Do you want to learn how to draw a baby face? Look no further! In this blog post, I will share many tips for drawing a child’s face with different facial expressions. We will also learn about the differences between a baby’s and an adult’s face. Let’s get started!
We need to get the facial proportions right to draw a simple but realistic child’s face, otherwise, the face might look off. I have explained the basic facial proportions so that you can check it out.
However, a kid’s face is slightly different from a grown-up’s face. The head of a kid will be rounder than an adult’s head. Their eyes can be a bit further away from each other than how our adult eyes are located. Kids tend to have wide-opened eyes and chubby cheeks. The facial features of a kid will be less clearly defined than the facial features of an adult. For example, their eyebrows have light colors and their noses are not as high as an adult’s nose.
In an adult’s face, the distance between the hairline, the brow line, the nose line, and the chin is almost the same. In a baby’s face, the forehead is usually higher than the length of the nose (or the distance from the brown line to the nose line).
If you look at the cheeks of a baby, you will notice that their cheeks are usually chubby as buns. Some babies have a double chin which makes their necks look short or even disappear.
Before we jump into the steps to draw a baby face, I highly recommend you read my post about how to draw facial features. The steps introduced in this blog post will focus on drawing the general shapes of a baby’s face from different angles (front view, side view, and two-thirds view) and how to express their emotions through facial expressions such as laughing or crying.
Kindly note that babies in different countries and communities will have different looks. For example, some have round eyes while some have long narrow eyes. This blog post will give you basic steps to draw generic baby faces. You can adjust your sketches based on reference photos.
The method I used to draw baby’s faces in this post is the Loomis method.
How to Draw a Baby Face (Front View)
To draw a baby face from the front view, follow the steps below:
- Draw a circle, then draw a square inside the circle. The distance from the center point of the circle to the edge of the square is about ⅔ of the circle’s radius.
- Define the hairline, browline, nose line, and chin line. The distance between the brow line and nose line should be shorter than the distance between the brow line to the hairline, and the nose line to the chin line.
- Draw the lines for the eyes, mouth gap, and the top of the chin.
- Outline the face including the ears, the jaw, and the chin. Because babies usually have chubby cheeks, we actually cannot see the jawbone but the bottom of the cheeks, so the lines should be curved.
- Sketch the facial features (eyes, nose, eyebrows, lips, ears). The eyebrows usually have a light color.
- Erase the straight lines and soften the sketch of a baby’s face.
- Draw a double chin for the baby
How to Draw a Baby Face (Side View)
Steps to draw a baby face from the side view:
- Draw a circle and a square as same as in how to draw a baby face from the front view. The circle represents the skull of the baby.
- Mark the hairline, browline, nose line, and chin line. Remember to keep the face short.
- Outline the shape of the face and the jaw. Draw the back of the baby. It should be a curved line as babies usually have fat on their necks.
- Draw the nose, mouth, and chin looked from the side view. It will not be a straight line but a combination of curved lines. Draw a double chin for the baby.
- Draw the details for eyes, lips, nose, and ear. We can only see one ear from the side view.
- Add eyebrows and hair to the baby’s face.
How to Draw a Baby Face (Two-Thirds View)
The steps to draw a baby face from the two-thirds view are similar to the steps to draw a face from the front view and side view. However, because the face is turning away from the viewer, we will see more of one side of the face than the other. The hairline, browline, nose line, and chin line should be curved lines. Imagine they are the strings wrapping around a sphere.
All facial features need to be drawn with perspective. For example, the eye that is further away from the viewer will appear slightly smaller than the eye closer to the viewer. The shapes of the features need to be adjusted so all features will point in the same direction as the face.
Drawing a Surprised Baby Boy’s Face (Front View)
When a baby is surprised, their eyes are wide-opened and they might open the mouth so the jaw is lower than regular. Because of that, the distance between the bottom of the nose and the chin is extended. When their mouth is opened, we can see their tongue and sometimes baby teeth.
Follow the steps in the image below to draw a surprised baby boy’s face from the front view. He’s actually looking slightly to his right side, so only a part of his right ear can be seen.
Sketching a Surprised Baby Girl’s Face (Two-Thirds View)
To sketch a surprised baby girls’ face from the two-thirds view, follow the easy steps in the image below.
How to Draw a Laughing Baby’s Face (Front View)
When a baby laughs, the jaw is also lower than usual. The eyes might be wild-opened or closed. We can see clearly the creases between the cheeks and the mouth. Some babies have dimples when they laugh or smile. The steps below will show you how to draw a laughing baby’s face.
How to Sketch a Laughing Baby’s Face (Two-Thirds View)
To sketch a baby’s face when he or she is laughing from the two-thirds view, follow the tutorial below:
How to Draw a Sad Kid’s Face (Front View)
Kids can express their face in different ways when they are sad. The edges of the mouth are usually lower than when the face is relaxed. Some kids have pouty faces when they are upset. The steps below will help you sketch a kid’s face when she is sad.
Sketching a Crying Boy’s Face (Front View)
When a kid cries, his or her eyes will partially close. There are tears running out from the beginning and the end of the eyes. The eyebrows tend to move closer to each other, creating some creases. The mouth can be wide-opened and the edges of the mouth are usually lower than when the face is relaxed.
Follow the guidelines below to draw a crying boy’s face.
The Takeaway
Learning how to draw a baby face with different emotions helps your drawings have more feelings and soul. It is important to understand how the eyes, eyebrows, and mouth change their shapes to draw a face with different facial expressions. Practice sketching a kid’s face with the step-by-step tutorial regularly will help you become better at portrait drawing.
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