This step-by-step tutorial will guide you on how to accurately draw a male face. Whether you prefer traditional mediums like pencil and paper or digital tools, this tutorial applies to all. Each step is accompanied by detailed explanations and illustrated examples, ensuring a comprehensive learning experience.
Understanding Male Facial Features
Compared to female faces, male faces have distinct characteristics, including more prominent features and a rougher overall shape with sharper angles. Additionally, males typically have longer faces with bigger and wider jaws.
Male Facial Proportions
Before diving into drawing, it’s helpful to have a general understanding of the positioning of different facial features. However, it’s important to note that face shapes and sizes, as well as the proportions of facial features, can vary. This guide provides a solid foundation, but flexibility is key to adapt to different face types.
Drawing a Male Face: Best Practices
When drawing a face, it’s crucial to follow these best practices:
- Start by sketching the largest shapes first, gradually working your way down to smaller shapes and details.
- Begin with simplified shapes for the facial features, refining them once you have positioned all major parts of the face.
- Maintain a similar level of completion for different parts of the drawing. For example, avoid fully drawing one eye before placing the second eye. Instead, outline both eyes to ensure proper alignment.
Step 1 – Drawing the Head
To initiate your drawing, create a vertical line in the center of your drawing area to ensure symmetrical placement of facial features. Then, draw a circle for the top of the head. Extend two lines downwards, followed by two curves and two more lines. Finally, connect them with another curve to form the bottom of the chin.
Step 2 – Drawing the Detail of the Head Shape
Refine the shape of the head, referencing the provided example. Crop some of the circle around the sides of the head and straighten the top area slightly. Next, draw the outer shapes of the cheekbones. Erase the circle guidelines once you complete this step.
Step 3 – Dividing the Face Proportions
Divide the face into four parts using horizontal lines. Start from the hairline slightly below the top of the head, extending down to the chin. This division creates three evenly spaced portions with a smaller fourth portion at the top.
Step 4 – Placing the Eyebrows
Sketch the eyebrows just below the second line from the top. Since eyebrows have relatively simple shapes, you can draw them without much simplification.
Step 5 – Placing the Nose
Position the nose starting from the inner tips of the eyebrows. Initially, sketch a simplified shape with flat planes for the front, sides, and bottom of the nose. Gradually narrow the nose towards the bridge, then widen it again towards the mouth area. The length of the nose should extend slightly below the middle portion of the face, adjusted based on the specific face type.
Step 6 – Placing the Ears
Draw the outline of the ears within the middle portion of the face, touching the second and third lines from the top.
Step 7 – Placing the Eyes
Draw another line through the middle of the head, using it to outline the shape of the eyes (excluding the pupils). Ensure enough space between the eyes to fit another eye in between. Leave sufficient room on the sides of each eye, typically slightly less than the width of an eye.
Step 8 – Placing the Mouth
Draw a line from the bottom of the nose to the bottom of the chin, representing the very bottom of the bottom lip. Above that, draw two more lines to indicate the mouth opening and the top of the top lip. Since the bottom lip is usually taller, space the lines accordingly. For more guidance on drawing lips, you can refer to our tutorial on drawing different types of lips.
Step 9 – Face Shape Details
Draw lines to indicate the inner parts of the cheekbones. Then, draw a pair of lines curving around the mouth towards the upper half of the chin. Use a curved line slightly below the bottom lip to represent the upper part of the chin. For the forehead, a few curved lines should suffice, noting that it curves slightly outwards around the eyebrows in a front view.
Step 10 – Drawing the Details of the Facial Features
Based on the placement sketches of the facial features, you can now add more detailed drawings. Follow the step-by-step instructions for drawing the eyes, lips, nose, and ears, each accompanied by their respective illustrations.
Step 11 – Drawing the Hair
Begin drawing the hair by outlining the hairline. The hairline typically curves up from the ears, arches above the eyebrows, and then curves down towards the middle of the forehead. From there, it curves down again.
Step 12 – Drawing Hair Details
To add depth and texture to the hair, sketch the different strands and clumps using varying lengths and distances from one another. Aim for an uneven and natural appearance. The provided example demonstrates a combed back short hair style.
Conclusion
Drawing a face can be challenging, but armed with the knowledge gained from this tutorial, you’ll have the skills to accurately draw male faces. For additional tips on drawing various facial features, explore our Tutorials section. If you’re interested in drawing female faces, check out our tutorials dedicated specifically to female face drawing and proportions.
