Drawing a Face – Mapping Continued

In a previous article we discussed drawing a face step by step using the map approach to formatting the face.

Drawing Face

We learned that by drawing an egg-shaped oval on grid paper and drawing lines to sort of dissect the face, we can begin to create a proportionate model in which you can build upon to create a realistic drawing of your subject.

If you need to, refer to the article “Draw Faces Step by Step Made Easy” to brush up on using the map technique for drawing faces, because we are now going to take the drawing a step further with some tips on sketching in the eyes that will get you closer to your goal of drawing a face that matches your subject’s face – and that’s what we all want isn’t it?

Drawing a Face is Capturing the Essence of Your Subject

When drawing a face, we really want to do what we can to capture the depth and feeling conveyed in your subject’s eyes. More often than not the eyes give essence to your subject. If we can borrow the well-known phrase, “The eyes are the windows to the soul”, we have a good description of what we might want to portray about the person. Of course, this varies from artist to artist and you might have an entirely different creative slant on your subject. Perhaps their smile is one to light up the world and that is your focal point, or their dimples are the cutest ever…whatever it is, have fun with your drawing and use the map proportions to get all the features positioned correctly!

Drawing a Face – The Eyes

Using your facial map, we can begin drawing a face by getting the eye proportions correct, like the height, width and positioning of the eyes as they relate to the position of other features of the face. If we get the eyes right in a portrait, I think that we would all agree that we’ve come a long way to our end result of a lifelike portrait. Working with your map, follow these simple guidelines for drawing a front view of your subject:

• Position the eyes about halfway down the oval on your map.
• The distance between the eyes (over the bridge of the nose) should be similar to the width of one eye.
• The outer corner of each eye should line up with or be similar to the breadth (the rounded wings) of the nose.
• Line up the corners of the mouth with the center of the pupil of the eye.

Drawing a Face – Other Tips

You probably need a little more information to accomplish the last tip stated above regarding drawing a face and establishing the corners of the mouth. You can create a measurement for the width of the mouth by drawing a triangle over the nose, placing the points of the triangle at the center of the head and at both sides of the nose.

Although eye positions may vary slightly from person to person, these are all good guidelines from which to start when drawing a face.