Love drawing portraits but don’t know where to start? This blog post will give you easy steps to draw facial features including eyes, noses, mouths or lips, and ears. You will learn the basic anatomy of the features to understand them better and draw them more accurately.
At the end of this article, you will be able to draw a face from the front view and side view with more confidence. Let’s get started!
Facial features refer to the eyes (including eyebrows), the nose, the mouth, and the ears.
Learning how to draw facial features is necessary to draw a person’s face accurately. Even if the colors you used to paint a portrait are vibrant and beautiful, if the facial proportions and the facial features are not accurate, the final portrait painting will not look professional. There are four pillars of a painting you need to keep in mind, which are shapes, colors, values, and edges.
The accuracy of a face in drawing can be reached by locating the facial features at the right places and sketching the facial features correctly based on their anatomy and value (light and shadows). To locate the facial features at the right places, check out my guides for basic facial proportions.
We are going to learn the basic anatomy of each facial feature and I will walk you through the steps for how to draw facial features in a realistic style. Please keep in mind that different people have their unique facial features. What you are going to learn today are the basics. You should try to draw different types of eyes, ears, noses, and mouths.
How to Draw Eyes
Eyes are considered the windows to a person’s soul. When someone looks at your portrait artwork, they will more likely be attracted to the eyes first. Learning how to draw eyes is the first thing you should learn about how to draw facial features.
Before we delve into steps to draw the eyes, let’s look at its anatomy to understand how an eye is formed!
Understanding the Anatomy of an Eye
From the image, you can see different elements that form an eye. The eyeball is like a sphere with one iris. The iris is always round. However, it has an oval shape when we look at the eye from the side. An iris can be in different colors such as black, brown, green, or blue.
The pupil is in the center of the iris and is always round. However, the size of the pupil changes depending on the light condition and the distance between the focus points to the eye.
The eyeball stays deep inside the eye socket and is covered by the upper and lower eyelids. The eyelids are not paper-thin, so make sure you add some thickness to them when drawing.
Upper eyelashes are usually longer than lower eyelashes. Different people have different eyebrows.
Don’t forget to draw the tear duct at the beginning of an eye.
Drawing Eyes from the Front View
There are 12 detailed steps to draw an eye with a pencil. Below are the first six easy steps to create the shape of an eye.
- Step 1: Draw a rectangle and divide it into 6 smaller rectangles
- Step 2: Draw two circles for the iris and the pupil in the middle rectangles.
- Step 3: Sketch the upper and lower eyelids. From the front view, we will be able to see the inside edge of the lower eyelid. The upper eyelid will partially cover the iris.
- Step 4: Erase the rectangles and add the tear duct.
- Step 5: Soften the lines with curves and ‘color’ the pupil black.
- Step 6: Add the medium tone to the iris. Draw the long eyelashes pointing in different directions.
- Step 7: Sketch shorter eyelashes between the long eyelashes. Each long eyelash is supported by two short eyelashes.
- Step 8: Add more eyelashes to close the gaps between the eyelashes.
- Step 9: Add shadows and highlight to the eye. The eye comes to life after this step.
- Step 10: Define the position and general shape of the eyebrows.
- Step 11: Draw the eyebrows growing in different directions.
- Step 12: Add more eyebrows with different lengths and directions.
Drawing Eyes from the Side View
There are 8 simple steps to draw eyes from the side view.
- Step 1: Draw a circle with a cross going through its center point.
- Step 2: Draw the iris and the pupil. They should look like ovals.
- Step 3: Sketch the eyelids. Remember to draw the upper eyelid covering a part of the iris.
- Step 4: Mark the highlight on the iris. It is a curved line in front of the pupil. Erase some lines of the circle
- Step 5: Add shadows and highlight to the eyeball, iris, and pupil.
- Step 6: Add shadows to the eyelids. Draw eyelashes.
- Step 7: Sketch the shape of the eyebrows
- Step 8: Draw the eyebrows with different lengths, directions, and thicknesses.
How to Draw Noses
Learning how to draw a nose is the next thing you need in how to draw facial features. Different people have different noses with different sizes and shapes. Understanding the anatomy of a nose will help you draw a nose that looks more realistic.
Understanding the Anatomy of a Nose
Basically, a nose comprises a bridge, a nose ball, and two wings. The nose bridge is not a straight line if we look at it from the side.
If we look at the nose deeper inside, the top of the nose bridge is made of bones that attach to the skull. The second part of the nose bridge is made of cartilage.
The nose wings are made of fat and they have some thickness. The tip of the nose looks a bit like a ball.
Different people will have different noses, so make sure you keep that in mind when drawing based on reference photos.
Drawing a Nose from the Front View
To draw a nose from the front view, follow these 6 simple steps:
- Step 1: Draw a big shape of the nose. The length of the shape is about two times the maximum width of the shape. Add the center line to the nose’s shape.
- Step 2: Draw a thin curved line as the upper edge of the nose.
- Step 3: Draw the nose ball and the nose bridge. The nose bridge should not have two straight lines on two sides. Instead, it looks a bit smaller in the middle of the bridge.
- Step 4: Sketch the nostrils and the wings. The nostrils are not two ovals.
- Step 5: Add some shadows to the nostrils. Increase the size of the wings.
- Step 6: Erase some lines of the big shape sketched in step 1.
Drawing a Nose from the Side View
The nose should stick out of the skull when we sketch a face. The length of the nose is about ⅓ of the face from the hairline to the chin.
There are six steps to draw a nose from the side view:
- Step 1: Draw a big shape for the nose. It looks almost like a triangle hanging from the forehead.
- Step 2: Sketch the nose bridge. Remember that the nose bride is not a straight line.
- Step 3: Draw the shape of the nostril. We can only see one nostril from the side. It looks like a fishing hook.
- Step 4: Add the shape for the wing. Again, we can only see one nose wing from this perspective.
- Step 5: Erase the straight lines sketched in step 1.
- Step 6: Soften the sketch with curved lines. Add shadows to the nostril.
How to Draw Mouths and Lips
Similar to the eyes, the mouth can express feelings and emotions. When learning about how to draw facial features, you cannot skip learning about how to draw the mouth. Let’s have a glance at the basic anatomy of a mouth to understand it first!
Understanding the Anatomy of a Mouth
In this blog post, we will just look at the anatomy of a mouth on a basic level, so we can draw it quickly when we sketch a person’s face.
From outside the face, we can see the upper lip, bottom lip, and sometimes the teeth if that person smiles.
The upper lip is usually thinner than the bottom lip and it comes forward a little more than the bottom lip. The red ovals show you the muscles of the lips that help us move the lips.
The gap between the two lips is unique from person to person. When drawing the gap, try to use thin and thick lines instead of the same strong thick line. This will make the drawing more dynamic and make the mouth look more natural.
The bottom edge of the bottom lip can be a sharp line. However, the two ends of the lips should be soft edges.
Sometimes, we can see the gum when a person has a big smile. The teeth have different sizes. The line between the two biggest teeth in the front should align with the center line of the face.
Drawing a Closed Mouth (Front View)
Follow the following five basic steps to draw a mouth when it’s closed, from the front view.
- Step 1: Draw a cross. The horizontal line will be the gap between the lips. The vertical line will be the center line of the face and the mouth.
- Step 2: Draw the ovals and the heart to shape the muscles for the lips.
- Step 3: Sketch the gap line between the two lips between the muscle shapes. It should never be a straight thick line.
- Step 4: Sketch the edges of the lips with light curved lines.
- Step 5: Erase the muscle shapes, and add some shadows to the gap line and the ends of the lips.
Drawing a Closed Mouth (Side View)
Let’s learn five steps to sketch a mouth from the side view!
- Step 1: Draw a square and rectangles.
- Step 2: Draw a circle for the upper lip and an oval for the bottom lip
- Step 3: Draw the gap line and the edges of the lips. Make sure that the upper lip comes a bit forward compared to the bottom lip.
- Step 4: Erase the straight lines
- Step 5: Adjust the sketch and add some shadows.
Drawing a Smiling Mouth
Draw a smiling mouth easily with the following steps!
- Step 1: Draw a cross
- Step 2: Draw the heart for the upper lip, and two ovals for the lower lip, and locate the pointing ends of the mouth. When a person is smiling, the two ends of the lips will be pulled higher than when the person is not smiling. The lips will look a bit thinner and longer as well.
- Step 3: Sketch the edges of the lips.
- Step 4: Use thin lines to define where the teeth are located. Avoid using thick lines for the gaps between the teeth.
- Step 5: Draw the gum and the gap between the teeth and the lower lip, using curved lines. This will create the shapes for the teeth.
- Step 6: Erase the straight lines and soften the sketch. Add two wrinkles to the ends of the mouth.
- Step 7: Add more shadows to the gum and the teeth on two sides of the mouth.
How to Draw Ears
Drawing ears is what you definitely need to learn when you check out how to draw facial features. Different people have different ears. Ears are probably the most difficult feature to draw for a lot of people. So, how is an ear formed? Read on for the basic anatomy of an ear.
Understanding the Anatomy of an Ear
An ear is like a cave. It is formed mostly with cartilage and skin. From the side view, an ear looks like a question mark with the letter Y inside.
An ear comprises of helix, ear hole, and ear lobe. While the helix wraps around and outside the ear, the ear hole stays inside the ear. Keep in mind this so you can add shadows to some parts of the ear.
Now, let’s learn how to draw an ear from the front view and the side view!
Drawing Ears from the Front View
Below are five steps to draw an ear from the front view:
- Step 1: Draw a big shape of the ear. It looks almost like a letter D.
- Step 2: Sketch the helix. It starts from about ½ of the front of the D.
- Step 3: Sketch the Y. The end of the Y will connect with the ear lobe. The middle of the Y comes outwards from the skull.
- Step 4: Erase the straight lines and soften the sketch.
- Step 5: Add shadows to some parts of the ear.
Drawing Ears from the Side View
There are also five steps to sketch an ear from the side view.
- Step 1: Draw a big shape of the ear. It looks like a D but a bit fatter than the D in the front view.
- Step 2: Sketch the helix and the ear lobe.
- Step 3: Draw the Y.
- Step 4: Erase the straight lines and soften the sketch with curved lines.
- Step 5: Add shadows to create the 3-dimensional shapes of the ear. Add the ear hole with the darkest value.
Conclusion
If you are reading this conclusion, I hope that you have more confidence in drawing the facial features. Learning the anatomy of the features is one of the key things to help you draw facial features more accurately.
So, what’s next? Check out my blog post for how to draw a face. You will learn about the basic facial proportions and steps to draw a face from the front and side views.
Sign up for my newsletter to get more tips and learning materials for free via email!
