THE PROPORTIONS OF THE HEAD AND FACE

Proportions of the Head - Illus. 1

Although the proportions of a head will vary from person to person and change slightly with age, there are
some basic principles you can follow to improve your drawing. You can use these to check the general
size, shape and position of features in your drawings.
If you view a head from the front, its width is approximately two thirds of its height.
If you view a head from the side, its width is approximately seven eighths of its height.


Proportions of the Head - Illus. 2
The proportions of the head can be divided horizontally into four equal quarters.
1. The first quarter measures from the top of the head down to the hairline.
2. The second quarter measures from the hairline down to the eyes in the middle of the head.
3. The third quarter contains most of the features. At the top of this section the eyes are usually
level with the ears, and at the bottom the nose is roughly level with the ear lobes.
4. The final quarter stretches from the base of the nose to the chin with the mouth positioned just
above the halfway mark.
These proportions will only work if we share the same eye level as the subject. They will become distorted
if we view the head from above or below.


Proportions of the Head - Illus. 3
Many artists start a portrait with the eyes as they are the focal point of any face. The following proportions
should help you with their scale and position in relation to the other features.
The eyes are situated approximately half way down the head.
If you view a head from the front, the distance across the eye is similar to the distance between the eyes.
The distance between the eyes is similar to the breadth of the nose.
As you can see from the illustration above, these distances work out at approximately one fifth of the
width of the face.
Note the position of the ear in the profile view. It sits to the left hand side of the vertical line which bisects
the head.


Proportions of the Head - Illus. 4
If you view a head from the front, a triangle drawn from the centre of the head through either side of the
nose will establish a good proportion for the breadth of the mouth.
If you view it from the side, note how the eyes, nose and mouth fit into a rectangle whose diagonal creates
a good line to position the corners of the nose and mouth.



Hi everyone! I've noticed that a lot of people struggle with drawing faces, specifically with
proportions, but they really shouldn't. Drawing a face is actually not as hard as you think. Read on if
you want to learn how to do it!



Before we start, you should know that almost all human faces follow a few basic rules of symmetry.
As you can see, the guy in the photo (me) has some guidelines drawn in red. These guidelines show
the following rules of facial symmetry:

1) Eyes are positioned at the vertical center line of the head
2) Bottom of the nose goes to the vertical center line of the bottom half of the head.
3) Ears go from the eyes to end of the nose.
4) The width of the eyes is roughly 1/5th the distance between the outer edge of each ear.
5) Eyes are one eye-width apart.
6) The width of the nose is the same as the width of the space between the eyes.
7) Lips are located one third of the way down the bottom quarter of the face.
8) Width of the lips is roughly the distance from pupil to pupil.

These are the general guidelines for a perfectly symmetrical face. If you follow these rules, you will
be able to properly position facial features when drawing a face. Now my face does not match up
perfectly and most people's faces will not, but that's what makes us each unique!
Step 3: Draw an Upside Down Egg


Yep, you read that right. Draw an upside down egg! It doesn't have to be perfect; just try to
approximate the face shape you want. Once you have that down, draw two center lines: horizontally
and vertically. Then, draw another center line but for the bottom half of the face.
Step 4: Draw the Ears


It's a little unconventional to start with the ears but trust me on this one. Just remember that the top
of the ears should start at the vertical center line of the whole face and extend to the vertical center
line of the bottom half of the face. Also, you don't have to make them detailed; an outline is just fine.
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Step 5: The Rule of Fifths


Place vertical dashes along the vertical center line at each fifth from ear to ear. This will set you up
to draw the eyes in the proper position. If you need to use a ruler to do this, feel free.
Step 6: Draw the Eyes


The eyes should be placed at the 2nd and 4th fifth that was sectioned off in the previous step. Each
eye should be shaped like a sideways raindrop with pointy ends. If you can't quite get it right the first
time, don't be afraid to erase and try again.
Step 7: Draw the Nose


First, draw a straight vertical line from the inside of each eye to the bottom center line as shown.
Then, draw the nose so that it lies snug at the bottom of the section that you just created.
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Step 8: Irises and Thirds


Get ready, this is a big step. First, draw the irises in your eye. These should be shaped like circles. If
you want to get fancy, chop off the top and bottom of each circle as if the eyelid was covering it.
Then, draw a line straight down from the middle of each iris to roughly the middle of the bottom
quarter of the face. Finally, split this bottom quarter into thirds with horizontal dashes. Whew! Got all
that? Awesome, let's move on to the next step.
Step 9: Draw the Lips


Draw the lips as shown. They should be placed between the lines you drew from the irises and along
the topmost horizontal dash you drew in the previous step. Lip shape and size will vary from person
to person so the width, height, and shape can be changed as needed. My only requirement is that
you place the line between the lips at that topmost horizontal dash.
Step 10: Add the Eyebrows


As you can see, each eyebrow is drawn right under a horizontal dash. The distance from each of
these dashes to the top of the eye is roughly the height of the eyes. This is the general rule for
eyebrow placement. However, every person's eyebrows are different so change this as needed.