The portrait conveys not only external characteristics faces, but also reflects inner world a person, his attitude to reality and emotional state at a certain point in time. In fact, a portrait is like any other conversation piece, is the arrangement of lines, shapes and colors on canvas or paper so that their final combination repeats the shape human face.

Sounds almost like magic? In order to correctly place those same lines, shapes and shades on paper, you must first study the proportions of a person’s face (when drawing a portrait they must be observed) and their dependence on movements, direction and shape of the head.

What is a portrait?

Regardless of skill level, working on it is intimidating for any artist. The remarkable painter John Singer Sargent gave the portrait two characteristics that every artist would agree with:

1. “Every time I paint a portrait, especially a commissioned one, I lose a friend.”
2. “A portrait is a painting in which the lips end up looking somehow wrong.”

Portrait is one of the most difficult genres of drawing and painting. The reason is that the artist often works to order, and pressure from outside interferes with creative process. The portrait as envisioned by the customer often differs from what the artist creates. In addition, working on the image of a human face requires special knowledge and a fair amount of patience.

Why study proportions

Proportions are needed in order to understand how objects are located relative to each other in size, plane and intermediate relationships. If even a small amount of realism is important for a portrait, this cannot be achieved without knowing the proportions. On the other side, abstract portraits no one canceled.

Knowing proportions helps convey not only facial features, but also human emotions and facial expressions. Knowing the change dependency appearance From the position of the head, the emotional state of the model and lighting, the artist can transfer the character and mood of a person onto the canvas, thereby creating an object of art. But for this you need to know correct proportions faces and be able to build a composition in accordance with the rules.

Ideal proportions

During High Renaissance Raphael created paintings that were considered the standard of perfection. In fact, all of today's ideal proportions originate from the oval faces of Raphael's Madonnas.

If you draw a vertical line in the very center of the face and divide it into three parts - from the hairline to the eyebrows, from the eyebrows to the tip of the nose and from the tip of the nose to the chin, then in an ideal face these parts will be equal. The figure below shows the ideal proportions of a person’s face, a diagram for drawing and constructing an ideal oval face, as well as the relationship between the main features. It is worth considering that the ideal male face characterized by more angular features, but despite this, their basic location corresponds to the presented diagram.

Based on this diagram, the ideal facial proportions when drawing a portrait correspond to the following formula:

1. BC = CE = EF.
2. AD = DF.
3. OR = KL = PK.

Face shape

Correctly constructed proportions of a person’s face when drawing a portrait depend largely on the shape of that face. Raphael created a perfect oval, and nature does not limit perfection to just one geometric shape.

It is probably most convenient to study the construction of proportions and their changes during movement on a perfectly oval face; for this there are many ways and techniques that will be discussed below, but the essence of a portrait is not in creating an ideal, but in depicting a person with all his features and imperfections. That is why it is important to know what the shape of a face can be and how it affects the construction of proportions when drawing portraits.

Rounded face shapes

Long face has rounded hairline and chin shapes. The vertical midline of the face is much longer than the horizontal one. A characteristic of long faces is usually high forehead and a large distance between the upper lip and the base of the nose. Typically, the width of the forehead is approximately equal to the width of the cheekbones.

Oval face similar in shape to an egg turned upside down. Its widest part is the cheekbones, followed by a slightly less wide forehead and a relatively narrow jaw. The length of an oval face is slightly greater than its width.

Round face characterized by almost equal midlines of the vertical and horizontal sections of the face. Wide cheekbones are smoothed by a smooth, rounded jawline.

Angular face shapes

Rectangular face characterized by a wide jaw, emphasized by an angular chin and a straight hairline. The midline of the vertical section is much longer than the horizontal one. The width of the forehead of a person with a rectangular face is approximately equal to the width of the cheekbones.

Triangular It differs from the heart-shaped one only in the hair growth line; in the triangular one it is straight. Characteristic This face shape has high cheekbones and a very narrow, sharp chin, while the cheekbones are almost as wide as the forehead. The vertical section line of a triangular face is usually slightly longer than the horizontal one.

Square shape typical for faces with low, wide cheekbones and an angular chin. The length of a square face is equal to its width.

Trapezoid defined by a wide jaw, low cheekbones and a narrow forehead. Usually on such a face the chin is angular and wide, and the cheekbones are much wider than the forehead.

Diamond shape The face is given a proportionally narrow forehead and chin, the latter usually pointed. High cheekbones are the widest part of a diamond-shaped face, and its horizontal section is much smaller than its vertical section.

Correct facial structure

Correct construction when drawing a portrait is based on measuring the model’s facial features and the distance between them. Each portrait is individual, just as no two faces are absolutely identical, with the exception of twins. Formulas for calculating proportions provide only basic advice, following which you can make the drawing process much easier.

For creating own characters or drawing faces from memory, it is extremely important to know the correct representation of proportions. It is important to remember here that the shape of the head is much more complex than an inverted egg or an oval, and therefore it is worth following rules to avoid eyes on the forehead or a mouth that is too small.

Face outline

First, draw a circle - this will be the wide part of the skull. As you know, the main facial features take place under the circle. To roughly determine their location, we divide the circle in half vertically and continue the line down so that the lower outline of the circle divides it exactly in half. The bottom of the line will be the chin. From the sides of the circle to the “chin” you need to draw lines that will become the preliminary outlines of the cheekbones and cheeks.

If the portrait is drawn from the model’s face or from memory, then you can use a few light lines to correct the shape, determine the approximate width of the chin and hairline. It is worth noting that the hair in the portrait will occupy some part of the circle that was drawn at the very beginning.

Eyes and eyebrows

At the base of the circle we draw horizontal line, perpendicular to the first. The eyes are located on this line. Exactly on it, not higher, no matter how much you would like! The horizontal line must be divided into five equal parts - each of them is equal to the width of the eye. The central part may be slightly wider. The eyes are located on the sides of it. To further calculate the proportions, it is best to indicate where the pupils will be located.

To determine how high above the eyes your eyebrows should be, you need to divide the circle into four equal parts, from bottom to top. The eyebrows will be located along a horizontal line passing directly above the eyes.

Nose and lips

The vertical line of the lower part of the face should be divided in half. Mark the middle where the base of the nose should be. The width of the nose can be easily determined by drawing parallel lines down from the inner corners of the eyes.

The remaining part - from the nose to the chin - must be divided in half again. The midline coincides with the line of the mouth, that is, the upper lip is located directly above it, and the lower lip is located below it. The width of the mouth can be calculated by drawing parallel lines down from the middle of the pupils. The width of the chin is usually equal to the width of the nose.

Constructing the proportions of the human face described above is a simplified method and is suitable for ideal faces, of which there are not many in nature.

A portrait conveys not only the external characteristics of a person, but also reflects the inner world of a person, his attitude to reality and emotional state at a certain point in time. In fact, a portrait, like any other genre painting, is an arrangement of lines, shapes and colors on canvas or paper so that their final combination follows the shape of the human face.

Sounds almost like magic? In order to correctly place those same lines, shapes and shades on paper, you must first study the proportions of a person’s face (when drawing a portrait they must be observed) and their dependence on movements, direction and shape of the head.

What is a portrait?

Regardless of skill level, working on it is intimidating for any artist. The remarkable painter John Singer Sargent gave the portrait two characteristics that every artist would agree with:

1. “Every time I paint a portrait, especially a commissioned one, I lose a friend.”
2. “A portrait is a painting in which the lips end up looking somehow wrong.”

Portrait is one of the most difficult genres of drawing and painting. The reason is that the artist often works to order, and pressure from others interferes with the creative process. The portrait as envisioned by the customer often differs from what the artist creates. In addition, working on the image of a human face requires special knowledge and a fair amount of patience.

Why study proportions

Proportions are needed in order to understand how objects are located relative to each other in size, plane and intermediate relationships. If even a small amount of realism is important for a portrait, this cannot be achieved without knowing the proportions. On the other hand, abstract portraits have not been canceled.

Knowing proportions helps convey not only facial features, but also human emotions and facial expressions. Knowing the dependence of changes in appearance on the position of the head, the emotional state of the model and lighting, the artist can transfer the character and mood of a person to the canvas, thereby creating an object of art. But for this you need to know the correct proportions of the face and be able to build a composition in accordance with the rules.

Ideal proportions

During the High Renaissance, Raphael created paintings that were considered the standard of perfection. In fact, all of today's ideal proportions originate from the oval faces of Raphael's Madonnas.

If you draw a vertical line in the very center of the face and divide it into three parts - from the hairline to the eyebrows, from the eyebrows to the tip of the nose and from the tip of the nose to the chin, then in an ideal face these parts will be equal. The figure below shows the ideal proportions of a person’s face, a diagram for drawing and constructing an ideal oval face, as well as the relationship between the main features. It is worth considering that the ideal male face is characterized by more angular features, but despite this, their basic location corresponds to the presented diagram.

Based on this diagram, the ideal facial proportions when drawing a portrait correspond to the following formula:

1. BC = CE = EF.
2. AD = DF.
3. OR = KL = PK.

Face shape

Correctly constructed proportions of a person’s face when drawing a portrait depend largely on the shape of that face. Raphael created a perfect oval, and nature does not limit perfection to just one geometric shape.

It is probably most convenient to study the construction of proportions and their changes during movement on a perfectly oval face; for this there are many ways and techniques that will be discussed below, but the essence of a portrait is not in creating an ideal, but in depicting a person with all his features and imperfections. That is why it is important to know what the shape of a face can be and how it affects the construction of proportions when drawing portraits.

Rounded face shapes

Long face has rounded hairline and chin shapes. The vertical midline of the face is much longer than the horizontal one. Characteristics of long faces are usually a high forehead and a large distance between the upper lip and the base of the nose. Typically, the width of the forehead is approximately equal to the width of the cheekbones.

Oval face similar in shape to an egg turned upside down. Its widest part is the cheekbones, followed by a slightly less wide forehead and a relatively narrow jaw. The length of an oval face is slightly greater than its width.

Round face characterized by almost equal midlines of the vertical and horizontal sections of the face. Wide cheekbones are smoothed by a smooth, rounded jawline.

Angular face shapes

Rectangular face characterized by a wide jaw, emphasized by an angular chin and a straight hairline. The midline of the vertical section is much longer than the horizontal one. The width of the forehead of a person with a rectangular face is approximately equal to the width of the cheekbones.

Triangular It differs from the heart-shaped one only in the hair growth line; in the triangular one it is straight. A characteristic feature of this face shape is high cheekbones and a very narrow, sharp chin, while the cheekbones are almost as wide as the forehead. The vertical section line of a triangular face is usually slightly longer than the horizontal one.

Square shape typical for faces with low, wide cheekbones and an angular chin. The length of a square face is equal to its width.

Trapezoid defined by a wide jaw, low cheekbones and a narrow forehead. Usually on such a face the chin is angular and wide, and the cheekbones are much wider than the forehead.

Diamond shape The face is given a proportionally narrow forehead and chin, the latter usually pointed. High cheekbones are the widest part of a diamond-shaped face, and its horizontal section is much smaller than its vertical section.

Correct facial structure

Correct construction when drawing a portrait is based on measuring the model’s facial features and the distance between them. Each portrait is individual, just as no two faces are absolutely identical, with the exception of twins. Formulas for calculating proportions provide only basic advice, following which you can make the drawing process much easier.

To create your own characters or draw faces from memory, it is extremely important to know the correct representation of proportions. It is important to remember here that the shape of the head is much more complex than an inverted egg or an oval, and therefore it is worth following rules to avoid eyes on the forehead or a mouth that is too small.

Face outline

First, draw a circle - this will be the wide part of the skull. As you know, the main facial features take place under the circle. To roughly determine their location, we divide the circle in half vertically and continue the line down so that the lower outline of the circle divides it exactly in half. The bottom of the line will be the chin. From the sides of the circle to the “chin” you need to draw lines that will become the preliminary outlines of the cheekbones and cheeks.

If the portrait is drawn from the model’s face or from memory, then you can use a few light lines to correct the shape, determine the approximate width of the chin and hairline. It is worth noting that the hair in the portrait will occupy some part of the circle that was drawn at the very beginning.

Eyes and eyebrows

At the base of the circle we draw a horizontal line, perpendicular to the first. The eyes are located on this line. Exactly on it, not higher, no matter how much you would like! The horizontal line must be divided into five equal parts - each of them is equal to the width of the eye. The central part may be slightly wider. The eyes are located on the sides of it. To further calculate the proportions, it is best to indicate where the pupils will be located.

To determine how high above the eyes your eyebrows should be, you need to divide the circle into four equal parts, from bottom to top. The eyebrows will be located along a horizontal line passing directly above the eyes.

Nose and lips

The vertical line of the lower part of the face should be divided in half. Mark the middle where the base of the nose should be. The width of the nose can be easily determined by drawing parallel lines down from the inner corners of the eyes.

The remaining part - from the nose to the chin - must be divided in half again. The midline coincides with the line of the mouth, that is, the upper lip is located directly above it, and the lower lip is located below it. The width of the mouth can be calculated by drawing parallel lines down from the middle of the pupils. The width of the chin is usually equal to the width of the nose.

Constructing the proportions of the human face described above is a simplified method and is suitable for ideal faces, of which there are not many in nature.

Hello! Swami Anna!

Let me remind you that for this lesson we prepared:

1. A4 paper;
2. Pencils, gel pen, eraser (eraser);
3. Thin tracing paper;
4. Fashion magazine.

Remember when we talked about the old schools of China, and the fox Yalisse told us about the first stage of training, where the artist learns from models?

To begin with, I will give examples of portraits.

Look at them carefully. We will return to them later.

Hood. Tatiana Chuvasheva. Child portrait:

Piero Ratari. Female head:

Have you looked? So, let's try to draw.

Take paper and a sharpened pencil. Let's draw a circle. Try to draw it by hand. If it’s difficult, you can take a small glass and outline it.

Let's draw two intersecting lines in the circle, dividing the circle into 4 equal parts (horizontal and vertical). You can use a ruler.

The crosshair point is the center of the circle.

Let's continue the vertical line below the circle.

At the bottom we will draw a triangle (not big and not small) using two lines. It should turn out almost equilateral:

A circle and a triangle make up the front part of the skull. The lower triangle is the future jaw.

Let's outline it with two semicircular lines so that we get an egg that looks like it is slightly pointed downwards:

Now let's go back to the circle.

The line dividing the circle in half is the line on which our eyebrows will be located.

Let's draw another line parallel to it, a little lower. This is the line where the eyes will be located:

And now we will make such a difficult division of the line on which we will draw our eyes.

But before you understand what division it will be, go to the mirror for a moment and look at your face.

All faces are different, but artists came up with “canons”, such samples, for the convenience of learning to draw and for ease of comparison. Let us remember that in order to learn to draw, you need to observe a lot. Just being attentive is not enough; you need to learn to compare.

To facilitate comparison, the artists selected samples. Now we work according to this model.

Once we understand and learn to draw a sample, we can easily compare it with other faces.

How do you know which nose is long and which is short?

In order to determine this, you need to have an average nose for comparison, i.e. medium sized nose. The training samples are all medium in size. Using a model, you can easily learn to draw a “model” face.

Now we will see how to draw eyes using this example.

According to the sample rule, “one eye” should be placed between the eyes, i.e. The distance between the eyes should correspond to the size of one eye.

It is customary to distinguish the inner edge of the eye, the one that is closer to the nose (where the “tear sac” is located, the place where our tears accumulate if we cry) and the outer edge, the one that is closer to the ear. The distance between the teardrops is the size of one eye.

And the distance from the outer edge of each eye to the temple is half an eye.

Look at your eyes or your mother's. All people will have approximately one eye's distance between their eyes. But for some it is more, for others it is less. Some people have their eyes set close, others wide.

But we are now studying the sample that we take as a basis. We will compare all other faces with him, not in order to consider them imperfect, but in order to have a point of reference, something with which to compare. A pattern helps you notice more.

Look at the picture showing this division:

As a result, we must mark on our lower horizontal line with thin strokes the dimensions of the three eyes and their two halves on the sides. I promise this is the best difficult place in drawing a person from the front. This won't happen again.

Look at the drawing again. And try to make this division by comparing your drawing with what you see.

Now let's erase the auxiliary lines between the eyes and on the sides of the eyes so that only the outline of our future remains. real eyes. Don't make them very black. So far, the place of our eyes has only been determined.

Now we divide the line segment from the point from the center of the circle to the end of the chin in half. This division point will be the lowest edge of our nose. This point is called the “root” of the nose. The place where the nose meets upper lip.

When people have a headache, they often massage this particular point and it helps the pain go away. You can try this yourself. It’s a rather painful place, but when you put pressure on it, your head seems to clear up. This is the “magic” point.

We draw a thin horizontal line through it in our drawing:

Now we divide the line segment from the point of the root of the nose to the end of the chin in half. Draw a horizontal line. This will be the edge of the lower lip.

And we draw another horizontal line just above this line. As it shown on the picture. This is the main line of the lips. Remember it:

Well, we have outlined the main points.

Now we can get down to the details.

Let's start with the eyes. People's eyes are different, not only in color, but also in shape. There are large and small eyes, bulging or sunken, with large or small eyelids.

But now we are only interested in the so-called “eye line”.

If we compare the eyes of two people, we will see that they differ primarily in the “line of the eyes.” What kind of line is this?

This is a mentally drawn line from the inner edge of the eye (“tear drop”) to its outer edge. All people have it under different angles. Or it can be straight, when the “tear” and the outer corner of the eye are on the same line:

Compare this “eye line” in the picture. The eyes can be very slanted, where the outer edge of the eye goes sharply upward. Sometimes they are slightly slanted or vice versa, the outer edge of the eye may be lowered compared to the inner one. Such sad eyes.

We'll draw our eyes slightly slanted. Just a little, which is what most people have.

To do this, from the outer edge of the stripes we have outlined for the eyes, draw a slightly downward line (in the figure it is red).

We erase the old stripes. And we draw an eye like this. We draw the “tear drop” and the upper eyelid. On the upper horizontal line outlined earlier we outline the eyebrows:

To draw a nose, you need to determine the location of the wings of the nose.

To do this, from the points of the eyes indicating their inner edge (“tear drop”), lower two vertical lines. And from the point that marks the root of the nose, on the contrary, draw two lines slightly upward.

Let's draw a “bird” like this:

Look how the root of the nose in profile corresponds to the point indicating its full face:

Drawing a nose is very simple. Just above the root of the nose we draw the nostrils, like dark triangles, slightly slanted. We also slightly correct the wings of the nose, directing the line deeper inward so that the nose is not so wide.

Using a soft line in the center of the nose, we outline the most protruding part of the nose - the “pip”. Little children love to point at the “pippy” with their finger or touch it from each other, as if they were ringing a bell button: “Ding-ding-ding!!”

For some people, this “little piggy” is very high and looks up - this is a snub nose. For some, it is located strictly between the nostrils. If you look from the front. Some people have a low hanging nose.

As we age, this highest, most convex point on the face drops slightly. Because there are no bones in it that would hold its shape. And that’s why the noses of old people sag slightly compared to young noses.

We draw an average nose (not snub-nosed or droopy):

Let's erase the auxiliary lines. And let's move on to the lips.

The mouth is divided into upper lip and lower lip. The most important line of the mouth is the midline of the lips. It is formed when the lips are closed. She, too, like people’s noses and eyes, can be different.

The extreme points, the edges of the lips, can be in line with its middle. But if the edges of the lips droop, then it turns out sad face or crying. If the edges of the lips are raised, then the face looks smiling and cheerful. It depends on age, mood, and natural facial structure.

Compare:

Now we draw our lips.

We need to map them out. We have already found an auxiliary, horizontal line in the middle of the mouth. Let's mark the oval of the upper lip in the middle of this line. Let's mark this oval darker.

Now we outline the edges of the lips. The edges of our mouth. The mouth is also different. Big, small, medium. We will draw a medium sized mouth.

Let's determine its size like this: from the inner corner of the eyes, you need to step back a little towards the outer corner of the eyes.

Now let's find a point that makes the eye into about 3 parts. Let's lower the lines down from this point. In the place where they intersect with the central line of our lips there will be the edges of the lips.

From the middle of the lip line, from our oval, draw a lip line, with the corners slightly up. And we put thick dots on the edges of the corners (such triangles as in the picture). We have already found the lower lip line. Let's outline it more firmly.

Outline the upper lip with a small oval. Lips are ready:

Now we erase all the auxiliary lines.

Drawing hair. And we draw a lot of them and above our skull circle, depending on the splendor of the hairstyle.

Look and pay attention again to the portraits that were presented at the beginning of our lesson.

When artists painted a person’s face, they used a bright, deep tone (blackness or richness of paint), highlighting not everything on the face, but only the most important places. The most important thing in a portrait is the eyes and a few more lines and dots. The rest was painted very softly and subtly. They just “dissolved”.

In fact, in the portrait the most important, the brightest and the darkest, should be pupils of the eyes.

Artists have always highlighted eyes in portraits, at all times. This is the most main secret portraitist.

Try very hard to highlight the pupils of the eyes in your drawing and you will see how your eyes will immediately look as if they were alive.

In addition to the pupils of the eyes, you need to highlight a little more: in fact, these are only three lines and three dots.

The first two lines that we darken more strongly (but not stronger than the pupils of the eyes) are the two lines of the upper part of the eye, above the pupils, where the eyelashes are. But please note not the whole line upper eyelid , A strictly in the middle of the eye.

Then we blacken the midline of the lips just as well.

Black out the points of the nostrils and the points of the edges of the lips. This is all.

But in the process we make sure that our the pupils of the eyes were still the darkest. If necessary, we will add blackness to them again.

Finally, darken the inner edges of the eyebrows a little, but only slightly. Our sample portrait is ready:

We can make a boy out of our sample.

To do this, let's change our hairstyle. But in this case, let’s first draw the ears, because boys’ hairstyles are often not hidden by hair.

Of course, the ears can be hidden under the hairstyle, but we need to learn how to draw them.

The size of the ear corresponds to the size from the eyebrow to the root of the nose. Draw an ear in this area from the side, with these three lines. The ear oval itself has two lines inside.

We make a hairstyle, also drawing them above our skull circle.

Now let's outline the neck.

We divide our eye in half and lower the lines down from this point. This will be the neck size:

We can soften all the lines with an eraser and make them dark, only what we need for the portrait. I will repeat. The darkest part is the pupil itself, the upper line of the eye, the line of the lips, the nostrils and the extreme points of the lips.

We can shade it a little, very softly, with the side of the pencil, highlighting the lips and the blush on the cheeks. Our boy is ready:

We always mark the circle that we drew at the beginning (the basis of our skull) when we start drawing a person’s head in full face or profile.

A circle is a circle. But the triangle of the lower cheekbone can be different. It can be large, sharp or very small, depending on the shape of the face and age, thinness or fullness.

Look at two examples. The smaller the triangle at the bottom, the more the face becomes either childish or fuller:

The sharper and longer our cheekbone triangle, the thinner or older a person's face will be:

Now we will move on to working with tracing paper.

Let's take our fashion magazine, a piece of tracing paper, and a pencil.

No need to take a large sheet of tracing paper. One that only fits your face is enough.

Let's choose any face from the magazine from the front. A fashion magazine is good for learning how to draw a human head because there are almost no photographs with deep shadows that hide the shape. And now we need it very well learn to see form face to study it.

Let's select a face from the front, that's enough big face on the page so that his features are clearly visible and put tracing paper on top.

Attention! Let's not draw mindlessly! Remember about smart sketching.

We circle it in such a way as to identify the main important places in a person’s face. Let's darken them well. We remembered them.

First: the darkest, straight black – the pupils.

Second: upper eye line.

Third: points of the nostrils and corners of the lips.

Fourth: midline of the lips.

Try to remember the shape of the head and face when drawing. Each of them has a circle and a triangle. Pay attention to the ratio of their sizes to each other.

Don't draw any extra shadows or anything new for now other than what we've learned.

It’s just that now the noses, eyes and lips will be a little different. At different heights there will be the most convex parts of the noses - “piggies”.

Draw several different faces using tracing paper and compare them with each other. Imagine, if possible, what this or that person would look like in profile.

If you have the opportunity to find a photograph of a portrait or a full-face photo of an old man, woman or child, then outline them under tracing paper, also according to the same principle.

To correctly draw a person’s head, you need to know its proportions.

The head has an oval shape, which is divided by the eye line into two approximately equal parts, that is, the eye line is located approximately in the middle of the face.

Drawing a face is quite difficult. Conventionally, it can be divided into three parts: from the beginning of the hair to the eyebrow line, from the eyebrow line to the end of the nose and from the end of the nose to the chin.

The upper edge of the ear is located at the level of the eyebrows, the lower - at the level of the base of the nose. The eye line can be divided into five identical parts, of which the second and fourth are occupied by the eyes.

The width of the nose is equal to the length of the eyes, and the mouth is slightly wider than the nose.

The distance between the eyes is equal to the width of the eyes or the width of the base of the nose. The ears are located from the line of the eyebrows to the line of the base of the nose, the cut of the mouth is one third of the distance from the base of the nose to the end of the chin.

The head is symmetrical, and you can draw it on the basis of a conventional line that starts at the back of the head, runs in the middle of the forehead between the eyes, along the nose, in the middle of the mouth and chin. This line is called median and serves to construct paired symmetrical forms.

Knowing these proportions will help a novice artist in working on a portrait.

Head shapes come in different types.

Now look how to sketch different expression person's face.

Drawing of the head begins with the construction of its ovoid shape, while it must be remembered that the shape of the head must be outlined so that its horizontal middle passes just above the middle of the sheet and so that the head is not too shifted to the right or left. Only after this the parts of the face are outlined. They need to be studied very carefully: the similarity of the portrait to nature depends on this.

The main parts of the face include the eyes, nose, lips and ears. Of course, each person has their own unique eyes, nose and lips. But this only seems, in fact they can be generalized and their form simplified.

The human head is drawn in full face(when he looks straight)

in profile (with the head turned sideways),

and half a turn.

Drawing the eyes

Eyes play a very important role in the resemblance of a portrait to life. You can start drawing an eye with its generalized shape - a ball inserted into a horizontally located oval (eye socket). Therefore, when starting to draw the eyes, you need to outline the eye sockets, while remembering that they are not located very close to the nose. The distance between the eyes is equal to the length of the eye itself. Next, having outlined the pupil, we begin to draw the eyelids.

R When drawing the profile, you need to remember that the upper eyelid is pushed forward a little more than the lower one. And the pupil turns from round into a flattened oval.

When drawing the face in half a turn, notice how the upper eyelid of the eye rises.

The authenticity of the portrait depends on the greater or lesser intensification of the shadows, and not on the direction of the strokes, so first of all you need to try to place the shadows correctly and engage in shading only when the skills have already been acquired.

Draw a line passing through the eye, carefully observing its direction. Find the length of the eye, which is indicated by two vertical lines. Draw the contours of the eye, remembering that the front convexity or roundness of the eye is visible in eyes drawn in profile or half-turn.

Drawing lips

Before you start drawing the lips, you need to mark the midline of the mouth (this is the line where the upper lip meets the lower), then determine the length and thickness of the lips on this line (usually the lower lip is thicker than the upper, but it happens that they are equal in thickness ). You also need to remember that the mouth is below the base of the nose. Next, you need to start outlining the outlines of the lips, trying to convey their characteristic shape (thin, thick, medium, even along the contour or with a curve on the upper lip).

When drawing lips in profile or in half a turn, you need to outline the size of the mouth section, its slope, as well as the degree of thickness (that is, protrusion of one of the lips).

The mouth opening is located one third of the distance from the base of the nose to the end of the chin.

We draw mouths from the front and in profile. First, draw a line crossing the mouth, then determine the length of this line with two lines,

Then we find the middle of the mouth and mark it with a line parallel to the lines indicating the length of the mouth.

Then we will designate the thickness of the lips and designate the teeth if the mouth is slightly open.

Drawing the nose

When drawing a nose, you must first carefully study its characteristic features: noses can be straight (1), snub (2) and with a hump (3).

Also, noses can be long, short, narrow and wide. The base of the nose is equal to the width of the eye. When outlining the nose, you need to remember that the middle of the facial line of the nose passes through the middle of its base and tip.

When drawing a profile or half-turn, we must not forget that the stronger the turn of the head, the further the tip of the nose is from the midline.

Now let's try to draw the mouth and nose together.

Now we draw the nose and eye.

Drawing ears

The ears are usually located at a level from the eyebrows to the base of the nose. In order to correctly outline the ears, you need to draw an imaginary axis of the ear, which runs parallel to the line of the nose. Next, outline the general shape of the ear and draw the details.

Draw an oblong quadrilateral and divide it crosswise into two equal parts. Trace the outer circumference of the ear, then outline its thickness and draw the middle (ear cavity).

Drawing hair

The hair beautifully frames the head and starts midway from the eye line to the crown (the top point of the head). All hairstyles can be reduced to the most typical.

Drawing the neck

The neck is a support for the head and is firmly supported by the shoulders. Before you start drawing, you need to determine the height of the neck and its relationship to the height and width of the head. First, mark the midline of the neck, running from the lower part of the jaw to the cervical cavity. The neck itself consists of three conventional figures: a rectangle and two triangles.

A person's face is his mirror. A face can express a person’s character and reflect his qualities as a person. Here we have another lesson on drawing a human face. We already have lessons on how to draw a girl’s face and a mother’s face with a pencil step by step. And here we will teach you how to do this step by step and draw a face young man, guy, man. The principle of drawing is approximately the same in all cases. First, there is an auxiliary stage with the division of a sheet of paper into squares or rectangles, and then the drawing of all parts of the face itself. We will have a face in profile and full face, that is, a front and side view. So let's get started with the lesson!

Stage 1. To carry out this stage, you will need a ruler to draw smooth, clear lines. First we draw three straight lines. One of them runs right in the middle of the sheet, the other two parallel to it above and below. They are crossed by five lines located strictly perpendicular, that is, at right angles. Four lines are shifted to the left, and one to the right. We leave a small clear space between them.

Stage 2. Between the middle and lower straight lines we will place three more (they are shown blue). We draw a circle with a dotted line, limiting it with the same lines as in our drawing.

Stage 3. Let's start tracing the contours of the head in front view and side view. In the front view we are now drawing the hair border line at the top, and in the side view the line at the back of the head.

Stage 4. Now on the left we will draw the line of the chin and cheeks. And on the side - also the jawline.

Stage 5. In the left picture we show the hair growth line in the frontal part with two protrusions and, and draw the ears. On the right side we also show the hairline from the sides and in front.

Stage 7. It's time to shape the eyebrows and nostrils. The eyebrows are wide, the nostrils are slightly widened too.

Stage 9. Between the eyelids, we show the eyeballs with pupils in small circles. Small reflections of light should be reflected in the pupils. At this stage we will also draw small wrinkles under the eyes, on the side of the eyes, on the bridge of the nose and above the line of the mouth.

Step 10. Now we show the rather thick lips that form the line of the mouth. Under the mouth we will outline the chin and a small dimple above it.