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Article: 10 Professional Tips To Be Better at Sketching Faces

10 Professional Tips To Be Better at Sketching Faces

Created by giusysal89 -
 

Learning to draw better at sketching faces requires some steps. At first, you should know several things to learn before capturing a whole face that you need to draw. Every face has different features. You need to learn the anatomy of a face before continuing your plan in sketching a face. By learning step by step, you can increase some transformation in drawing sketches by adding your creativity. Many people hesitate to start on a black face. Others may find it too easy to start making sketches but hard to continue the rest without any guidance. 

So, keep on reading to find excellent tips about sketching face without any difficulty. All of these tips below can bring lots of ideas for you in developing your drawing with the freehand method in a concise way. Still, you can enhance your ability to see tones towards various things so you can learn better at sketching faces. When you don’t stop learning, then you can gain better confidence in drawing several people with different facial features.

 

1. Start With the Right Pencil

Never underestimate the power of a pencil. The right pencil can deliver an excellent sketch that suits the natural facial features. For sketching, the softest one is 'B.' You should also choose 'H,' which is harder than B. Meanwhile, 'HB' is in the middle of B and H. for beginners. H is the right pencil to start sketching the face. H is the best pencil for creating a foundation before you can finish with the B scale that has a darker tone.Is it fine to use a mechanical pencil? Some artists stated that mechanical pencils are the best for precision, as long as they have HB features. Meanwhile, conventional pencils are perfect for pictures in the big textures areas.

Created by Fabio Verdelli

 

2. Nose

The nose is the center of a face. Once you draw a nose, then you can continue your sketch, so the eyes and mouth have a good balance. Besides, a nose is very easy to sketch, among other parts of the face. A nose is easy to sketch that resembles a real object. But, the most complicated part is the shading elements that might be included. Besides, learning to draw a face that has various poses will urge you to draw a nose from a different angle.

Start drawing the simplest way of drawing the nose from the straight view for better at sketching faces. It is as simple as using the grid method. Grab a mechanical pencil for creating a line that draws a nose from the straight view. Don’t forget to prepare a blending stump and an eraser. Choose a smooth paper.

In order to make things easier, break into some sections for sketching a more natural shape of the nose. You are free to use several forms or shapes which can guide you through creating the closest shape of a nose. After drawing the nose core structure, then you should put in tones, both the light and dark tones. But, you have to erase the grid lines before adding each of those tones. Use a kneaded eraser to maintain accuracy. Referring to the sphere is recommended.

Created by Carla Roberta Sabau
 

The next thing to do is add a reflected light on the nose’s edges. Add a similar thing to the rim as well. Pay attention to the nose tip where you need to provide a shadow edge. This is to ensure that the nose has rounded features. Then, add cast shadows on the nose’s bottom edge.

Then, learn to add tones to get better at sketching faces. Adding tones for a better at sketching faces can be somewhat complicated. Though it seems easy, it requires some tricks to create tones. Actually, you can learn various effects for sketching techniques and tips. The best way to sharpen this skill is by drawing the nose first because you can try the right shading. But, it requires several demonstrations to finally meet the standard. Yet, it is still important for you to find your style though you should focus on smooth transitions of pencil strokes against the thin outline.

Blending the dark and light tones is the next thing to do. Once you provide both light and dark shades, then you should blend them smoothly. Use a stump. Leave a very little space of the drawing in a white tone. Lots of painters leave skin tones with very light mode. Yet the highlights of the object must be left white like the color of the paper.

The right way to blend is to start from darker to the light area of the face. By doing so, the face will look natural. Pay attention to the shades. The darker ones are in the nostrils, lower side, and around tips and bridge. Leave the nostrils, edges, and balls with lighter shades.

Created by art_iusupov

 

3. Lips 

Sketching lips is the next thing to do if you want to be better at sketching faces. Don’t forget to create the line drawing first. The location should be halfway between the chin and the nose. So, it is much easier to draw the lips after the nose, so you can determine the length of the face. Even if the measurement may vary from one person to another, beginners can just make things proportional by measuring accurately.

You can use the nose to help them in determining the mouth’s width. The mouth corners should be wider than each side of the nose. Once you draw the edges of the mouth, then you can create the eyes easier then.

Created by Vicky

 

4. Eyes

Drawing eyes can be somewhat challenging if they should be realistic. It is not merely drawing a shape of the eye with a round shape within. But, you should make sure that they look realistic to get better at sketching faces.

Just like other parts of the face, one of the best tips in drawing sketches is by adding a line. Again, a grid method is a necessity for creating the eye line drawing. In this case, you should make sure that you create a proportional eye size, along with the pupil and iris. Make sure you use an HB pencil for drawing the eye, so the eye outline doesn’t look too dark. Besides, the outline should be removed eventually for the end result.

Then, add some effects of shading on some areas by drawing a pupil with a small circle and the iris with the bigger one. The iris strokes should be drawn by a pencil with an outward direction. Afterward, make a light reflection by leaving the pupil side open by using certain shapes like an oval shape, square, or circle. Add some darker shades at the eye’s corner to provide a smoother shape. By doing this, you can add perfections to the drawing.

However, shading the areas of the eye is not enough. Just like what you have done to your nose sketching, you still have to blend shading to fill the available white space with a stroke. The line strokes are good for enhancing a real image of the pupil. Don’t forget to provide shading around the eyes’ area. This is to ensure that the eye looks deep and strong.

Created by Stephanie
 

For the last tips in drawing the eye, don’t forget the use of curved lines for the eyelashes. Avoid straight lines and bold pencils for making them look real. As a matter of fact, using a thin pencil can be done flexibly in drawing thick eyelashes.

The tips of drawing eyes are for drawing a face that faces upfront. It is easier to draw eyes when they look straight forward. Some beginners hesitate about symmetry. It is good to pay attention to it, but it doesn’t really have to be too symmetrical. Instead, the horizontal line can help you in drawing the right symmetry of both eyes. Besides, all humans don’t have perfectly symmetric faces. Don’t forget that the centers of the pupils are aligned with each side of the mouth.

If you think that you are good enough to draw eyes, then you can break up the shape of the eye in various ways. The movement of a pupil can change the eye form. It is challenging but worth doing.

Created by Liza Veta

 

5. Eyebrows

While you are still in the eyes’ area, then you can continue drawing the eyebrows. Most beginners create an outline above each eye proportionally. Though this theory is not the wrong thing to do, the result will be less realistic. The theory is good for creating cartoon characters. But, there are some ways to create natural eyebrows. You need a very thin pencil in creating the hair directions because you should draw up and down with the left or right hairs. Make sure to examine the thickness of your eyebrows. The ending part should be shorter.  

Outlining the shape is fine for creating the eyebrows. But, remember, you should wear an H pencil. Outline it with the smooth curves, particularly on the upper side, above the pupil. Then, add some hairs to the outline by using a thicker pencil like 2B. Start drawing the hairs from the bottom row. Pay attention to the left, where the hairs are in the upward direction. Yet, the right side should be using the pointing downward. After you finish, add another row with the longer hairs on the left side and the shorter hairs on the right.  With all of those hairs, then you can explore your own imagination. But, pay attention to the overlapping hairs that must be there. They should have darker shades. For the best result, use a 2B mechanical pencil for a more interesting look.

For the upper hair, create the opposite direction of the hair on the below part. For the final stage of the eyebrows sketching, then add another layer in the middle for connecting both the upward and downward pointing hairs. Make sure they merge with the right stroking method. If you are already sure that you can create natural eyebrows, then you can add shadows on the hair forest. Shading can be done by using the 2B pencil to reduce too dark shadows.

Created by Kishen Naidu

 

6. Face Line and its Hairline 

Now you have created the nose, the mouth, and both eyes.

Then it is much easier to draw the overall round of the face. Use the line that you have created before in connecting those three parts of the face.

Then, you should calculate the distance of the bottom to the upper part by using your pencil. The bottom line is the chin bottom. Afterward, draw chin edges chin from every square side so that those lines will link at the right location. The location is the center of the chin.

Now, let’s pay attention to the hairline. You can use the help of the circle that forms the round face. Draw some dotted lines about on the way up from the midline for marking the horizontal line for the ears tops. Afterward, draw a curved line down on every side of the face. The line should be halfway down the drawing’s lower half or to the cheeks’ middle.

Created by Lucie Birant

 

7. The Ears 

The last part of sketching the face is drawing the ears. They can be somewhat complicated, particularly when they don’t face straightforward. Drawing ears should be symmetrical with the lower part of the eyebrows. Meanwhile, the ears' bottom will be aligned with the line of the nose. Ears position should be pointed out of the head. It should be slightly extended upward. 

Created by Athiyah Alatas

 

8. Details

Now, add details after sketching the face. Focus more on the better sketching face steps by adding details like the hair and other details of other parts of the face. The first detail is the neck. Keep in mind that drawing a neck might seem easy when you don’t have to add the shoulders.

If you don’t want to bother adjusting the balance of each shoulder, then you should only draw the neck. Just add lines pointing outward on every side. Then, add the hair. It depends on how you imagine it. If you have a model, then it is much easier. But, if there is no model at all, then you might want to add long, straight hair. The easiest way to draw straight hair is by starting to draw the hair from the central part of the upper head. Draw lines from the upper head to the down part. Create your desired length. If you think that the neck that you have drawn before is less perfect, then you can draw longer hair.

Created by Didi Sorce

 

9. Shading 

Shading is a necessary part of any drawing. Pencil strokes are highly necessary. Blending the strokes with the pencil is contributes to the natural look of a sketch. Erasing strokes should be very careful because you will start from the very beginning if you erase them too hard. Shading is better at sketching faces when it is added on the neck and beneath the jawline. The face will get accentuation that enhances the natural look. Then, another shade should be placed on the jaw sides. One of the best tips in shading is to bring out the look of the cheekbones. 

A perfect shading effect under the hairline will enhance the look of the sketching face. The reason is that human eyes are lower-level of the head. It means there should be shading between the eyebrows and the eyes, as well as the area below the eyes. Pay attention to the nose bridge. Some people try to draw this. But, for less experienced ones, the result might end up with an unnatural look. If you still want to try, then you can make your drawing soften by blending lines for drawing of the bridge on every side of the nose towards the direction of the cheeks. The upper lip also needs a shading effect, particularly under the nose and upper part of the lip. 

Created by Juilee Mahimkar

 

10. Gender Features

This is another problem that most beginners do. They don’t know the difference between sketching the face of a male or female. Of course, you can learn this whenever you are smart enough in drawing the previous steps. Sketching the face of a male should be with an angular shape that shows off a harder look.

Meanwhile, the face of a female should be rounder with a softer touch. It is also important to emphasize the shape of each part of the face. Usually, a female has rounded cheeks. The eyes have broader sizes with complete details of eyelashes and different styles of eyebrows. For men, the shape of the eyebrows is much simpler, with the very few details of eyelashes. Those tips seem very common, though they might be somewhat hard to accomplish. 

Created by Didi Sorce

 

Final Words

All in all, it requires a series of learning for that makes you get better at sketching faces. Sketching face is easier with gridlines, though experts might not need them during the sketching process. Drawing a face for beginners needs detailed tips so they can explore them with their own creativity later on.  

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