How to draw a face

Faces feel hard because we are experts at looking at them — we notice the smallest mistake. The good news is that almost every “wrong” face is wrong in the same way: the eyes are too high.

This tutorial uses guide lines to place every feature, so you are measuring rather than guessing.

Step-by-step: how to draw a face

1. 

   1Oval and guide lines

   Draw an egg-shaped oval, narrower at the chin. Add a vertical line down the middle and a horizontal line exactly halfway down — the eye line. Add two short lines below for the nose and mouth.

2. 

   2Head shape and ears

   Draw the head outline over the oval, tapering to the chin. Add an ear on each side between the eye line and the nose line.

3. 

   3Eyes and eyebrows

   Draw two almond-shaped eyes on the eye line, one eye-width apart. Add the irises and a gently arched eyebrow above each eye.

4. 

   4Nose and mouth

   Draw the nose as a simple line ending in a small curve at the nose line. Draw the mouth on the mouth line, a little wider than the nose.

5. 

   5Hair and neck

   Draw the hair as a shape sitting on top of the head, going above the skull line — hair has volume. Add two lines for the neck. Erase the guides.

6. 

   6Colour it

   Fill the skin, hair and lips. Leave the whites of the eyes white.

Tips for a better face

• Eyes halfway down. Measure it — it always looks too low until you see the result.
• One eye between the eyes. The gap between the eyes is about one eye-width.
• Ears line up with the eyes and nose. Their top sits at the eye line, their bottom at the nose line.

Try a variation

Change the expression with just the eyebrows and mouth: raise the brows for surprise, angle them down for anger. Try a side profile once the front view feels comfortable.

More things to draw

Level up

• Basic shading
• Colour theory for beginners
• Drawing ideas
• Easy things to draw