How to Draw a Face for Beginners

In this drawing lesson, we will show you how to draw a face for beginners. This is a simplified version of our lesson on how to draw a face.

The main difference of this instruction from the more complex version will be that there will be less detail and there will be no work with shadows. But despite the simplicity, the result is very realistic.

So let’s get down to the guide on how to draw a face for beginners.

 

Step 1

To draw a face, the first step is to sketch an oval, which will serve as a guide for all subsequent work. At the first stages, very light lines should be used, because, in the future, they will be erased. The oval of the face should be symmetrical and you can look at it in the mirror to test this.

Step 2

To make the face look proportional and aesthetic, sketch the guidelines of symmetry on the oval of the face. These two guidelines should connect right in the center of the face. On the vertical line, mark the location of the corners of the eyes, and on the vertical line the location of the nose, mouth, and hairline.

Step 3

Now move on to drawing the details of the face. Start with the eyes. Using the guidelines, first, sketch out the outlines of the upper eyelids and then the lower ones. To learn more about drawing eyes, visit our guide on how to draw eyes for beginners.

Step 4

Now draw the pupils inside the outlines of the eyes. The upper and lower edges of the eyes should be slightly covered by the eyelids. Don’t forget to mark the folds at the top and bottom, as shown in our example. These folds are in fact the outlines of the eye sockets.

Step 5

Draw eyebrows just above the eyes. Eyebrows can have a wide variety of shapes, so you can repeat the outlines of eyebrows from our example, or come up with your own form. This detail, as well as the eyes, should be as proportional and symmetrical as possible. To test this, you can either look at your sketch in the mirror or turn it upside down.

Step 6

So, we continue this guide on how to draw a face for beginners. Now depict the nose using the guidelines sketched earlier. First, depict the tip of the nose, then the wings. After that sketch out the outlines of the back of the nose using long and smooth lines. To learn more about drawing a nose, visit our article on how to draw a nose.

Step 7

Draw the lips. First of all, sketch the middle line using the construction lines created at the very beginning. After that, using smooth lines draw out the outlines of the upper and lower lips. In our article on how to draw lips, we talked about this in detail. We also talked about how to add volume to the lips using hatching.

Step 8

Now it’s time to shape the face so it doesn’t look like an egg or a potato. To do this, draw the contours of the cheekbones and chin. The jaw, like all other parts of the face, may have a different shape from our example. So you can repeat everything as in our example, or give the chin and cheekbones in your sketch a different shape. Next, go to the top of the head and draw the outlines of the hairstyle.

Step 9

Now draw the ears. First, sketch out the contour of the ears with a pair of smooth and curved lines. Next, sketch out the outlines of the ear cartilages. The upper tip of the ear should be at the same height as the eyebrows, and the lower tip should be at the same height as the tip of the nose. If you want to draw more realistic ears, then check out the anatomy of the ear and visit our guide on how to draw an ear.

Step 10

Now take an eraser, and carefully erase all unnecessary construction lines from your sketch. Give the hairstyle a more complete look by drawing the hair on the bangs, on the sides, and on top, as shown in our example. To make the face drawing look more finished, you can trace the lines, darkening them and making them clearer and sharper.

Step 11

You can leave the face drawing as it is, or make some additions. For example, you can add volume to your sketch by adding shadows. To find out how to do this, visit our article on light and shadow. You can also color your artwork, or depict some additional elements to it, such as glasses, earrings, or tattoos.

Was the face drawing lesson helpful to you? Write to us about this, as well as about what instruction you would like to see on the pages of our website. We read all your comments and answer many of them.