A considerable part of people dream of learning to draw just in order to paint portraits. But not everyone realizes that depicting people on paper is one of the most difficult tasks in drawing. How to draw a person's face and what subtleties need to be considered - read on.

Before you can draw a complete person, you must learn how to draw individual body parts. If you have already mastered the drawing techniques and want to go further - to learn how to draw a person's face with a pencil - then you will need certain supplies (paper, a set of simple pencils, an eraser, a ruler) and a little patience.


It is best to practice pencil drawing from nature, but since you are a beginner, you better start with simple sketching from a photo to "get your hand". At first, you can generally make it easier for yourself and sketch from ready-made drawings, but do not get carried away - your progress should not stop.

How to draw an oval face

First you need to learn how to draw the oval of a person's face correctly. Remember: a person's face is more rounded up, and downward - more pointed. You will have to practice well to keep the proportions of the face and its symmetry.

If you think you've practiced enough - great, now let's start drawing the oval.


After you draw the outline of the oval, separate it with lines: a vertical axis in the center of the oval and two parallel horizontal axes that intersect the vertical line along the perpendicular. The first horizontal line should divide the face slightly lower than half, and the second line further divides the rest of the face in half.

You can make markings for the face: where the nose will be, where the mouth will be. The nose should be approximately on the vertical axis, and the lips should be under the lower horizontal axis.


Your next step is to outline the mouth and nose along the lines in the drawing. Mark the lower lip with a wider space between the lines. The nose can be located approximately between two horizontal lines.

How to draw eyes and eyebrows

The eyes should be just slightly above the nose, and the inner corners of the eyes should be connected to the outer lines of the nose. You can first draw yourself auxiliary horizontal lines at eye level.


For the classic proportions of a human face, the distance between the eyes is equal to the length of one eye, so use a ruler to be accurate. Follow the cut of the eyes and do not draw it too sweeping - there should still be free space for the temples between the eyes and the outline of the oval.

Try to draw both eyes at the same time so that they are as identical as possible. If you draw completely one eye, and then the other, then this similarity may be lost.

Start drawing the eyebrows from the inside. The height of the eyebrows can be determined by imagining another imaginary eye above the eye. Of course, the eyebrows will not be straight like our guide lines - they are always slightly curved.

Depicting anger, the eyebrows are brought to the bridge of the nose with the inner sides down. For a sad emotion, the inner corners of the eyebrows, on the contrary, we raise.

How to draw a mouth

To draw the mouth in proportion, draw two lines from the inner corners of the eye (iris) downward. Where these lines intersect with the lips will be the future corners of the mouth.


The upper lip is drawn curved, with a small hollow in the center. The lower lip is drawn larger in size, approximately two-thirds of the entire mouth. If you want to draw an open mouth, increase the distance between the lower and upper lips, while making the lower one plump using a rounded curved line.


After that, you can erase the inner contours that we drew at the very beginning. We now have a complete sketch.


Now we need to detail the person's face. Draw the eyes - they require special attention, then the cartilage of the nose, cheekbones and chin. Remember, the widest face will be at the level of the cheekbones.

How to add volume

And the last step is to add volume by painting shadows. You can use any pencil drawing technique: both shading and shading. You should have an understanding of where the light can be and how the shadows will behave. Darken the area under the nose, the outlines of the cheekbones, the hollows of the upper eyelids and the hollow under the lower lip.

When drawing the ears, do not forget: the upper tip of the ear coincides with the upper eyelid, and the lower tip - with the tip of the nose.

Keep in mind that you need to perform each line subtly, without pressing hard on the pencil and not pressing it into the paper - it will be easier for you to erase all the auxiliary lines later.


If you want to learn how to draw anime-style faces, then you will have to master a completely different technique.

We suggest watching a training video with which you will learn how to draw a person's face with a pencil in stages:

Keep in mind that the recommendations above are mostly for the classic, ideal face shape and are suitable for beginners. However, if you want to fully master the art of portrait in the future, you will have to learn how to draw completely different types of faces and from completely different angles.

Today we are going to draw a person's face. Many people mistakenly believe that only a select few talents can draw. This is not true: everyone who has the desire and patience can learn to draw correctly. Knowing the basic proportions and construction rules will help you correctly depict a person's face. Read the following article and try to draw the face in stages.

Axes and proportions

When drawing a person's face, it is imperative to study and constantly draw centerlines easily.

With experience, it will be possible to do with one or two guides, or even without them. You don't need to think that the axes are boring and uninteresting, they will help you quickly and correctly build a face with the correct proportions, the same eyes, and symmetrical parts.

In the future, visualizing these axes visually, you will be able to work with human facial expressions and emotions. Indeed, to show sadness, you need to lower your eyebrows and the corners of your mouth, close your eyes, and for this you need to imagine at what level all these parts of the face are in a state of calm.

Eye line

The first and main axes that you definitely need to remember are:

The line of eyes in all adults is in the middle of the head.

Axis of symmetry and eyes

We divide the oval of the head into two equal parts horizontally - the eyes will be located here. We also outline a vertical line of symmetry.

It is difficult to do this by eye at first, so test yourself by measuring out the same line with a pencil or ruler.

Nose hair eyebrow line

Next you need divide the oval of the head with horizontal lines into three and a half parts... The upper axis is hair growth, in the middle is the level of the eyebrows, below is the axis of the base of the nose. The distance from the hair to the eyebrows is equal to the height of the forehead. In fact, a face (excluding hair) consists of three equal partswhich are equal to the height of the forehead.

Mouth and lip line

Next, let's designate the lips. To do this, the lower part of the face (from the nose to the tip of the chin) needs to be divided in half - this way we will find the line of the edge of the lower lip. To determine the level of the mouth incision, you will have to divide the segment from the lower lip to the nose into four more equal parts. The first quarter will be the mouth line.

Mouth and lips

For most people, the mouth is at the same level, but the sizes of the upper and lower lips are completely different.

Where to place the ears

Oddly enough, but very often with a more or less successful construction of the face, the ears are attached at all in the wrong place where they should be located. Therefore, we will pay special attention to the auricles.

Place the ears correctly

At the top, the ears are attached to the axis of the eyes, and below at the level of the base of the nose. They can be large or small, stand out strongly or stick to the head, but they are attached to all people on the line of the nose and eyes.

How to place your eyes correctly

How to find out the width of the eyes and the distance between them? To do this, the eye line must be divided into 8 equal parts.

Outline the eyes

• Another eye should fit between the eyes (2/8).
• Each eye is 2/8 wide.
• From the outer corners of the eyes to the contour of the head, leave 1/8 (the width of half of the eye).

These are rough guidelines. For different people, these proportions are slightly different. It is not necessary to divide the axle into 8 parts every time, just test yourself.

This photo shows with light lines that:

• the corners of the eyes are flush with the wings of the nose
• and the center of the eyes is in line with the corners of the mouth

Face drawing scheme

Actually, if you outline all the guides, then you should get the following scheme. You can print it as a sample, since it is difficult to remember everything at once and practice drawing a person's face with the correct proportions.

Schematic representation of a human face

Later, you can give faces the features of specific people and paint portraits of everyone who interests you.

At this point, we will finish with the axes, proportions and guides and start drawing.

We draw in stages

Today we will not be drawing a portrait of a particular person, but will learn to create quick sketches with the correct proportions and placement of all the main parts.

Face painting is a skill that improves with experience. If you have never painted portraits of people, it is important to first learn just at the level of mechanics and repetition how and at what level to place the eyes, nose, mouth, eyebrows, ears, and the relationship between them. To do this, look at the diagram in the previous section, and easily apply guides.

Repetition is the mother of learning

We designate the shape

The first stage is the simplest, we need to outline the shape of the face, it is easiest to inscribe it into an oval, egg-shaped or other rounded shape. The vertical axis will help to create a symmetrical drawing, the horizontal axis will help to show the eyes correctly.

Outline the basic elements of the face

All previously outlined lines will help us build a face. These axes must be applied very lightly, barely noticeable, so that later they can be easily and inconspicuously erased.

There is not much difference from what exactly you start to draw facial features, the main thing is that you do not get stuck and concentrate on one thing: nose, eyes, lips, eyebrows.

First quickly and easily outline all parts of the face without going into detailswithout trying to be too precise. We apply all lines very easily, so that it is easy to fix.

If something is crooked, inaccurate, you can fix it in the next step.

We clarify the shapes and sizes

At this stage, we correct the size and shape of the eyes, ears, eyebrows, nose, lips, and refine the shape of the face. We fix everything that went wrong in the previous step.

Add details and shadows

With the help of strokes add shadows near the nose, eyes, under the upper lip, and select the cheekbones. We draw hair. Show the neck and shadow on it.

This portrait is rather primitive, and not worked out, but such a quick sketch is enough for training.

In the next lessons, we will definitely consider the nuances of drawing eyes, nose, lips and ears. We will also consider facial expressions and emotions of a person, but for all this, you definitely need to practice well.

Video tutorial

Video how to draw a person's face:

I hope this tutorial was interesting and useful for you.

I wish you success in your work!

Write comments and send your work

If you are drawing a portrait of a man, then remember that there are a number of features that distinguish between drawing a male and.

It is necessary to remember about masculine facial features, the severity of individual parts of the face, about coarser and clearer lines. It is necessary to draw a man's face in such a way that the portrait conveys the individuality of the person, his character and masculinity.

Where to start drawing?

First, draw a circle, lightly touching the tool you are drawing with.

It is most convenient to draw a man's face with a pencil, so arm yourself with a hard-soft (TM) simple pencil.

This method should be used if the face is facing directly to you.

Sketch the lines of the cheeks, cheekbones, chin and jaw.

To do this, with light movements, determine the future location of these parts of the face.

How to identify parts of a face in a portrait?

To do this, with light strokes, draw lines that will define the location of the ears, mouth, nose, eyes and eyebrows.

Parts of the face

After that, sketch out the shape of the parts of the face, giving them the required dimensions.

Do not press too hard on the tool, as this is not yet the final version of your portrait. It may be necessary to make adjustments that are easier to make if there is no trace of the previous lines on the paper.

Hairstyle and neck

Once you've drawn the parts of the face, it's time to move on to the hair and neck.

To do this, also draw with light lines the future hairstyle and define the neck. Remember, the neck doesn't have to be very thin. Start drawing from approximately the middle of the cheekbones.

Highlighting parts of the face

Get a tool that has a thinner tip than you used before.

Draw in all parts of the face, including the hair and neck.

We finish drawing parts of the face

You need to draw the final outline that will be present in the final portrait.

To do this, use the tool of the desired color to outline the contour of the portrait and those parts of the face that require emphasis and selection.

Preparing a portrait for color decoration

Before you start designing your portrait, prepare it for this. To do this, use the eraser to delete all auxiliary lines and strokes.

Ultimately, you should have a finished drawing in front of you, but no color scheme for now.

Portrait decoration

If you decide to depict the portrait in color, then take the required palette of colors and apply the desired shades on parts of the face.

If you want to leave the portrait in black and white, then it's time to move on to applying shadows.

Shadows in the portrait

Correctly drawn shadows allow you to give a man's face masculinity, to make individual parts of the face more expressive, such as the eyes, lips or chin.

With strokes, apply shadows to the eyes, cheekbones, chin, neck, do not forget to draw expression lines and put shadows in the corners of the mouth.

Each of us is surrounded by thousands of people. It would seem that we have learned to the millimeter the proportions and features of the human body. But here's the paradox - draw a man much more difficult than that which you have only ever seen.

Sometimes, when you draw someone, you wonder - not a person, but some kind of alien. If you also fail to draw people, as they say, do not pass by - here you will find a lot of useful and interesting things for yourself.

And the very first thing is this video that will show you how to draw a boy and a girl.

Even ancient artists, drawing a person, tried to divide his body into equal parts, so that it was easy to correctly recreate the proportions of the figure. After all, knowing the ratio of individual parts of the body to the figure as a whole, you can easily draw a person. At the same time, of course, we must not forget that all people have their own characteristics.

So, drawing a person, for the unit of measurement we take the size of the head.

The height of an adult man or woman is 8 head sizes, the height of a teenager is 7, a student is 6, and a baby is only 4 head sizes.

Proportions of people of different age groups

Before drawing a person, remember a few important nuances.:

• the arms should end at the middle of the thigh,
• elbows are at waist level,
• knees - strictly in the middle of the leg.

Did you know that the height of a person is equal to the length of the arms spread apart, and four head heights fit in the length of the legs?

But what delighted me even more was the size of a human foot. It turns out that its height is equal to the height of the nose, and its length is equal to the length of the forearm.

See how a man and a woman should be drawn correctly in different positions.

And now I will show you how to draw people in stages... I assure you that with a master class from Pustunchik it will be easy and simple.

How to draw a boy

If you need to draw a boy, use the following diagram. And I will tell you how and what parts of the body you need to draw step by step.

1. Draw an oval for the boy's head, then a small neck and a rectangle for the torso.

2. Draw another rectangle from the bottom, divide it in half. These are the legs. Draw the rectangular arms. On the upper large rectangle, make the curves from the neck to the arms - these are the shoulders.

3. Erase the extra lines on the shoulders. Draw the neck of the jacket, the seam lines (but not to the end), where the sleeves are connected to the main part of the jacket. Draw the fly and folds on the slingshot pants. Now sketch out the shoes and hands. For a detailed diagram showing how to draw the hands, see the right.

4. We start drawing the head. First draw a cross - it will point to the middle of the head and determine the location of the eyes. Two arches, two dots and one small bow at the bottom of the head are the top of the eyes, the future nose and lips. The ears will be located at the level of the nose and eyes.

5. Draw the eyes, draw small circles in place of the points - nostrils. Now move on to the eyebrows and hair.

6. Erase the extra lines and with light pencil movements mark the folds on the clothes. Add details. Congratulations! The boy's drawing is ready.

How to draw a kid

This drawing is perfect for any comic book, and you can also draw it in kindergarten or for a student elementary grades... The funny little toddler will be a godsend for the school exhibition of young artists.

1. Draw an oval, mark the eyes with dots, show the baby's nose and mouth with two bent arcs.

2. Mark the corners of the lips, draw the ears and hair.

3. Draw a trapezoid at the bottom of the head - the body of the boy. Do not forget to separate the blouse from the pants with a straight horizontal line, and show the pants with a vertical line.

4. Draw the sleeves.

5. Now draw the arms and legs for the child.

6. Fingers on hands are separated by lines. That's all! Little mischievous guy is ready for pranks :)

Draw girls

Three beauties at once on one sheet. Do you want to have such fashionistas in your album? Then draw these charms more quickly!

1. Draw sketches of friends.

2. Create hairstyles and clothes for them.

3. Add details: belt, lace sleeves, leg warmers, handbags and so on.

4. Draw faces for girls, make folds on clothes, highlight accessories. Add uniqueness to each of your friends' shoes.

Great job!

You will learn more about how to draw lips, nose, eyes of a girl from the following video. I warn you, the master class is not for beginners, so be careful not to miss important details.

Draw the girl's face. Part 1

Draw the girl's face. Part 2

How to draw a guy

Every girl at least once in her life tried to draw the guy of her dreams. It is, of course, different for everyone. But for now, let's just draw a guy with glasses and a cool T-shirt. Go?

1. Make a template for a person.

2.Use the guide lines to draw the head and arms.

3. Draw the hair, nose, lips. Put the guy on the glasses.

4. Trace the contours of the guy's body. Draw the hands. Add shadows with dashed lines. Draw a line for the neckline of the shirt.

5. Remove unnecessary lines. Sharpen the contours of the man's body.

Well! Macho with a serious look and cool glasses is ready to win hearts!

Anyone can learn basic portrait painting skills. The teaching methods are designed for observation and the ability to build an image according to the rules; knowledge of anatomy and the theory of chiaroscuro is not required. How to learn to draw a person's face with a pencil? It takes patience and attention to detail.

How to learn to draw people?

To create a pencil drawing, you need:

• paper;
• black-graphite pencils (sanguine or charcoal require skill in use) with hardness HB ... 6H (up to 9B);
• auxiliary tools - eraser, sharpener or cutter.

Basic principles of construction and markup

The human head is proportional and symmetrical (not complete symmetry) about the vertical line. With the help of marking, the position of the parts is determined and a portrait resemblance is obtained. The average face is built according to a general scheme, the difference in racial and personal characteristics of the structure of the skull makes adjustments.

An example of constructing a diagram using a base circle (the center of the circle coincides with the center point of the forehead).

The construction of a face in profile can also be started with basic circles; for the correct structure of the skull (without anomalies), the displacement of the centers is equal to ¼ of the diameter.

Attention! The profile picture shows approximately half the length of the eye, this should be taken into account when calculating.

Detailed drawing of the face

In order to learn how to draw a person's face with a pencil, the difference between a portrait of a certain person or a generalized image is taken into account. In the first case, the proportions are determined by the features of the structure of the face, including racial, special features (asymmetry, scars, malocclusion or the characteristic shape of the eyebrows). In the second, the desired type and the intended character of the character are invented.

An important stage in the drawing is the detailing of the eyes. The shape of the eye, the position of the corners (raised or lowered), the height and volume of the eyelid, the length of the eyelashes, the size of the iris and the pupil are set.

The illustration shows a sequential drawing from schematic to detailed, with shadows and highlights on the pupil, eyebrow and eyelash hairs, with shading shading.

The nose and mouth are drawn in the same way, taking into account the anatomical features.

For front-to-back drawings, the auricles are built in a simplified way, for a profile portrait - in more detail.

Drawing shadows is performed after building the structure or in parallel - depending on the skills and manner of drawing of the artist. Practicing skills requires training on realistic models under the guidance of a mentor.

Important! Feather the shadows as needed using a piece of paper or your finger.

Influence of anatomical and racial features on portraiture

The characteristic racial features - the width of the nose, the position and shape of the eyes, lips, forehead - are shown in the comparative drawing of a male face below.

For a clear understanding of the reasons for the differences, it is advisable to study the anatomy of the human skull under the guidance of a teacher, since the nuances of the drawn images are difficult to understand.

An important stage in understanding the features of the structure of the face is the drawing of a "chopped" head from a model. The lesson gives an understanding of the position of the main planes of the skull, taking into account the facial muscles.

When creating a drawing of the head, you can apply shadows to the entire image or work on individual areas in turn. To obtain a photorealistic image, the features of a particular picture are taken into account, including the sharpness of shadows, clarity of features, and contrast.

Step-by-step training in drawing, master classes

You can learn how to draw a person's face with a pencil on your own, but the process will go faster with personal training from a portrait master. Classroom lessons:

• accelerate progress by fixing typical mistakes and advice;
• improve drawing technique;
• save time searching for information - it is presented in an easy-to-understand form, concisely;
• make it possible to use visual aids and sample drawings.

In ours you can quickly learn how to draw photorealistic portraits under the guidance of an experienced artist and teacher, a master of portrait drawing. A comfortable environment, an individual approach and professionalism of teaching are the key to the rapid development of a new type of creativity.