Chapter 2 | A FACE STEP-BY-STEP

Online and in drawing books you can find dozens of examples of how to draw a schematic face. Nobody has a schematic face but a diagram is useful as a guide. The first tip is often that the eyes are about halfway up the head, as can be seen from the white lines in the photo. Often the part above the eyes (forehead and skull) is drawn too small. This is most likely because the lower part with the eyes, nose and mouth attracts more of our attention.

In the following schematic face the eyebrows, nose and mouth have been added. The proportions/different heights are indicated next to it.

Exercise: Try to draw such a schematic face step by step.

Step 1: draw an egg shape with the eyes halfway. For the eyes the upper eyelid and the partly hidden iris are sufficient. Between the eyes fits about the width of an eye
Step 2: draw the arches for the eyebrows
Step 3: draw the bottom of the nose, halfway between the eyebrows and the chin.
Step 4: halfway between the bottom of the nose and the chin, draw the line under the lower lip (the hollow where shadows usually fall, as can be seen in the photo above) Step 5: slightly above that, draw the line between the upper and lower lip.

Also in the following example of someone with glasses the proportions are indicated next to it. The round glasses nicely indicate the location of the eye sockets, crowned by the eyebrows. The eyebrows are essential for the facial expression. I always draw the neck and a bit of the shoulders, also because the position of the head is essential (see previous chapter).

You might like to add some color to a schematically drawn face. The hair, no matter how short, is always slightly wider than the head.