In this drawing tutorial, we will show you how to draw a face from the side. This drawing lesson is part of a series of tutorials on drawing a face from all angles.
To learn how to draw a face from the side, you first need to familiarize yourself with the proportions of the head. This will help you draw the face most correctly, giving it the most realistic look.
So, if you already know the basic proportions of the head, and your art supplies are in front of you, then let’s get down to the lesson on how to draw a face from the side.
Step 1
As always, you should start with the basic outline of the head. As we have said many times, the head is somewhat reminiscent of an inverted egg. Using very light lines, sketch out the outlines of this very inverted egg. In the same step, sketch out the outlines of the neck.
Step 2
Now sketch out the construction lines with which you can later draw the details of the face. First, sketch out an eye line that goes through the center of the head. Next, draw the location of the nose, mouth, and hairline with short lines. Mark the inner and outer edges of the eye on a horizontal line.
Step 3
Now it’s time to start drawing the details of the face. Using a smooth line, carefully draw the forehead and the outlines of the browbone. Next, draw the bridge of the nose and the nose itself. In the lesson on how to draw a nose from the side, we talked about this in great detail.
Step 4
Draw the wing of the nose with a couple of smooth lines. Next, sketch draw the silhouette of the lips. When drawing a face, do not forget to constantly compare the details and parts of the drawing with each other. This is necessary in order not to get confused in proportions and avoid mistakes.
Step 5
Draw the lines of the lips with a couple of smooth lines, as shown in our example. By the way, in our guide on how to draw lips from the side, we talked in detail about how to draw them from this angle. Next, continuing the line of the silhouette of the lips, draw the chin.
Step 6
Now go back to the top of the head again and draw a line of hair growth using the previously created construction lines. Draw a visible eyebrow using smooth lines. When drawing a face from the side, it is very easy to make mistakes in proportion. To prevent this from happening, do not forget to look at your work in the mirror from time to time.
Step 7
Now it’s time to draw the eye. First of all, draw out the outlines of the upper eyelid, then the lower. The upper eyelid should be slightly darker than the lower. Using smooth lines draw the outlines of the folds around the eye. This will help the face drawing look even more realistic and convincing.
Step 8
Now draw the pupil. Note that the top and bottom of the pupil should be slightly covered by the eyelids. Now go back to the eyebrow, and draw the hair texture using a lot of short lines. Eyes, as well as eyebrows, can have a wide variety of shapes, so don’t despair if these details in your drawing do not look like those in our example.
Step 9
Now it’s time to draw the hair. Start by sketching the outlines of the hairstyle. After that, draw the strands of hair with smooth lines. At the top, the hair should be more voluminous than at the bottom. But of course, you can draw any other hairstyle, and add details such as a beard.
Step 10
Now draw the contours of the ear with a smooth line. The top edge of the ear should be at the same level as the eyebrow and the bottom edge at the same level as the tip of the nose. By the way, to learn about the process of drawing an ear in more detail, you can visit our drawing lesson on how to draw an ear.
Step 11
If you have already visited our ear drawing lesson, then most likely you have studied this process in some detail. But one way or another, let’s briefly recap everything here. First draw the outlines of the upper cartilage, then the lower. The lines of the ear cartilages should be very smooth, as shown in our example.
Step 12
Add some detail to the hairstyle by drawing the hair texture. To make the hair look realistic and voluminous, it should be drawn from roots to tips. The lines should be long and smooth. Using light lines draw the contours of the jaw and neck muscles.
Step 13
Remove any unnecessary construction lines from the face drawing. Add some additional volume to the drawing by making the closer lines darker than the more distant ones. Compare your drawing with our example, and try to find mistakes to correct them.
Step 15
If there are no mistakes in your drawing of the face, then it’s time to draw shadows. Using smooth and even hatching, start drawing shadows from the darkest areas, gradually moving to lighter areas. Paint the pupils, leaving small highlights in them.
If you want to delve deeper into the topic of drawing a face and take your skills to the next level, then try drawing a face from other angles, for example, from the front, and in a three-quarter perspective.
Other than that, you can try to delve deeper into the anatomy of the face. In our article on facial anatomy, we talked in some detail about the muscles of the face and those details that are most important for an artist.
The knowledge gained from this article will help you to understand well what parts a human face consists of, and how to most correctly reproduce these parts on a piece of paper.
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