The thirds must be wrapped around the side plane and front plane.Ī common mistake at this point is to make the jaw too long in comparison to the ball. 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. Z Axis - The twist is established by the angle of the center line, the angle of the oval and the placement of the oval on the ball.Īfter 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. Similarly, when the head turns away from you, more of the side plane is revealed and the oval will appear wider.
As the head turns towards you, you can see more of the front of the face and less of the side, so the oval representing the side will get narrower. Y Axis - The direction the head is turning (left or right) is established by the width of the oval. Also, on extreme up tilts and down tilts, the thirds will be foreshortened because of perspective. X Axis - The up and down tilt is established by the angles of the horizontal and vertical lines in the oval. The angle of the head is established at the very beginning of the drawing with the ball. This is a 3-D volume with a front plane, side planes, and bottom plane (bottom plane is seen from some angles).Ĭonstructing From Any Angle Step 1 – Determine the angle of the ball The top will start at the brow line and the back will start at the center of the oval. The top and bottom of the oval help you find the hair line and the bottom of the nose.Īttach the shape of the jaw. The horizontal line represents the brow line. The vertical line represents the beginning of the jaw. 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 sides of the head are flat, so we can slice off a piece from both sides of the ball. The head deconstructed into its basic forms, is a sphere as the cranium and a block as the jaw and cheek bones. I use a method taught by Andrew Loomis in his book, “Drawing the Head & Hands”. Ignore even the features and simplify to the most basic form of the head. This ability to simplify can be applied to the features of the face, but when starting the drawing you could look even further. Look past all the distracting details and visualize the underlying forms. To draw the head from any angle you must first understand its basic structure.