view from below with an approximate 45-degree inclination.

In a low-angle shot, the eyebrows, eyes, and lips follow the cylindrical tendency of the face. Due to perspective, these areas appear deformed, making our character seem sad or relaxed, even if they have a neutral expression.

The most important details regarding the low-angle shot are the following:

 

●The indentation of the eyes and the prominence of the eyebrows increase the distance between the eyebrows and the eyes.

●Nostrils will always be visible from a low-angle shot.

●Ears appear too low on the face, as if they were on the neck, at the same height as the mouth level.

●The chin appears larger than the forehead.

 

All these characteristics affect the frontal, 3/4, and side positions of the face.

Low-angle gazes are powerful. When a character looks up, it makes them appear with an intense or pleading look, while a downward gaze at this angle can look powerful and even arrogant (even with a neutral expression).

In the 3/4 position, it is very likely that the nose will partially or completely cover the more hidden eye of the face. The sharper the viewing angle, the more the eye is covered by the nose and the lower part of the cheekbones.

 

I suggest you look for jaw and nose references in this perspective, as small details can change the character's physiognomy.

To learn how to draw the side position, I suggest using a 3D model that only covers the face. Usually, the shoulders or arms of the 3D model cover the character's jaw.

6.4 Overhead Angle

It is characterized by a vertical angle focusing downwards.

Only the top part of the character's head is shown.

A small variation in angle can slightly show the eyes, part of the cheekbones, and even the shape of the mouth. How to draw this variation can be easily explained with the fundamentals of the high-angle shot. There's not much to say [laughs].

I omit the explanation for drawing the face in side and 3/4 positions because in all overhead angle positions, the face would look the same. The position would only be rotated. If the angle varies, the drawing principle would be more similar to the high-angle shot, just more exaggerated.

6.5 Under-Shot Angle

It is characterized by a completely vertical angle focusing upwards.

The lower part of the character's head is shown. Usually, only the nose and jaw are visible. It's a difficult position to see.

An angle variation allows for observing more facial details. The nature of this variation could be easily explained with the fundamentals of the low-angle shot.

I omit the explanation for drawing the face in side and 3/4 positions because in all under-shot angle positions, the face would look the same. The position would only be rotated. If the angle varies, the drawing principle would be more similar to the low-angle shot, just more exaggerated.

6.6 Dorsal Angles

These angles are characterized by a back view.

In this section, I will cover the dorsal angle, dorsal high-angle, and dorsal low-angle.

 

Of the 3 angles mentioned, only the dorsal angle and dorsal high-angle are the most common to see in comics. The dorsal low-angle of a face is naturally hidden by the character's body.

In a dorsal angle, the most relevant position is 3/4. In this position, the face can show facial features (nose, mouth, eyes, eyebrows) or only highlight the prominence of the eyebrows, cheekbones, and chin.

 

One detail to consider is the following: when the face shows facial features, the front part of the ears will be visible. When the face does not show facial features, the back part of the ears will be visible.

In a dorsal high-angle shot, the most relevant position is 3/4. Important facial features in this position are the cheekbones, cheeks, and the prominence of the eyebrows. Drawing the eyes or nose largely depends on the angle. For these occasions, I suggest consulting references.

7.0 Acknowledgments and Farewell

Thank you very much for reading this tutorial, I had a lot of fun writing it. If you like my work and want to see more of my content, I'll leave links to my social media.

It was a pleasure and an honor to have somehow facilitated this training in your artistic journey.

 

That's all from me. Thank you!