Face Sketches

Two face sketches. One quick and loose, the other careful and controlled.

1. Start with a circle.

2. This triangle shows where the back of the ear and eye will be.

3. A slender neck.

4. Neck muscles and chest.

5. Shoulder area.

6. I sketch roughly where I want the eye and ear.

7. Now I'm ready to start drawing the details. I draw in the eye.

8. Here is a close up view.

9. The brow is almost a scribble.

10. I draw the forehead nose and mouth. This is where I slow down and take care to get it right.

11. Chin and sweep under to the neck.

12. I draw in the neck.

13. The ear which I sketch in as areas of tone.

14. The back of the head is defined.

15. Clothing.

16. I define the short sleeve.

17. I draw the front of the subject's clothing and begin to sketch hair curling into the neck.

18. More work on the sleeve.

19. I finish off the wrinkles in the sleeve and then draw in the girl's ponytail and scrunchie.

20. Now I add the final details to the hair.

21. I shade the eye to give it some life.

22. A final flurry of tone adding weight to the face sketch.

---

Face Sketches No 2

This is a quick way of drawing faces using a fineliner pen on photcopier paper.

1. I start with the eyes specifically the lid.

2. I sketch the iris and lower part of the eye. Then the other eye which is different because the face is at a three quarters angle. I sketch the brows.

3. I draw the nose.

4. The mouth is the hardest part but with enough practice you can get it right and learn to sketch people quickly. Note the wrinkle to the left and the beginning of the lower face. I also loosely indicate the philtrum beneath the nose.

5. I draw the cheek and jaw then move up to the forehead. A few dashes help to get the shape of the skull.

6. I draw the hair and ear. The clothing is last. The few lines indicate a shirt and collar.

Share your artwork. Hit the following link and scroll to the bottom of the page to upload your sketches of faces.

Return to drawing people from face sketches.

Home