Drawing requires some time but the results can be wonderful.
Simple drawing utensils have been the basis of some of the most well-known pieces of art. Drawing faces is usually considered a challenge because features are created with illusions of shadows instead of hard edges. But drawing faces can still be entertaining, relaxing and a great way to pass the time. All you need to get started is good drawing paper, drawing pencils and maybe an eraser.
Instructions
1. Find a reference. You can take a picture of yourself making an expression, or search online for a satisfying human face.
2. Look carefully at your reference. The only difference between that and a face without expressions is that there is shading in different places. It is important to understand this because shading is ultimately what creates anything to look at at all. Notice that on the face there are not hard lines. There are just darker and lighter areas of skin. You will be imitating these on paper.
3. Lightly sketch a rough outline for the face. A simple shape like an oval will work. Do not worry too much about exact lines, but do worry about the size. You will use this rough outline to base the rest of your proportions off of, so if you do not like the size of the rough outline, you will not like the size of the rest of the facial features.
4. Put a small dot in the center of your rough outline. Look at your reference and find the center of that. Using your pencil tilted on its side, measure the width of the face of your reference. Using your pencil again, measure the width of your rough outline. Compare the measurements. If the reference is about the same size as your outline, all the proportions will be the same. You will use your pencil to measure the rest of the features. Measure the features in the center of the reference. The center point should be about the position of the bridge of the nose, if the face is full front.
5. Sketch out the nose using shading. Do not draw hard lines because lines will make it look like a cartoon. Study the expression of the face in your reference, and notice where the shading is that makes it look that way. Using your pencil to measure, sketch the eyes, nose and lips by shading around the areas where they will be. If the expression has a raised eyebrow, study the way the shading allows the illusion of a raised eyebrow and copy that. If you make a mistake, use the eraser.
6. Add wrinkles if the person is older or has dimples. You can use a hard line for this, but do so sparingly. A wrinkle may be a small sliver of darker shading rather than a hard line.
