Easy tutorial with step-by-step instructions

In this tutorial you will learn how to easily draw a basic female face with the right proportions step-by-step.

In the past few years a lot of people have asked me to write a tutorial about facial proportions. When I asked you guys on Instagram what your greatest struggle is, the answer that came up the most was: “proportions”. “The eyes always look different” and “I never get the nose right” were the things you complained about.

Well, here I want to show you an easy solution to this problem by sharing my strategy on drawing a basic face with construction lines.

NOTE: I’m going to show you some basic guidelines, but always keep in mind that everybody’s face is laid out differently. They might be very close to these facial proportions – or they might be pretty different. At the end of the article you’ll find a photo of myself with guidelines to show some of these slight variations.

This tutorial is for everybody! You don’t need any prior knowledge or experience for this.

So without further ado, let’s just jump right into it!

Materials:

• Pencils
• Paper
• Eraser
• Ruler (optional)

Overview of the steps to draw a generic female face:

Get your FREE PDF instructions!

Free download

How to draw a face step-by-step

1. Draw a circle

We’re going to begin by drawing a circle. Don’t worry about being perfect at this point. You can refine everything later.

NOTE: Draw everything very lightly with an H or HB pencil, because we have to erase the guidelines later. We don’t want any lines dividing up our face on the final portrait.

Breaking down your motif into simple shapes helps you get the proportions right.

2. Cut off the sides

The next thing you need to do is slice off the sides of the circle.

Your sketch should look something like this:

3. Draw six equal squares

Next, add a horizontal line at the bottom of the circle.

Then, I want you to divide the circle in half vertically.

Now add another horizontal line above the bottom line. You should place the line so that it creates two equal squares.

Repeat this one more time on the top and one more time at the bottom to create 6 equal squares. You can measure the distances for every square but you can also draw by eye.

The squares don’t have to be perfect. Remember, you’re just drawing rough guidelines.

4. Draw the contour of the female face

At this point you can start drawing the contour of the face.

The hairline starts at the top horizontal line and the chin starts at the bottom line. Draw the jawline and cheekbones at the sides of the face and use the squares for guidance. Now the outline of the face is done.

5. Draw the neck

Next, add two lines from the jawline downwards to give the head a neck.

6. Draw the eyes and eyebrows of the female face

The next step is drawing the facial features. I always start with the eyes and eyebrows. The eyebrows are placed directly under the second line. Try to place them in the middle of the squares, leaving equal empty spaces on the left and on the right.

For the eyes you can draw an optional horizontal line which should divide the whole head (starting from the top of the circle down to the chin) in half. The pupils of the eyes should be placed on this line (see images below).

For the distance between the eyes, try to imagine another eye in the middle.

7. Draw the nose

Next, draw the nose.

To find the right position for the nose draw two vertical lines from the inner corners of the eyes down to the circle. This marks where the sides of the nose will end.

Draw a small circle in the middle for the tip of the nose and then draw two more small circles on each side for the sides of the nose. You can also draw to lines reaching from the eyebrows to the nose to mark the nasal bridge.

8. Draw the mouth

Draw the mouth in the next step. The mouth should be a little wider than the nose and the line between the lips should be relatively straight.

9. Draw the ears and hair

Now we’re almost done! In the next step, draw in the ears and the top of the head. The ears are positioned right in the middle of the squares. And for the top of the head you just have to trace the circle. Depending on the hairstyle you’re choosing, this line can vary.

That’s it! You’re done with the basic sketch. Now erase all construction lines.

Because people look different and facial features will not always look the same you can use this basic sketch as a starting point to further define your portrait. Allow yourself to play around with the facial features and create a character that is unique!

Here’s also a shaded version of this generic face – feel free to complete your portrait sketch using this as a guide for shading. If you’d like another tutorial on how to shade a face, let me know down in the comments!

Reality check

As promised at the beginning, I also want to show you that these guidelines don’t apply to every face. Have a look at this photo of me for example. My face is thinner, and also the space between my eyes is smaller than in the portrait sketch. Naturally my mouth is a lot wider because I’m smiling.

This tutorial is designed to give you a better understanding of facial proportions. But what I want to emphasize is: Don’t let these guidelines limit your creativity.

Hope you liked this tutorial! I’d love to see your drawings, tag me on Instagram so I can see them (@sabrillu_)
If you’d like another tutorial on how to shade a face, or how to draw a generic male face, let me know in the comments below!

Do you use Pinterest?

Save this image to your board to find it later:

About me

I’m Sabrina Hassler, an artist from Austria. I love drawing detailed pencil drawings of both people and animals. I work with publishers and advertising agencies any many of my illustrations appear in books or on various products. Apart from drawing, I enjoy sharing my knowledge and techniques with other creative people. On this blog I share drawing tips and tricks and helpful resources for you to practise what you have learnt. Take a look at my portfolio of different works.

Maybe you’re also interested in these tutorials: My best tips for pen and ink drawings How to draw skin tones

This post How to draw a female face was first published on Illustration & Drawing Blog.

Guest Post

I am very happy to show you this super helpful tutorial that the lovely and very talented Anna prepared for us.
Anna supported me as an intern for 4 weeks and is currently studying to be a graphic designer. In her spare time, she draws playful characters and is also a real professional when it comes to realistic drawings. At the moment she prefers to use coloured pencils for her creations and can help us understand the complexity of skin tones in this tutorial.

Preparations

Before we can start, you first need a suitable portrait photo that you want to draw (as an exercise, you can also use the same photo I used). It doesn’t matter whether you have your photo printed out or in digital form. These are the drawing materials you will need:

• Coloured pencils (I used Polychromos from Faber Castell)
• and the basics, such as erasers, sharpeners and paper

Option 1: Analyse Colours Digitally

I first divided the skin colours in Photoshop using “Posterize“. If you have access to a computer with an internet connection, you can also download a (free) photo program (e.g. Gimp) and try it out yourself. The number of colours in the picture is reduced and colours that you wouldn’t have noticed before become more visible in larger coloured areas.

What this tone separation shows us is that there are many unusual colours hidden in a person’s skin! In the picture you can see the individual areas and below them some colour boxes with the most important skin tones.

Of course, you won’t find all the colours that you’ve just discovered as colouring pencils in your box. This is why you need to apply and mix different colours on top of each other to get the right result.

I can assure you that there is a way to mix any colour!

Take a white sheet of paper and try to mix the skin colours as similarly as possible with your coloured pencils. You can also use this practice sheet for mixing colours.

Write down exactly which pens you used so that you can select them again later for your drawing. I find this method very helpful. Even if you don’t have that much experience, you have at least chosen the right colours!

Option 2: Improve Your Colour Perception

If you only have a printed photo to hand, or would prefer to work without digital help, this tip can definitely help you!

For this you’ll need a white sheet of paper in the same format as your photo, a pair of scissors / cutter and a set square. Draw a 1cm x 1cm square in the middle and then cut it out.

Then you put the paper on top of the photo. Move it so that you can see different areas of the skin through the hole. Because you only see a small section of the skin, you can focus on each individual colour. This “little window” allows you to see the colour as a sectioned-off area on the white paper. The comparison with the white of the paper will help you to objectively analyse the color. This way your clever brain can no longer tell you that every face is only made up of pink tones. 🙂

The next step is the same as in option 1. Take a second sheet of paper and place it next to the window. Try to recreate the shade you see through the hole with your coloured pencils.

Part 2: Drawing Process + Video!

When drawing with colored pencils, the following applies in general: Use even movements applying the same pressure and add several thin layers on top of each other from different directions.

Step-by-step: Drawing Skin Tones With Coloured Pencils

1. Sketch the outline of your portrait.
2. Lightly erase the sketch so that it becomes only slightly visible. (a kneaded eraser is very suitable for this)
3. Start your drawing with a first layer, which should serve as a base. I used the brightest pencil for this. Choose a neutral color. In my case it was a light, warm shade of grey. Try to apply this first layer very evenly to dark areas and leave the light areas lighter or completely white.
4. Then start in the darkest area of ​​the face. It is always easier to make dark areas even darker afterwards instead of making light areas lighter. For example, if you start in the light area and it turns out to be too dark, it is difficult to touch up with an eraser later.
   

   Therefore, always start drawing in the darkest areas of your portrait. Warning: that doesn’t mean you should draw with the darkest pencils first!

5. Always work your way from light to dark.

   Work in very fine layers without applying a lot of pressure. Take your practice sheet to hand – you have already written down all the colours that you need for your drawing. Then always choose the lightest colour you wrote down for the colour field and slowly work your way to the darker colours.
   In my case, I started on the far left (near the ear) with light green and light brown and then gradually built up the right shade with dark brown and dark grey. I used a lot of brown, grey and green in the neck area

   You shouldn’t use black at all at the beginning. The darkest accents are best set at the very end, when it is already clear what light-dark balance the picture has or needs.

6. It gets significantly lighter on the cheeks and warm shades such as purple and red are used.
   

   Tip: Try to draw in small curved movements, this will give you smoother transitions.

7. When you are satisfied with the colours and shades, take your lightest coloured pencil (white or grey) and move it in a curved motion over darker areas that you would like to appear “softer“. The pencil will blend the underlying colours and make the surface appear smooth. Repeat the same for the light areas of the face with a white pencil.
8. Finally, take a dark coloured pencil (dark brown or black) and use it to  set contrasts. For example, under the chin there is a space that separates the face and neck, which you can emphasize a little. This way you give your drawing even more contrast. Remember to be very careful with the dark tones. Black and other dark colors are more suitable for drawing eyelashes and hair.

Wow! What an amazing tutorial! A huge THANK YOU to Anna for sharing her tips on how to draw skin tones using coloured pencils with us!

Your turn!

Did you try the tutorial? How did it go? What strategies help you to draw lively skin tones with coloured pencils? Tell me about it in the comments and

TAG SABRILLU IN YOUR DRAWINGS ON INSTAGRAM

Do you use Pinterest?

Save these pictures to your Pinterest-board for later:

Find more tutorials here:

How to draw a female face

In this easy step-by-step tutorial you will learn how to draw a beautiful female face with the right proportions. You only need pencils and paper, let’s go!

Read more

Draw a rabbit with pencils

In this easy step-by-step tutorial you will learn how to draw a realistic rabbit with different pencils. Drawing animals is so much fun!

Read more

My 5 best tips for pen & ink drawings

Here are my 5 best tips for learning how to draw with pen & ink. So grab your drawing materials and improve your ink drawings instantly!

Read more

This post How to Draw Skin Tones With Coloured Pencils | Video Tutorial was first published on Illustration & Drawing Blog.

What steps can make drawing hair easier? What are the basics you should know to get realistic and natural results when drawing hair?

 

Yes, drawing realistic hair is a painful subject for many. A lot of skill and patience is required to achieve great results.

This blog article is especially helpful for those who like to draw people or animals. It is so much easier once you know a workflow with which you can create believable, natural hairstyles and fur.

Materials:

• pencils (H-4B)
• black coloured pencil (e.g. Faber Castell Polychromos*)
• blending stump or cotton swab
• pen-style eraser (e.g. Tombow*)
• regular eraser
• drawing paper

 

*unremunerated advertising

Save this photo to Pinterest.

More about portrait drawing

This post Video-Tutorial: How to Draw Realistic Hair with Pencils was first published on Illustration & Drawing Blog.

I recently tried drawing on black paper – it feels like drawing a “negative portrait”
It means that instead of going from light to dark, I worked from dark to light this time.

It was totally exciting, because I was only drawing the light, since the shadow was already there.

Here are my results: I’m particularly happy with Ian 🙂

Have you ever tried drawing something on black paper before? Feel free to leave a comment!

Credits:

Ian McKellen
Photo: Andy Gotts

Nikola Selezinko
Photo: Agata Serge

If you’re planning on drawing on black paper, you should know that the quality of your supplies is really important. Please do not use any cheap white colouring pencils, because you will most certainly be disappointed. To achieve decent results you will need a very opaque white crayon or chalk. I can say from my experience that oil-based colouring pencils (like Faber Castell Polychromos) will get you the best results, because they are far more opaque than regular colouring pencils. I’ve listed some of my favourite white chalks and crayons here – to help you find the right supplies!

Materials for drawing on black paper:

• Black paper
• Daler Rowney white soft pastel crayon
• Conté a Paris pastel pencils
• Faber-Castell Pitt Graphite Pure 9B
• Faber Castell artist pastel white
• Faber-Castell Polychromos white

Visit me on Instagram to see more portraits like these! Or hop over to my Pinterest to check out my boards.

Wishing you lots of inspiration!
Sabrina

In this article I’ll show you HOW TO DRAW A PORTRAIT

This post Drawing on Black Paper was first published on Illustration & Drawing Blog.

Some time has passed since my last post, but I have not been idle. I have discovered a lot of new things in the past few months and some new projects and collaborations are in progress. At the same time I also took the time to continue working on my skills and made some studies. Here you can see a portrait drawing, which I completed at the beginning of this year. Drawing this portrait was very difficult at the beginning – but I found a surprisingly easy way to deal with it!

I actually started the drawing a few months earlier, but wasn’t satisfied with it. It sometimes happens to me that when I concentrate on a drawing for a few hours, I suddenly become “blind”. Although I see that something is not 100% correct, I can not depict what it is. What helps me in this situation is to put the drawing aside for a few days, weeks, or in this case months, and return to it later on. Then suddenly everything makes sense again and I can work effectively on the parts that I want to improve. 🙂

To the artists among you: Do you know this situation?

Materials:
I used Strathmore Toned Tan paper, white chalk, various pencils (HB-9B), Faber Castell Polychromos and a blending stump for this portrait.

Here are two of my most popular drawing tutorials you might find interesting:

I am also on Pinterest, sharing my latest drawings, making-of videos, tutorials and drawing inspirations with you! Make sure to check out my collection

This post How to deal with a Difficult Drawing was first published on Illustration & Drawing Blog.

Nature as the source of inspiration

Yes, spring is here. You see it, you smell it, you feel it. Simply a wonderful time. Have I told you that spring is my favorite season? 🙂

That’s why I created three spring-themed drawings! I hope you like them 🙂

I used pencils on paper for all drawings and scanned them afterwards to add some colourful accents.

Who am I?

Hi, my name is Sabrina. I’m an illustrator and artist from Austria and this is my drawing blog. Do you want to know more about me or my work?

About

My Portfolio

This post Spring-Portraits was first published on Illustration & Drawing Blog.

View this post on Instagram

In this video I'll show you how I draw portraits with pastels, charcoal and graphite on toned paper. #portrait #artoninstagram #portraitzeichnung #timelapse #drawing #zeichnung #processvideo #process #howtodraw #illustration #artist

A post shared by Sabrina Hassler Illustration (@sabrillu_) on Mar 23, 2019 at 12:04pm PDT

Here are the materials that I used for my portrait drawing

Materials

Of course you don’t have to buy all the pencils and utensils I’ve used. Instead, to begin with, these materials are enough to draw a beautiful portrait:

• toned paper (e.g. brown or grey)
• white chalk
• pencils (HB – 4B)
• charcoal or black coloured pencil
• eraser
• sharpener

Quick Start Guide

In addition, you can find more detailed instructions with step-by-step pictures on “The Creative Universe” – the link to my article is above!

I hope you enjoy trying it out and look forward to hearing your questions and your experiences!
Sabrina

Here’s a picture you can save to your Pinterest

This post How to draw a portrait was first published on Illustration & Drawing Blog.