Expanding On the Skull: Drawing Male Faces!

Drawing male faces is challenging unless you already have a good sense of what to build upon. Think of the skull and the face muscles as the framework you must build on.

A beginner will make the mistake of drawing what they want first, usually the eyes, and then measure their entire faces based upon this groundwork.

Unless you already have a good understanding of the entire face already and can picture it mentally, this approach will always lead to frustration because you have not considered lighting, shadows, and perspective.

What's the best way to start? It's simple: focus on the whole rather than the specific parts! Get out your digital tools and we can begin looking at the best ways for drawing male faces.

1. The framework

I want to begin by bringing in the previous lessons about drawing the skull and painting the face muscles.

How you want to construct your face is up to you. However, drawing male faces, and any other faces for that matter, requires memorization of key points on the head.

From the example, you need to memorize where the middle intersection points which will cut the face horizontally and vertically.

It is this intersection where we will build all our other points from. Build the cranium from a ball shaped and have it end just below the nose. From there, focus on the chin and the rest of the face. Remember where the muscle points are as well.

2. Creating your own head

What you memorized is what you will use for drawing male faces. In this example, I do not use any exact guidelines.

Instead, I took what I remembered and built a basic framework of the head where I can build upon. With my digital art tools, I begin making a basic outline.

Notice how I highlight that key intersection in the middle of the face and started building a perspective point from that? It is that middle section that will determine the pose. Hence, starting from the middle and expanding out should always be the preferred method.

The point is that you can make any face, in any position, if you know where the points are. Use your eyes to feel how to divide your head.

3. Creating the planes

From the basic framework, we will use the planes to create depth. Light and shadow, as well as proportions, will be slowly reveled as we work on each of the planes.

Start with the indentation plains around the eyes. Then, alter the planes so it protrudes upwards and forms the nose. From there, form the mouth and then the rest of the chin.

The more specific the planes are, the better sense of depth you can accomplish.

4. Building the face

The final steps takes the planes and actually creating a face out of it. At this point, it's just expanding on the planes to create the necessary traits for your characters.

Consider such things as where the light will hit and will not hit. Use a dark color to paint shadows to bring out where the light doesn't hit. Switch to a lighter shade to paint where the light hits.

At the end of the day, how natural you will progress is determined by what you know. Any signs of awkwardness in the flow of your drawing suggests that, perhaps, you may want to take a step back to study the face again and in more detail.

Take your time to really study the male face! Don't just practice; practice in a smart way. You can have a million drawings, but if it's all the same, then there's no point as you haven't learned the key elements that will help you create it freely.

It takes a lot of patience, practice, and knowledge to get a feel for drawing correctly in general. Any shortcuts will only hinder your own knowledge, and consequently, your drawing skills in the future.

Therefore, it's always important to build up that artistic foundation!

Return from Drawing Male Faces to Painting the Head.
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