Female figurative art. The female face.
Drawing a face from a photo image.

Practising from a photo image.

Using the photos and examples of my own work  I will try to give you a visual demonstration of the benefits of dividing the face into equal parts. I have applied the same principles as in the first part of this tutorial and then applied it to my sketch. I have found using this method a great way to practice drawing the female face.  I have divided the photographs below into equal parts starting from approximately the mid point of the eyes. The bottom half of the face has then been divided in half and then the lower part has been divided in half again to demonstrate the guide points for the base of the nose the mouth and the base of the chin. Remember, all head shapes and faces are different so the proportions can and will vary from subject to subject. The lines are only guide points.

The face is the most important part of your drawing. It tells the viewer about the person. Their mood, their thoughts or their intent and sometimes even the type of life they are leading.

I have also found that once I have divided the face up I can then use these points to plot the  shape of  the face by measuring from the centre line to each side of the face as shown below. This will give me the basic shape of the face and also helps me to judge were everything else fits in. When you have finished your basic outline you can then fine tune the shape of the face later.

Make sure that when you are setting out your subject you make it large enough for you to be able to add the detail. I say this because through my own experience, the smaller I have tried to draw the subject, the harder it has been to draw a convincing likeness, as it becomes extremely hard to add the detail. Especially when doing the eyes and  lips which to me can make or break your picture. The eyes and the lips hold the mood and personality of the subject and no matter how well you draw your subject, if they are not convincing then the picture will not portray what you have set out to do.  As can be seen in the two attempts above I still have a long way to go but I will continue to practice until I achieve my goal.

I cannot emphasise enough how important it is to take your time and never give up. If you are struggling getting a detail right, leave it and walk away. I find that by coming back later and having another go I can usually make a better job of what I am trying to achieve as I tend to be able to see the more obvious mistakes that eluded me at my first attempt. This also helps avoid any rash judgements based on frustration that may result in you giving up or binning your sketch.

Always make sure you use a sharp pencil when doing your initial sketched outline. The thicker the lines are the harder it is to define the shape and proportion of the details of the face and sometimes by having a thicker line your mistakes look worse than they actually are.

Back to facial detail