beginning portraiture

PortraitureDrawing the Human Face, Step-by-Step!

Beginner’s Tutorial

by Emily Valenza

Check out 500 Years of Portraiture in Western Art

1. Draw an Egg Shape.

The narrow end will be the chin.

The wide end will be the top of the head.

2. Draw a dotted line vertically and horizontally through the center of the face.

These lines should be drawn very lightly with a 2H pencil. They will be erased when you finish your drawing.

3. Lightly draw an imaginary eye where your dotted lines intersect.

Your eyes are an eye-width apart. This “imaginary eye” helps to measure the distance between your eyes.

4. Draw an eye on both sides of the imaginary center eye.

The eyelids curve around your eyeballs to create an almond, oval, or football shaped opening!

Don’t forget to add irises and pupils.

5. Make a mark on the center vertical line that is an eye-length from the middle of the face, and draw three small circles.

These circles will be the tip of your nose and your two nostrils.

6. Darken the bottom edge of the circles and add a bridge to your nose.

You can make this shape rounder, pointier, wider, or more elongated depending on the type of nose you’re drawing.

7. Draw vertical dotted lines from the pupil of each eye.

This will help you draw your mouth in the correct place.

8. Draw a line that traces the shape your lips make when they meet in the middle between the dotted vertical lines.

Each set of lips makes a unique line, look here:

9. Draw the shape of your bottom lip.

Is it thin, thick, wide, or narrow?

10. Draw the shape of your top lip.

Is it angular, smooth, full or thin?

11. Draw an eyebrow over each eye. Observe your eyebrows carefully to see what shape they are!

Pay attention to the direction the hairs grow.

12. Draw horizontal lines that extend from the eyebrows to the bottom of the nose.

These lines will help you place the ears.

13. Draw the ears in the spaces made by the dotted lines.

Look closely at the ears to add the inner folds and details.

14. Draw two swooping lines, beginning wider than the mouth,for the neck and shoulders.

(There should be enough space on each shoulder to fit one head-width!)

15. Add a shape for the outline of your hair.

Pay close attention to the shape your hair makes on your forehead!

Use wavy or curvy outlines to show hair texture!

16. Erase all the lines you don’t want, and add details like:

● shading & textures● clothing● hair accessories● hats● jewelry● birthmarks● freckles● scars

These rules are helpful, but the most important skill you can practice is observation:

● Look carefully in the mirror or at your model. Note the exact shape of the face, eyes, nose, lips and ears.

● What is unique about the person that you see? Glasses? Braces? An awesome hairstyle?

● Make sure to add these details to achieve a likeness.

Find the unique details in the face you’re drawing!

There are infinite ways to draw each part of the face!

Examine the next few slides to see a few ways to draw each facial feature.