Head Anatomy For Drawing

[Hebe Zuelke]

Thesides of the head are flat, so we can slice off a piece from both sides of the ball. From profile, this plane will be a perfect circle, but when drawing it from any other angle, it will appear to be an oval because of perspective. Divide this oval into quadrants. The vertical line represents the beginning of the jaw. The horizontal line represents the brow line. The top and bottom of the oval help you find the hair line and the bottom of the nose.

Attach the shape of the jaw. The top will start at the brow line and the back will start at the center of the oval. This is a 3-D volume with a front plane, side planes, and bottom plane (bottom plane is seen from some angles).

After establishing the angle of the ball, divide the face into thirds. The distance between the hairline and brow-line should be the same as the distance between the brow-line and bottom of the nose. Add that same distance to find the chin. Notice how the hairline and nose-line align with the top and bottom bottom of the oval when wrapped around the face. Imagine the head as a box. The thirds must be wrapped around the side plane and front plane.

A common mistake at this point is to make the jaw too long in comparison to the ball. Make sure to measure your thirds correctly and that they relate correctly to the ball. Notice how the shape of the jaw changes from various angles.

These two lines ensure that the eyes are positioned accurately on the same level. As you can see, those lines are slightly curved and travel slightly downward. This is because they repeat the cylindrical shape of the face and are seen in perspective from above the horizon level.

When drawing the corners of the mouth, and when deciding the width of the mouth, it is good practice to compare their location in relation to the eyes. Draw in your mind, or in the actual drawing, virtual vertical lines that travel from the mouth corners upward to the eyes. Next, compare the location such helping lines will intersect the eyes. Check the same proportion on the model.

Did you know that the groove centered below the nose and above the upper lid is formed very early in the development of a human embryo? In fact, it appears before most other body parts. This is where the two edges of a flat embryo fuse together, forming a three-dimensional shape of the head.

So enjoy more than a dozen tips on drawing the human head from one of our favorite artists Paul Leveille and then see about further embarking on a portraiture voyage with the sketches and insights from Everett Raymond Kinstler, a seasoned expert whose book, Impressions and Observations, is a must-have for learning artists.

You can simplify the structure of the human head by eliminating details and breaking down the many shapes into a few basic planes (see Planes, below). Practice drawing these heads or, better yet, try working from a planed plaster (or plastic) cast. Once you feel more familiar with the head, start drawing from a live model.

A Divide the area from the cheek down to the jaw into three basic planes: light, where the light source is brightest; darker, as the form starts to turn from the light; and darkest, as the form turns farthest from

the light.

B The way light is revealed on the planes of the head tells us how the head is shaped. Here, the jaw is dark because it turns back, away from the light. By contrast, the ear is much lighter because it turns out from the jaw and catches the light.

All adult heads look different, and yet they all have two eyes, two ears, a nose and a mouth. When I work from a model or a photo, I start by lightly drawing the fundamental proportions in pencil or charcoal. Then I make adjustments specific to my particular subject as I go along by concentrating on what I see (above).

On the ground plan of a square, however, any form may be built. The block moreover carries with it from any angle its perspective and its foreshortening, and it carries with itself the sense of mass.

Especially does it carry with itself the important element of the bilateral symmetry of the head -- a symmetry that is present indeed in all living things. A vertical line in the centre divides the head or the trunk into parts equal, opposite, and complemental. The right eye is the counterpart of the left; the two halves of the nose are symmetrical;

the limbs, except for changes of position, are exact though reversed duplicates of each other.

Camper, Professor Bell, and others have studied innumerable human skulls trying to discover some constant measurement by which to classify them as ancient or modern or according to race. They finally fixed upon two lines with the angle between them. The first passes from the base of the nose to the roof of the ear canal; the second passes from the upper incisor teeth to the prominent part of the forehead.

This angle is less in the older and less evolved races, and the vertical line approaches nearer the perpendicular in the newer races, especially the Caucasian. In the classical Greek head it even passes the perpendicular, although no actual Greek skulls in which this is the case have ever been discovered.

This angle, in the Caucasian races, is about eighty degrees. It is not easy to construct a block on such an angle, and it is very desirable to have a right angle. By dropping the horizontal line at its rear end from the roof of the ear canal to the tip of the ear lobe, and by drawing the vertical line from the base of the nose where it joins the upper

lip to the bridge of the nose, where it joins the glabella, we obtain such a right angle.

The top of the cage should be level with the top of the head, the bottom with the bottom of the chin; the border of the cheek should fit the sides. The length of the oblong front will equal one and three-quarters times its width. The cheek bones set back from the front of the cage about one-third of the distance to the ear.

From the lower outer corners of the forehead the wedge of the cheek bones begins; moves outward and downward until it just passes the curve of the cranium, then down and in, in a long sweep, to the corner of the chin.

The outer of these turns to become the plane of the jaw, which also is again divided by a line marking the edge of the masseter muscle, running from the outer border of the cheek bone to the corner of the jaw; and again making two secondary planes, one toward the cheek and one toward the ear.

The relations of these masses and planes is to the moulding of a head what architecture is to a house. They vary in proportion with each individual, and must be carefully compared with a mental standard.

Learn how to determine key forms, proportions, and landmarks of the human face to create more accurate drawings. With a professional artist as your guide, you'll gain confidence in approaching complex facial features, conveying an array of expressions from various rotations.

Study the head and face both front-on and from an angle, and discover how to approach and execute each facial feature using methods commonly employed by entertainment industry artists. This workshop features 10+ hours of self-guided study content and two live, one-hour mentor-led sessions.

Not everyone will be ready to take the leap to our more challenging courses straight after taking this workshop. If you feel you still have room for improvement, check out our Gesture Drawing 2-week workshops to continue building your drawing confidence and skills.

During my time at CG Spectrum my skill as an artist and concept artist specifically, raised to heights I'd never imagined possible. I fell deep into the rabbit hole during this course, only because CG Spectrum offered so much extra information.

The curriculum structure is very reasonable, with both academic basic theories and useful suggestions for career paths. Thanks to my mentors, Brian Huang and Victoria Sarkissian, who not only taught me drawing skills and design techniques, but more importantly, they also gave me the confidence to continue working hard.

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The very personal learning experience I had through CG spectrum encouraged me to dig deep with questions and figure out how to really improve. I got the attention I needed from my mentor and broke through the frustrating plateau I had been at before starting. Looking back on my old artwork, I'm extremely satisfied with how far I've come.

They know that the industry is full of experienced and trained people, and their goal is to find jobs for their student and not just pump out useless degrees. Instead of having a small understanding of the whole production pipeline, students have a competent and full understanding of specific parts of the pipeline. I honestly believe that these guys have built this institution to get people jobs and help grow the industry into something even more amazing than it is now. Big props to CG Spectrum.

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The benefit of studying the skull is that it helps you understand the underlying structure of the head. Most of the surface forms of the head are defined by the skull. Once you understand it, drawing heads gets a lot easier. For representational artists, learning the skull is a must.

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