Head Structure, Anatomy, Proportions, & Process

Anatomical References

Initial Structuring & Basic Proportions

• Start with a basic oval for the face
• Add the center vertical axis and horizontal axes to denote placement of features:
• Eyes - above midpoint of the head
• Nose - midpoint between eyes and chin
• Mouth - midpoint between nose and chin
• Hairline - ⅓ - ¼ of the head height

Head Structure

• Ears - horizontally line up with eyes and nose
• Corners of mouth - vertically line up with center of each eye
• Upper lip - usually slightly narrower than the lower
• Nose - begin with end of nose as a sphere and connect to eyebrow line
• It helps to lightly draw eyebrows curving into the nose because in the skull, there is a connection between the brow ridge (bone above the eye socket) and the nose
• Eyes are placed deeper, behind the nose in the eye sockets; there is about an “eye” distance between the eyes
• Pupils - never draw as a full circle; they are slightly covered by upper and lower eyelids
• Find the outer form of the face observing the distance from the features - remember indentations at the eye and chin level

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Head Structure (continued)

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• Start with a basic almond shape
• Stretch the upper outer and lower inner of the eye slightly
• Add upper eyelid - observe the shape
• Lower eyelid has narrow depth
• Pupils - slightly covered by upper and lower eyelids in a regular relaxed facial expression
• Lashes - thicker at the upper outer eyelid; never draw as singular and equally distanced hairs
• observe the particular differences in the expression of the lashes

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Eyes

Nose

• Nose - begin with end of nose as a sphere
• Sides of the nose - narrow at the top and become wider to connect with the ball of the nose
• Add the “wings” at each side of the ball of the nose
• Nostrils are under the nose, not in front and never seen as a full opening

Mouth

• Start with the general shape of upper and lower lip
• Shape the lips more specific to the subject
• Shape the center line between the lips
• There are inditantions at corners of the mouth that extend slightly outside of the lips

• Find the overall shape of the hair; observe the negative space of the forehead and the outline that hair forms
• Observe the outer gesture line that the hair forms at the top and sides of the head - it is never smooth or perfectly round
• Never draw hair as singular strands but show as volume with details of texture in areas of mid-tone when shading

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Hair

Looking down:

• Observe the proportions

of face to hair; forehead

to lower part of face; of

nose to chin, etc

• Observe points of visual

connection between the parts: i.e. shoulders to cheeks

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Profile:

• Width of top of head = to height (top to chin)
• Neck angle - slightly forward
• Observe how much torso is visible
• Observe placement/foreshortening of the shoulder - how much is visible in relation to neck and chest

Head in Motion

¾ view:

• One side is narrower than the other; center axis is shifted
• Observe proportions of forehead and hair on each side
• Shoulder placement/foreshortening in relation to center axis - how much each is visible in relation to center axis

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Shading Process

• Observe the light source
• Observe lightest and darkest areas - compare the rest of the values to these two
• You can block general values in a lighter tone first to establish overall value structure OR work area by area and continue comparing the values as you work
• Respect the local tone of skin, hair, eyes, lips
• Go from light to dark, from general to specific
• Keep layering values to support the form by adding darker tones and highlighting the lighter areas

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• Add values on the neck - there is usually a shadow on both sides of the neck and under the chin area - depending on the light distribution and with consideration of anatomy and position of the head/neck

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Points that support likeness:

• Shape of the eyes and upper eyelids
• Width and shape of the the nose and nostrils
• Line between the lips, and shape of the mouth
• Contour of the face
• Overall hair shape including small hairs that escape or stick out in certain ways

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• The eye area is darker closer to the nose and sides of face - remember that eyes are sitting inside the sockets and will have some shadow
• The white of the eyes are often toned down slightly to support the overall value structure as the eyes are placed inside the sockets and are not on the surface of the face
• The upper lip is usually slightly darker than the lower due to its angle
• There is a shadow under the hair and the hair is darker closer to the hair line
• Do not outline: use contour line to show more linear elements of the face, head, and hair
• Regardless of your visual expression, value keeps your drawing organized, adds form, volume, and supports likeness
• Value and shading marks may also be an expressive tool through contrast - from calm to strong

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There are numerous ways of expression in portraiture:

sensitive/specific, expressive, value/contrast based, etc. While learning to structure the portrait, allow for experimentation of form, composition, & mark making

Observe the specifics of each person:

• face contour
• distance from features to facial contour line
• shape of eyes, top eyelids, nose, mouth
• hair shape as it forms the face
• overall shape of hair and outer contour

• Head in ¾ view:
• proportions of left to right side of face change
• features change in size and placement from left to right sides
• observe shoulders in relation in each other and to each side of the head
• Strong contrast effect:
• less details visible on shadow side