The Basic Forms
To draw the head from any angle you must first understand its basic structure. Look past all the distracting details and visualize the underlying forms. This ability to simplify can be applied to the features of the face, but when starting the drawing you could look even further. Ignore even the features and simplify to the most basic form of the head. I use a method taught by Andrew Loomis in his book, “Drawing the Head & Hands”.
The head deconstructed into its basic forms, is a sphere as the cranium and a block as the jaw and cheek bones.
A Sphere as the Cranium
The sides of the head are flat, so we can slice off a piece from both sides of the ball. 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 vertical line represents the beginning of the jaw. The horizontal line represents the brow line. The top and bottom of the oval help you find the hair line and the bottom of the nose.
A Block as the Jaw and Cheek Bones
Attach the shape of the jaw. The top will start at the brow line and the back will start at the center of the oval. This is a 3-D volume with a front plane, side planes, and bottom plane (bottom plane is seen from some angles).
Constructing From Any Angle
Step 1 – Determine the angle of the ball
The angle of the head is established at the very beginning of the drawing with the ball. All three axes must be addressed:
X Axis - The up and down tilt is established by the angles of the horizontal and vertical lines in the oval. Also, on extreme up tilts and down tilts, the thirds will be foreshortened because of perspective.
Y Axis - The direction the head is turning (left or right) is established by the width of the oval. 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. Similarly, when the head turns away from you, more of the side plane is revealed and the oval will appear wider.
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.
Step 2 – Find the thirds
After 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. 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. Imagine the head as a box. The thirds must be wrapped around the side plane and front plane.
Step 3 – Add the jaw
A common mistake at this point is to make the jaw too long in comparison to the ball. Make sure to measure your thirds correctly and that they relate correctly to the ball. Notice how the shape of the jaw changes from various angles.
Step 4 – Add the features
With this basic structure properly established, it becomes much easier to add the features in the right place. Check back for more information about specific features in a later post.
- How to Draw Eyes
- How to Draw the Nose
- How to Draw Lips
- How to Draw Ears
* * *
Practice inventing the head from all possible angles. Get a sketchbook and fill an entire page with little heads. When drawing without reference photos, you quickly realize where your weaknesses are because you can’t rely on copying. You can only work with what you know.
UPDATE – 08-17-2012
Made a video version of this tutorial. Subscribe to my YouTube channel ProkoTV for more videos.
Great idea to show skull & line drawing comparison
I found this useful in understanding the underlying form & volumes.
OK, this is extremely clear and direct. I read the tutorial and then I sketched and took notes from the tutorial in my sketch book, this helped a great deal as it confirmed areas I did or did not understand.
Next I invented angles (ups, downs, and twist combinations) to confirm the knowledge. Stan, you did great, the tutorial brought me furthest along than any other reading of this subject to date. Your skill and clarity in communicating this is exceptional.
Wow bev, thanks for the warm compliments.
I like how you took notes and then actually applied the information. Very important to retain what you’ve learned.
Thanks so much for this tutorial. I have many drawing books, including those by Loomis, but none of them explained a clear method for drawing the head at various angles. Without this tutorial I would still be struggling so thanks again for the explanation.
nice work
I agree with Rochelle ideas,although reading many books which has no assistance to me.
Your explaination is very concise and easy to learn.
Good jobs.
Thanks guys! Keep studying those Loomis books though. They’re filled with great information.
Finding a brow line and a face center lines is easy – you just make them up and make them look kinda perpendicular to each other. I’ve got that – great explanation. But one question I find more difficult – any tips on how to find the size and location of side ellipse? I mean, when you say “we slice off a piece from both sides of the ball”, how do you find exactly how much and where to slice off?
Ivan – GREAT QUESTION! The oval begins at the side plane of the face. The best place to see this side plane is the edge of the forehead. First, I measure the width of this oval and then try to fit the largest possible oval within that area. You will end up with a little bit of space above and below the oval to the edge of the ball. That’s normal.
But remember, it’s not a perfect science. Head shapes vary from person to person.
This tutorial is simply brilliant. ‘Nuff said.
(Okay, maybe not enough)
Before now I have always been limited to drawing the basic 3/4 pose in my cartoons. I spent twenty minutes practising this method and now I’ve got my characters jumping around in all kinds of positions.
Really nice job on the tutorial Stan. After looking at dozens of different books, videos and websites for tips on drawing the head, this one is definitely the best I’v seen.
thanq for this site………….thanks a lot.
Very nice tutorial!
Started practicing and finally got things to work again. I’ve been “out” for several months, bu this really set me back on track.
In comparison to most books this tutorial really highlights the importance rules to draw the basic shape. Definatelly the best!
This is a great tutorial. I’ve been poring over Loomis’ head books for some time and lately I have been having a heck of a time getting the basic structure down. Using the cross on the cut-off plane is brilliant.
However, I am having trouble following your response to IvanD about where to place the “slice”. You are placing it based on the forehead, but beyond that I am not following your description. Could you talk about the side oval a bit more?
Thank you so much!
To clarify, I should sat PLACEMENT of the side oval.
Thanks again, this is an awesome break down of Loomis’ method.
Hi Stanislav great turorial, can I translate it in my language ? (ITA) for my blog
thanks
paskuale,
That is ok. I sent you my conditions in an email.
thanks
Thanksssssssssss
Richard – many people have a hard time understanding the oval. where do you place it and how big? I might write another post about it in the future or include a better explanation in a portrait book I’m writing. Can’t promise anything soon.
The best I can do in a comment is to mention that the width of the oval depends on the twisting (y-axis) of the head. Find the part where the forehead begins to become the side of the head – this is where the side of the oval starts. The height of the oval is always the same. Refer to the Loomis book to see the relationship between the ball and the oval.
Hope this helps!
This was really helpful! I could never find any clear tutorials for head angles. Thank you so much for making this!
This tutorial has inspired me to start drawing again!
I was never taught a simple way to draw angled heads so I’ve stayed away from drawing people at all costs! Now it’s a piece of cake!
Thank you soooo much!
This help to the poin that I no longer have to “improvize”…
It REALLY pays off to pay attention in anatomy class! But again, you have simplified it in a very digestible form…
Being someone that wants to work in the comic book industry, I think this tutorial was VERY helpful. I feel like I got screwed out of learning good principles for the head, and this really helped me understand more. Could you by change do a tutorial on feet and hands/arms?
Woow !! I found it was help me a lot. Thank you for making these tutorials!
woah. nice tutorial. very helpful indeed.
with this explaintion,I can understand loomis’ method more clearly .Thanks a lot!!!
In drawing number four, it seems the teacher has the concept of ovalness wrong, it is a vertical, not horizontal oval when the sides are cut off. The heads models at the end and so on, are all correctly drawn…
I could explain this easier if I could draw here. your work is excellent…
If you like the tutorial..read the book. It is enlightenment to the creative for sure.
Hey, I just stumbled on to your site, but I’m very glad that I did because, you are the only one who has been able to convey to me how to understand the human head as a 3d form, and I really want to thank you for that. I’ve been looking in books and online trying to understand it for so long and now I finally do. Thanks!
I think this is helpful, thanks.
Excellent explaination of the angles. Cannot find this in other books
Thanks!
Nice succinct explanation!
This is awesome. thanks for posting this i’m goin to use it alot.
Hey Stan
thanks a lot for your nice explation of the method of the andrew loomis approach
Great tutorial! Really helped me find the form of the head!
Only problem is that I having trouble using it and keeping my heads from looking too rigid and mechanical. I’m also not totally sure how to use it for softer female faces. I’ll have to play around with it until I find out.
Thanks again!
This was extremely helpful to me, thank you!
I had been searching the net looking for a method that would allow me to draw the head in essentially any pose but I had a lot of trouble finding anything. So many sites are simply trying to give you a recipe for drawing eyes at such-and-such a distance from the bottom of the nose and la la la, elementary school art class stuff. This simple method helped more than any of that!
why not get Andrew loomis drawing the head and hands book
he is very agle
Thank you so much for this tutorial it has given me a better understanding of drawing the head. Practice makes perfect and that is what I will be doing with your help. I can’t thank you enough. Thanks again!!!
tis is a perfect subject and i really liked it
Great Blog Stan! Thanks for all the info
I am a professional artist and this is good instruction. Congratulations.
Do you have anything on how to draw noses from an angle for cartoons? I can’t seem to find ANYTHING for it…
Do you have anything on how to draw nose angles for cartoons? I can’t seem to find anything like that on the web…
I have a question.
Especially on female heads, at angles such as 3/4 views, you will see the contour of their farthest cheek. This construction method accounts for the bone structure itself, but not the flesh padding.
How does one know where to place the cheek?
Thanks for the great tutorial, BTW!
Jojo, great question!
I usually start with the average line that I’ve shown in this tutorial to get the basic angle. Then I will add the contours of the brow ridge, cheek bone, muzzle, and chin afterwards. Those contours change a lot depending on the person’s type. I do it mostly through observation.
The cheek bone usually fits in the middle third of the face. Relating it to the placement of the nose helps me.
Susie, I don’t have anything on this site specifically for cartoons. Try searching for tutorials on caricature. You might find some good info.
Thanks for the response! Helped me out a lot!
I am always looking for different ways to direct my students in the process of drawing. By far, your tutorials have been THE most useful. I refuse to share with my students the ideas and concepts of any mediocre artist. GREAT WORK!
CMagellen – Thank you! Glad my tutorials are helping your students!
I have the Andrew Loomis Head and Hands book but I can’t understand one thing: starting the head as an oval/ a whole. I understand that for this the eyes become the half way point, but what about the placement of the nose and chin? Is the nose halfway from the eyes and chin? Or are the measurements different?
Thanks
nice hey!
this is a brilliant lesson on different angeles of the face and how to approach the drawing of them it is such a help as I am studying portraiture thank you
Hi Stan – I’m teaching myself to life draw correctly, in part using Loomis’s instruction, and just found these tutorials – I’ve seen a lot of tutorials and these are great. Could you tell me what kind of pencil you use? Loomis uses something similar, it looks like something that’s soft and dark without being smudgey like charcoal. I’m intrigued! Many thanks.
kp, i actually do use a charcoal pencil on SMOOTH newsprint when drawing from life. Specifically, Conte 1710 Black B or 2B.
Don’t flatter yourself. All the comments likely come from established experts who didn’t need this grossly simplified tutorial or people who’ve yet to try it, it isn’t useful at all.
The oval indeed gets more narrow as you turn at certain angles, this is an obvious slice of fact you numbnuts but you don’t tell them exactly how narrow it should be at every angle as we don’t all have 3D models running in our brain.
If this requires a tool you should’ve fucking said so.
This might be useful for geometry majors or people who’ve had it explained to them better than you did but that’s what the problem is. You don’t explain why it’s a perfect circle at certain angles, there are some arbitrary trace out lines in some examples (like the segmented line in the first drawing) you don’t explain the purpose of…
Deliberately made to be confusing and yet simultaneously inaccurate, you don’t help us draw certain features or even give us a front profile so we know exactly where this rhetoric sphere should be cut.
it is very helpful for the art students on there subject of applied art students. and this is very helpful to me as well cause i am an art student so it is helping me very much by reading this it is easy for me to make an human skull.
thank you very much.
Hmmm, good tutorial. I can’t stop thinking that the jawline is extended too far back on the head that’s looking down, though.
Confirm/Deny?
“Thisisashittytutorial”, you are a douchebag! Either you are a crappy artist or have a personal axe to grind with the author – or both. He merely clarified Andrew Loomis’s technique. And the level of the tutorial clearly says beginner. Let’s see your link where you do better. Put up or shut up.
Matt – maybe a little bit
It is very helpful for us.Thank u for this help.
I got a lot more out of this tutorial as far as the breakdown of the sckull. I think that your explanations are a lot more simplified and more understandable than in some of the books I have read especially the way you slice off the sides of the sphere to make the cranium. I also took some notes and applied it to creating different angles myself and have been practicing and I can see a difference in the way I can draw the head now. Thank you.
Valuable info. Fortunate me I found your website by accident, and I am surprised why this accident didn’t took place in advance! I bookmarked it.
you’re confusing the crap outta me. Is the reason you’re heads aren’t appearing to be equal in half in half ratio because of the angle their at?
yes
How about from the back of the head, straight on or slightly toward
one side or the other? Yes, sometimes you DO need to put a life-like
back-of-the-head into a picture with several or many figures in it. How do you do it?
perfect thanks
This is way cooool!!!!
If your looking for tips on how to draw realistic faces.. I also found them at this site.. http://www.drawrealisticface.com , great stuff as well..
Excellent post, matey! Yer post be mighty great fer when I draw me comics! But even with th’ instructions that ye provided, I still be having trouble in figuring out how to draw a head looking up from head on, rather than at an angle o’ any sort. YARR PLEASE REPLY! Thanks fer th’ post, sailor!
Really I thank you from bottom of my heart. You are very helpful to understand the form of head in simple 4 steps.
Thank you master
very useful,thanks.
Tigers back but he was never gone hes
Thank you–very helpful and beautifully done!
thanks
Awesome demos! Could you please do a demo on figure drawing and storyboarding.
Thank you!
figure drawing for sure on it’s way. Storyboarding, might have to wait a while.
I am a beginner and the information is helpful. Kotie
Bro, I would kiss you if I could, seriously. Thank you so much for this little guide. I couldn’t grasp the side oval concept for the longest time until I came across your method, this has encouraged me so much to get back into drawing, thanks again.
My drawing professor showed my class how to draw a head in class, but when I tried it on my own I struggled a lot. So I found this tutorial and it helped so much! I showed my drawings to my professor and she said this is even more advanced than what she showed the class to do, but you made everything so clear. Now I’m back to find one on drawing hands! Hopefully I can find one on this site
Very good. My 6th grade art teacher used eggs,circles and sausages!
Thanks for showing this tutorial! Your website is really helpful. Because this made me understood loomis approach a lot better.
Keep up the good work, Stan!
thank you so much for whoever created this because i was getting so pissed off with trying to learn drawing faces on angles.this really helps me so much. I’m a senior in high school and I’m planning on becoming a illustrator and i have to learn this, so yea this has been a great help to me.
Those tutorials are truly amazing, and real help to me. The problem is that I’m a self learner and for understanding purposes I’m trying to make full 360 spin of the head but I encounter difficulties along the way. Does anyone know a good forum where I could post my work and have my mistakes pointed out ?
deviantART, conceptart.org, and CGHub are the most popular. I’m thinking of creating a membership area on proko.com where people get premium videos and also critiques from me. Would you be interested?
Yeah, that would be great. For now I started topic at http://conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?251433-ZenZen-s-sketchbook&p=3555996#post3555996
Thank you so much! I get it now! I really benefited from your explanation of the different axises.
this video and online tutorial is amazing! I’m so happy, watching this makes me look like a proffesional out of a few easy steps
i am yet another person who loved this demonstration/lesson, i do alot of 3d cad work for engineering and it has helped me make much better more complex objects now
This was very useful to me, thank you.
Wonderful tutorial. Very clear and easy to follow. I’m struggling with drawing heads but this helped a lot. Thanks
Your tutorial is done quite professionally and very much to the point – nice change from majority of tutorials on the topic. I would love to see additional tutorials on process of drawing stylization, line economy, ideal proportions, space division and different approach in moving from photo-realism to abstraction..
This based highly on the loomis method. but very straight forward.
Was that a matzo ball you sliced for the temple? It looked delicious. I’ve actually just started the same loomis book but ran into some issues with trying to turn the head shape in space. I became stuck in the prerequisites of the head construction and your vid REALLY helped out with some extra details and measurements that would made the already great Loomis book a lot better if they were included in it. Thank You.
muy buen ejercisio,me ayudo mucho,me gustaria saber como se coloca lo mas dificil,para mi que es la nariz,en el rostro desde todos los angulos posibles o los mas importantes a estudiar,tengo un libro de dibujo de jack hamn,pero no explica a fondo las perspectivas a 3 cuartos en cuestion del rostro y pos consecuente las de la nariz
es muy bueno tu trabajo,espero ser igual de bueno algun dia.
me gustaria compartir algunos trabajos que eh hecho,espero sea posible
good bye.
Thanks so much, I just discovered your excellent videos (and therefore your work and loomis) by chance. And i’m starting working the lessons.
Anyway, as other people mentioned, the exact oval representation isn’t quite clear for beginners like us, also the extension and orientation of the lines (front & head brow).
One difference with loomis method is that he starts from the crossing point (where middle line crosses brow line) and you start with the oval. My question is : how do you place the middle line once you have the oval?
So much easier to understand with the video, rather than just reading how to draw the head. Thank you!
i found this very useful, iAM A BIGINER
Thank you, this tutorial really helped me out.
I have been studying Andrew Loomis for a while, but could never quite grasp how large to make the oval. The measuring by thirds really helped. Your video as well as the accompanying text and illustrations are excellent. You have done a fine job simplifying and illustrating his method.As all good teachers, you have anticipated where the student would sdtruggle. Keep these coming- really helpful.
Linda
wonderful tutorial, well explained, professionally produced – big thanks.
I volunteered to do a ‘pop-art’ style comic strip and got stuck on a head view from behind, so the view was looking over his shoulder and could see back of ear/side of face, very difficult angle but this tutorial when applied correctly sorted out exactly what would show and what wouldn’t, solving a very difficult exercise for me, cheers Stan!
ya, none of this is exact. Everybody you draw will have slightly different proportions and so this method is just a guideline. You must train your eyes to see relationships. People want exact rules, but they don’t exist.
The center line should be in the middle of the front plane, in perspective. So the far half of the front plane will be smaller than the closer half. How much smaller? Well that depends on how much the head is turned away and how rounded the cheekbones and forehead are. Again, it’s not exact. With practice you will be able to ‘feel’ where it goes.
this is just perfect! thank u thank u very much for the wonderful tutorial
Hey there, I stumbled on your tutorial and I felt it was exactly what I needed!
Hope you don’t mind me sharing it here:
http://adinastudio.wordpress.com/2013/01/08/drawing-the-head-from-any-angle/
Have a great day!
Hi Stan, thanks for these videos, this is quite an extended explanation of the loomis method, which I feel has help to unravel some of loomi’s explanations. It is also helpful to have further explanations. Cheers. I was also wondering if you would be will ing to do some crits of work, to help further my drawing. I have been drawing for some time on and off and am no spring chicken, I feel that I can become more proficcient with a little bit of friendly criticism. I know you are busy and may not have the time, but any hoo no problem either way. Thanks for the free vids.
Jeff
somewhere in the UK
sure, where do i see your work?
howdy stan, I have been posting on concept art forums under the sketchbook forums the link to my art is below,
http://conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?200378-life-Ddrawing-2009-2010&highlight=maninmoon1
The link takes you directly to my sketchbook. Thanks for having a look, this is very much appreciated. Be as honest as you like. I am still trying to improve, but I work all day now and am starting to draw more in the evenings.
Cheers in advance
Jeff
Some where in the UK, Morecambe to be precise.
Thanks so much. You’re videos are better than i was even hoping to find!
I’m 11 and I’m pretty good at drawing for my age but all the videos I see can be so confusing.this was so simple to follow thank you so much!(although I disliked the math part I’m just kidding lol)
wow … ive just got back into drawing after a long break and your tutorials are fantastic, nicely presented, clever and clearly explained. my heads now look like heads and im off to buy a loomis’s book.seems like one that any oen wanting to draw figures and faces should have.
This is such a great tutorial! I hope that you don’t mind, but I featured it on the weekly Tutorial Spotlight that I do over on my website! http://dynamitecandy.com/?p=222
Thank you for sharing your techniques with us!
Terrific! You have explained this technique very clearly. Now to start practicing.
Man you are good! Plus your tutorial really helped me a lot i am going to start practising right away.
Your tutorials are great and very helpful. Comprehensive, yet not boring at all. Million thanks!
Is there anyway I can print this out. I know it sounds crazy but as a mom of four I have time at sports games to practice drawing. I’m exhausted in the evenings. I wanted to print this out so I can practice while I’m away from the computer
Stan, thank you SO MUCH for taking the time to make this tutorial. You did an amazing job explaining everything and this has been incredibly helpful to me – it has helped me the most so far out of any head-drawing tutorial I have come across and I keep it faithfully bookmarked on my PC.
Much love from a beginning artist.
All browsers have a print button so you can print any website. You can even make a selection and just print the selection. One of your kids old enough to show you how to do that?
Jeff, sorry for the long wait. I took a look at your thread and I’m really impressed with your commitment and discipline to draw the skulls and asaro heads. Most people would get tired of it after a few drawings. Your discipline will pay off.
I can see improvement in the cleanliness throughout the thread. In Te beginning you were too messy and scratchy with the line work, then it got much better.
In the beginning I think you used too much dark, but later on I think you’re not using enough. Even if you’re drawing with graphite you should try to get some dark accents with a 4b or 6b. It will make your drawing pop.
Focus on shape. Sometime your proportions get skewed and asymmetrical. I noticed it a lot in the brow ridge and cheekbones looking inflated. Make sure you’re dropping plumb lines and comparing major angles
Good job buddy! I think if you do your 10,000 hours with this kind of discipline and momentum, you’ll be greatly rewarded.
Hello,I was looking for some tutorials for drawing heads and and I came across your article.And I’m very impressed!!It’s so explicit.
I was too afraid to start learning drawing because everytime I tried to study anatomy I wanted to kill a guy.It’s just …so complex.0_0
After practicing your methods,I think I *finally* know how to draw heads.Thanks.
Incidentally,you are very handsome. ^_^(donthurtme)
Sorry for my bad English.(I’m from China)
Blessings,Kefira
Wonderful and attractive besides of the greatest impressions
great work.thank you very well.
Andrew Loomis went over this technique in his book Head and Hands. He doesn’t know who came up with it. It works ok. Honestly, the anatomical knowledge can make this technique seem moot. As the anatomy needed to make it work correctly, kinda supersedes the helpfulness of it (i.e. if you know the anatomy you don’t need the technique). Plus, I find this method can be difficult for beginners. I’d recommend you practice drawing toothless skulls without any helper-lines. Once that’s down, it’s just the pain and torment of correctly placing features. Then the personal hell of expressions.
Interesting thinking. Makes sense. Having him look up is still tricky for me. Not a very flattering pose.
Thank you for posting this video.
AWESOME…..This helps me a lot~
Best dwg tutorial I’ve seen. Thanks much.
A really new way of approaching the head. I am currently completing a cartooning diploma by distance learning. But to draw a convincing cartoon head you need to be able to draw a convincing real head! This is really helpful – thanks.
Congratulations, I loved it! Yours explanations helped me so much!
I think you have put all of this together beautifully. The diagrams, the break down and the films are very very well done. This quality of work shared in this way is a true treasure of your amazing talents, Thank you for sharing this.
I will be following your blog from now on.
I loved the tutorial. You did a great job of simplifying that old text and breathing new life into this lesson. You are handsome too! Good job.
Your method of teaching is great. You have a warm and friendly personality which is essential to teach..(it gets people to listen ) you know what you’re talking about..Thank you very much for your teaching..Bill
I’ve watched your videos and my son has watched them too. You have a good, easy to follow, way of explaining your approach. I would like to see more on facial features, mostly on drawing the mouth in different expressions from different angles. Thanks
I think this is excellent. I am so grateful that I came across this video. You are an excellent teacher and you use graphics superbly. Too bad you did not have enough money to hire a reasonable looking model. But that comes with time and success.
Thanks. I think you just called me ugly.. haha