Facial Features

Facial Feature Download HERE.

Lightly sketch out the ENTIRE face and the placement of features BEFORE you get into any detail. Many a great eye has been lost because the rest of the face wasn’t planned out before getting into detail. Use GUIDELINES – A LOT.

• Eye Line – 1/2 way between the top of the head and the bottom of the chin.
  • There is about one eye width between your eyes.
  • Your head is wide enough, ear to ear, to fit 5 eyes across.
  • A good way to proportion your eyes before you draw them is to break the width of the head into fifths.
  • The upper lid has a larger curve than the lower lid.
  • The pupil has the brightest highlight on the face (eyes are always wet).
  • The upper eyelashes are thicker than the lower.
  • The moist lid has a thin highlight along its upper edge.
  • Eyelashes begin in the corer of the lids and are thickest toward the outer curve.

• Nose Line (where the septum meets the upper lip) – 1/2 way between the eye line and the bottom of the chin.
  • The width of your nose (wing to wing) is about the same as the space between your eyes. (One Eye Width).
  • The darkest shadows are next to the apex – where it recedes into the eye sockets.
  • Nostril openings face downward and should not be overstated.
  • One third of the way up the nose, bone replaces cartilage and narrows to form the apex.
  • The tip is spherical and is usually highlighted.

• Mouth – 1/3 of the way between the nose line and the bottom of the chin.
  • You can fit an eye width between the mouth and the bottom of your head all the way around.
  • Your mouth is about as wide as the distance between your pupils.
  • Take careful notice of the darkness and length of the center line of your mouth and lips.
  • The center line should be one of the darkest parts of your face.
  • The highlight is on the top part of the bottom lip and darkens as it curves over.
  • The top lip tends to be in shadow.
  • The upper lip tends to be longer than the bottom lip.
  • Your mouth is formed over your teeth, it is not flat in the front.

• Ears – They fit in the space between your Eye Line and Nose Line.
  • Cartilage around the ear forms a question mark outer fold with an inner fold curve.
  • The opening of the inner ear is slightly lower than the center of the ear.
  • Earlobes lack cartilage and are flat.

• Hairline – 1/3 – 1/2 (varies) of the way between the top of the head and the eye line.

• Neck Width – about the width of the outside corner of one eye to the outside corner of the other.