How to Draw Face Proportions

The head is one of the most complex elements of the human body. It contains a multitude of muscles and details that can vary greatly from one individual to another. In this article we will cover some basic proportions for drawing credible faces and learn how to vary them. If you want to learn how to draw facial details in more detail, take a look at our other articles!

THE PROPORTIONS OF THE SKULL AND JAW

Before talking about the face, let us start with the part of the body that houses it: the head. The head is composed of two main volumes, which are the skull and the lower jaw. We will first draw the bases of the skull. To do this, I draw a sphere that I orient using two lines: a vertical and a horizontal line. The vertical line is called the orientation line. It will serve as the median line of the face. The horizontal line, which cuts the skull into two equal halves, is the eyebrow line. The eyebrows will be positioned on this line later. These two lines form the cross of the gaze and help orientate the head in space.

We will now position the sides of the head by cutting the ball of the skull on both sides. It is here that we can make our first choice of proportions: depending on the depth of the cut, we can have a wide or narrow face. We can then place two more guide lines enclosing the cuts. These lines will serve as a reference for the base of the hair and for the nose.

We now position the lower jaw. It is rooted under the head and varies in length and width depending on the individual. A good rule of proportion is to be based on the size of the space between the arches and the reference point at the base of the nose. A balanced jaw will have the same dimensions. From here one can adjust for a more or less imposing jaw.

Finally, we will divide the planes of the head to isolate that of the face. To do this, we will first draw curves starting from the sides of the head and ending at chin level to set the sides of the jaw. Next, we will place an arc between the bows and the base of the hair to locate the forehead. Our head is then divided into three parts: the top of the skull, the sides of the head and, finally, the face.

FACIAL FEATURES

Now that we have a head, we will position the different facial features on it. To begin with, we will try to position the eyes. The eyes are very interesting to position first, because they will then allow us to measure the size of our different elements according to their proportions.

First, let's place the eye line. It is a horizontal reference line where our eyes will rest. It determines the height of the eyes in the face and can therefore vary. As with the jawline, there is still a standard height that we can base ourselves on. To find it, simply divide the middle part of the face into three equal parts. The first cut line indicates the level of our eyes.

Next, you can push them deeper under the arches by climbing up this line or, conversely, give the orbits more space by descending on it.

Let's now place the eyes. We will draw two spheres located on the newly drawn reference point. The distance between the two eyes is roughly equal to that of one eye, so it is possible to check the placement of our two spheres by drawing a third one between them. This last one can be touching the other two, slightly overlapped by them, or have a little space with its neighbors: this represents the eye spacing.

Take care not to leave too much space between the “third eye” and the actual eyes to avoid unnatural spacing. Conversely, be careful not to cut too much to avoid the eyes being too close together. Finally, the space between the eyes and the edge of the face is generally half an eye, but can be slightly narrower or wider, depending on the width of the eyes chosen.

Now let's draw the nose. It obviously originates at the base of the nose mark. Its basic width is that of an eye. However, it can be drawn larger or smaller depending on the type of nose desired. The bridge of the nose, on the other hand, extends to the eye line.

We move to the sides of the head to position the ears. They always start at the base of the nose and go up between the eyebrows and the eye line. The large ears will touch the eyebrow line, while the small ears will stop at eye level.

Now let us position the mouth. As with the eyes, we can establish a guideline around which to draw the mouth. This line is one third of the distance between the base of the nose and the base of the jaw. From here we can lower this guideline to age the face: in fact, the skin loosens with age and the mouth tends to “droop” in older people.

The width of the mouth is determined in relation to the eyes. We will drop lines from the front of our eyes down to the line of our mouth. These lines determine the maximum width of our mouth. For the minimum width, we will base it on the nose and ensure that the mouth is not narrower than the latter.

DRAWING THE BONY STRUCTURES OF THE FACE

We conclude with some bony landmarks. First, we can draw the orbits around the eyes, completing the end of the nasal bridge.

Let's now draw the chin. Its width can vary, but a good starting point is to make it thinner than the mouth. We can then move up to the line of the mouth to place the corners of the lower jaw. If you want a massive, square jaw, try to align the corners as much as possible with the ears, and the opposite for a fine jaw.

Finally, it is possible to give a hint of the planes of the cheeks by drawing arcs starting from the corners of the orbits and joining the corners of the chin, passing through the corners of the lips.

You now know how to draw the proportions of a face and, more importantly, how to modify them. Feel free to vary these proportions in relation to each other to obtain consistent and unique faces!

Written and illustrated by Louis Grieves