Intro

Hi everyone, I’m Ginger, a manga artist.

Let’s say you’re creating a new oc: you know how to draw their face from a frontal view, but the profile is off. Let’s see how we can fix this!

These tips are applicable to every style, no matter the level of simplification. In fact, first you learn anatomy, and then you distort it in accord to your drawing style. I think this is the easiest way to go!

The thing is, if you can effectively draw a head ‘s front view, you already have the profile (and vice versa).

 

 

A bit of anatomy

In my opinion, the perfect way to understand how the profile of the skull works is to study lots of pictures of people with short hair, and to try and draw their skull underneath. This way, in a while you’ll see the small variations of proportions and also the common elements.

A 3D model can be useful too, since you can rotate it and regulate the light source for a better understanding of the planes of the head. It’s a wonderful tool and it will save your life if you’re going to publish a comic series with a strict schedule.

That said, let’s get to the drawing business!

You can make the world you’re drawing alive by populating it with people with different foreheads, noses, lips, ears, jaws etc.

Of course this part can be difficult for a beginner: if you’ve never drawn a head’s profile before, the 1:1:1 proportion between facial features is easier to remember. When you get bored, it means it’s time to move on!

These are just a few examples of what you can draw just by changing the proportions a bit. The profile doesn’t have to be the “boring view” in comparison to the more common front view and 3/4: you can make it fun and interesting to draw and to look at, and all you have to do is to put more natural shapes over the 1:1:1 “standard” face.

Think at the 1:1:1 proportion as a stepping stone to reach more compelling and personal results.

You can use it as a base to create human ocs and humanoid creatures alike.

 

 

Drawing the turnaround

I’ve put “turnaround” in the title even if I’m not gonna talk about the back view. The principle is the same, though.

If you already have a front view of the character you wanna draw, you can place the main facial features on the profile too, by using straight horizontal lines to get the proportions right. If you don’t like the idea of the straight lines and you’re working digitally (in Clip Studio, perhaps), you also can hide half of your character’s face with a clipping mask, then on a new layer draw the profile, tracing the right proportions over the front view.

Oi! If you don’t have a frontal view, but only a rough 3/4, don’t worry! The straight lines trick works the same! Just be sure to draw your oc in a neutral expression and with their mouth shut: this makes things easier. Once you’ve got this kind of reference of your oc, you can draw them with every possible expression: if you’re able to respect their facial proportions, they’re always gonna look like the same person from every camera angle.

 

 

Last tips

More dramatic expressions will need good references: ask someone to take a picture of your profile, then just trace directly over it to get a better idea of how to show the face’s volumes. For a better understanding of the skull as a whole, always have a front reference too.

Remember to give yourself time to get to know your oc’s face, and choose for them shapes that you LOVE to draw if you’re looking for a main character in your upcoming series: you’re going to draw that face a lot.

 

Thanks for reading my tutorial everyone, I’ve done my best to keep it nice and short!

Have fun!