Drawing the Head and Face: From Simple Volume to Features

Key takeaways

• Treat the head as a solid volume: a sphere for the cranium, with the face and jaw attached, not a flat oval.
• A centre line and a brow line, curved like longitude and latitude on a globe, show how the head is turned.
• Placement guides, such as eyes about halfway down the whole head, are rough and vary between people.
• Simplify the nose, mouth and ears into planes and masses; avoid outlined individual teeth.
• Children have proportionally larger craniums, so their eyes sit lower on the head.

How do you start drawing a head?

The head is easiest to draw when you treat it as a solid object in space rather than a flat arrangement of features. A common starting point is a sphere for the cranium, with a jaw and face attached below and in front. This construction is deliberately simple. It gives you a form that you can turn, tilt and light, and it keeps the features attached to a convincing three-dimensional surface.

A widely used method begins with a circle. Slice off a little from each side to represent the flat planes at the temples, then add a vertical centre line running down the middle of the face and a horizontal line around the middle of the circle for the brow. These two lines describe how the head is turned, in the same way that lines of latitude and longitude describe a globe. When the head turns, the centre line curves around the form, and when it tilts up or down, the brow line curves too.

Where do the features go on the head?

For an adult head seen from the front, many instructors suggest these approximate relationships. They vary from person to person, so use them as a first draft and adjust to your reference:

• The eyes sit near the vertical halfway point of the whole head, including the skull.
• The bottom of the nose lies roughly halfway between the eye line and the chin.
• The mouth line sits about one-third of the way from the nose to the chin.
• The width of the face at the eye line is often close to five eye-widths, with about one eye-width between the eyes.
• The ears span from about the brow line to the base of the nose, with variation.

Children have proportionally larger craniums and smaller lower faces, so the eyes appear lower on the head. Older faces may show different spacing as the soft tissue changes. Observe rather than assume.

What are the planes of the head?

Artists often simplify the head into a few large planes: the front of the forehead, the sides of the head, the plane of the cheeks, the underside of the brow, the front of the nose, and the underside of the chin. Imagining the head as a faceted shape rather than a smooth egg helps you understand how light divides the form. A plane that faces the light is brighter, one that turns away is darker, and the edge between them is the change that gives volume.

Think about the box-like shapes within the head. The eye sockets are hollows, the forehead leans back, and the cheekbones project forward and to the side. When drawing in profile, notice how far the forehead, nose, lips and chin sit relative to a vertical line.

The eyes

The eye is a ball set within a socket, with eyelids that wrap over the surface of the ball. Because of this, the upper lid casts a small shadow on the eyeball and the lower lid has thickness. Beginners often draw eyes as flat almond shapes. Try to think of the lids as curved bands around a sphere.

The iris is usually partly covered by the upper lid, and in a relaxed gaze the white of the eye often does not show above the iris. Eyebrows follow the curve of the brow bone and are a major part of expression. Keep the two eyes consistent with the tilt of the head: the line through both eyes should follow the same perspective as the brow line.

The nose

Simplify the nose as a wedge or a pyramid on the face, with a rounded ball at the tip and two smaller wings at the sides of the nostrils. Do not outline each nostril as a heavy black shape. Instead, indicate the planes: the bridge, the sides, the underside, and the shadow that sits beneath. The nose protrudes from the face, so its position changes dramatically in three-quarter and profile views.

The mouth

The mouth sits on the curved front of the teeth and jaw, so the line of the lips curves around the form. The line between the lips is the darkest and most important mark, and the upper lip is often in shadow because it faces slightly downward, while the lower lip usually catches more light. Avoid drawing individual teeth when the mouth is open. Instead, suggest the row as a single shape with soft edges, because separate outlined teeth look unnatural.

The ears

The ear is a funnel-shaped form attached to the side of the head, with a rim that curls around an inner hollow. Keep it simple: a curved outer rim, an inner fold that follows it, and a small lobe. Position it behind the line of the jaw hinge, and align it using the brow and nose-base rough guide mentioned earlier.

How do you draw a turning head?

When the head is in three-quarter view, the features on the far side become foreshortened and narrower, and the near-side features appear wider. Use the centre line and the eye line as a cross that wraps around the sphere. In profile, the centre line becomes the edge of the face. Practise rotating a simple head construction in steps from front to profile so that you understand each stage.

When the head tilts up, the features slide toward the top of the face, the eye line curves upward, and you see more of the underside of the chin and nose. When the head tilts down, the opposite happens.

Turning the head at a glance

Movement	What happens to the construction
Three-quarter view	Far-side features become foreshortened and narrower; near-side features look wider
Profile	The centre line becomes the edge of the face
Head tilts up	Features slide toward the top of the face, the eye line curves upward and more of the underside of the chin and nose shows
Head tilts down	The opposite happens

How do you draw hair and the neck?

Hair has volume. Draw it as a mass sitting on the skull that adds thickness beyond the cranium, not as lines stuck onto a bald scalp. Establish the hairline first, then the main shapes of the hair, then individual strands sparingly. The neck connects below and behind the jaw, and its angle matters: the head sits forward on the neck, so the back of the neck is usually longer than the front in profile.

A practice approach

• Draw a dozen simple head constructions turned in different directions before adding any features.
• Add the features lightly, and check them against the centre line and the eye line.
• Draw one feature repeatedly, such as eyes, from several angles.
• Study different ages and face shapes to avoid drawing the same face every time.

Faces vary enormously, and no formula will produce a likeness by itself. Use the guides to start, then look carefully at the person in front of you and record what is different. That observation is what makes a drawing a portrait rather than a template.

Frequently asked questions

Where do the eyes go on the head?

In a typical adult they sit about halfway down the whole head, which is lower than most beginners draw them. Children's eyes sit even lower because of the larger cranium.

Why do my faces look flat?

Often the features are drawn without an underlying volume. Start with a sphere and a centre line, and think of the features as sitting on the curved surface.

Should I draw every tooth?

Usually not. Suggest the teeth as one soft shape and let shading hint at separation, as outlined teeth tend to look unnatural.

How do I draw a head turned to three-quarter view?

Rotate the construction so the centre line and eye line curve around the sphere, then place the near-side features wider and the far-side features narrower.