Tips on drawing faces! ผ(•̀_•́ผ)

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C9Y

C9Y

Used flat pen (Default brush in Marker)

Many beginners and artists (myself included) struggle with drawing faces.

In this post, I will talk about how I draw faces in two angles (front & 3/4) with (my limited understanding of) anatomical structures.

 

Hope you will find this useful. :3

 

1. Front:

1.1. Base

The first step is drawing the base, the general shape of the head.

After that, you will add some lines to show the locations of the eyes, nose and mouth.

: ^ )

 

I used felt pen (default brush in Marker).

Back then, I mindlessly followed the drawing tutorials and drew the lines on the face without using them porperly. Which means, I just draw the lines for the sake the tutorials.

So, I want to show you how those lines function (for me).

1. The first line is for the eyebrows AND is parallel to the top of the ears.

2. Between the first and second line, it should be where the eyes are.

3. The third line is near the bottom of the nose AND is parallel to the bottom of the ears.

4. Pay attention to the connection between the head and the neck. It plays an important role when drawing side profile. ^^

Please noted that those lines will change in different angle/ when the head moves.

 

1.2. Add detail to the base

In this step, you will give more detail to the base.

 

1.3. Draw a face

With the more detailed base, you can draw the face. (aka the lineart)

To make the lineart look better, you can keep the light source in mind.

The light source of the example below is from the right, thus,

I only drew the left side of the nose bridge and the philtrum (the thing above the upper lip).

1.4. Let's use what we've learnt!

... Yeah, what I drew is a human head indeed. But it's not good and looks a bit off too.

Why?

Because it is 'dead'. It has no emotion and basically is like a mannequin.

So let me draw my oc to show you how you can use the mannequin to draw your desired characters.

You may notice I didn't follow the mannequin exactly.

Like the mouth & the chin are off.

And I didn't draw the philtrum also.

Why? Because I wanna give my oc a younger look and I drew her face smaller than the mannequin's.

 

The point that I'm trying to make is:

Once you understand the principles behind the drawing rules, you can break them.

The mannequin is just a reference after all. ^^

1.5. Shading

When I'm done with the lineart, let me check the proportion of the face.

Hmmm, it looks decent to me. Everything is in the right place.

 

Note that when you smile, the cheeck will become a more curved surface than when you don't.

And this is what I call 'think in 3D'.

It helps a lot, like A LOT, when shading. (As shading is bascially turn a 2d object to 3d)

I used a flat brush (default brush in Marker) to shade it.

Again, think about the light source.

You can draw a little arrow to remind yourself. ^^

 

Andddd, think about the reflected light.

Since skin is a reflective material, some light will bounce back.

But don't go overboard as skin is not super reflective.

Unlike metal, which is super reflective. (So when drawing metal, you can go overboard).

2. 3/4 Angle:

I will do all those steps again but for 3/4 angle profile.

2.1. Base

2.2. Add detail to the base

Just bear this with me lol.

NEVER GIVE UPPP!

Trust the processssssssss!

Trust yourself!!

2.3. Draw a face

2.4. Let's use what we've learnt!

To make your character more 'alive',

you can exaggerate some facial features. :D

2.5. Shading

For me, there can be two light sources, but one of them is stronger.

 

Name of this doodle:

Get caught waking at 3am to shove a bag of chip down your throat.

3. Self-checking time~

Sometimes you may draw without the mannequin.

But then you start to really like your doodle.

Don't worry,

you can always check the proportion of the face!

 

Here is a doodle I did. Hmm, it looks fine to me. But still, let's check.

Oh god. There're multiple mistakes I can notice...

Then I fixed the eyes and liquified the face to make it smaller.

Hmmm, it looks better than before (to me, at least).

 

And that's how I check my art. ^^

4. Thank you for reading and byee~~

Hope it helps and feel free to ask me questions.

Have a lovely dayyy~~ ヾ(≧▽≦*)

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