Struggling to draw female faces from the profile view? This tutorial gives you a great way to practice getting your proportions right and eventually being comfortable enough to draw quick sketches.
Follow my drawing method 2-3 times and then try some quick sketches without the ruler. You’ll astonish yourself with the level of improvement after only a few practice sessions!
Tools:
Note: Remember to use an HB pencil with the lightest amount of pressure for each of the steps so you can easily erase outlines when you’re done the drawing.
Step 1: Draw an Oval
Draw an oval and a line at the bottom. The line should be distanced away from the oval by a little more than half of the oval’s vertical diameter.
In other words, a little more than the oval’s vertical radius.
Step 2: Face Outline
Connect the oval to the horizontal line to complete the shape of the head. Then, draw a long straight line down the middle of the oval.
Don’t worry about shaping the jaw or chin just yet. These are just rough guidelines!
Step 3: Make a Ruler
Use the length of the head to make a ruler on the side of your drawing. Don’t draw it too close to the face because you want to make room for the nose.
Divide your ruler into 8 equal spaces and use a straight edge to draw lines from each tick through the head. Don’t forget to keep your lines light. It’ll be a pain to erase later on.
Step 4: Brow, Forehead and Top of the Head
Now that we’re done with the guidelines, let’s start drawing the top portion of the head. Where the CENTER LINE meets the face, draw a shallow curve. I’m trying to avoid a deep curve because I don’t want to bring too much attention to the brow area. Just trying to keep it looking soft and subtle.
Once that’s done, draw a slight bump for the brow and then use the oval as a rough guide to draw the forehead and rest of the upper head.
Step 5: Nose
If you haven’t read my nose tutorial, go here first. I prefer to draw the nose without the circles, but you can use that technique if you want.
I like to draw my noses at a medium length, keeping the tip of the nose under Line 1. The angle of the nose depends on the face I’m drawing, but I tend to draw them at a 50 degree angle.
Step 6: Mouth
From the nose’s base, form a natural curve that dips down through Line 2 and wraps back in towards the face, creating a full top lip. The corner of the mouth should not extend too far past the nostril.
Then draw the bottom lip which should be above Line 3.
When you’re done, check to see if there’s enough space for the chin or if there’s way too much space. Adjust the lips accordingly to prepare for the next step.
Step 7: Chin and Jawline
Keep in mind that your chin and jawline does not need to follow the exact guideline of the head/face shape.
Extend the jawline beyond the vertical line that goes down the center of the face. When drawing females, I tend to give the jawline a soft or rounded, less angular appearance.
Step 8: Neck
Draw the front and back of the neck. Avoid drawing the neck using vertical lines. Also try to avoid using straight lines, as this will appear very unnatural.
Step 9: Eye and Eyebrow
To find where to place the eye, draw a vertical line from the corner of the lip to the CENTER LINE. The eye should be drawn where those two lines meet. If you want more details on drawing an eye from the side, visit this tutorial.
Follow the general shape of the eye to form the eyebrow. Keep the eyebrow well below Line C for a relaxed look. For a more surprised expression, draw the eyebrows a little higher and stretch the eye up along with it.
Step 10: Ear
From the jawline, draw an outline for the ear. This outline can be anywhere from roughly the CENTER LINE to Line 2.
Step 11: Hair
Draw the forehead’s hairline starting between Line A and B. When you draw the hair at the sideburns (hair between the ear and cheek), keep your lines extra light because females have very sparse sideburns. Don’t forget to give the hair some volume, for more on that, visit my hair tutorial.
Happy with how your drawing looks? Whip out your eraser and have fun erasing your guidelines! To save time, I like to use an electric eraser followed up by a kneaded eraser to get into those tight spots or overlapping lines.
Experiment by Drawing Many Unique Faces
When you’re comfortable, try drawing some faces without the ruler on the side. The examples below have very rough guidelines. In fact, if you look closely you can see just how sloppy they are. Once you get the hang of it, you should be able to draw realistic and unique female faces on the whim!
My challenge to you is to fill an entire page in your sketchbook with rows and rows of faces. Make them small so you can fit as many as you can (I actually find it more difficult to draw faces on a large scale). It might take 5 or more tries to get the hang of it. If you’ve filled the entire page but your faces don’t turn out quite right, come back and follow this tutorial again.
Like my teaching style and want to make a request? Drop me a comment below and I’ll see what I can do for you :)
In the meantime, happy drawing and I’ll see you again soon with another awesome tutorial!
Want more similar tutorials?
NEW: Draw Female Faces from the Front
Part 3: Drawing Faces from the 3/4 View
Part 2: Drawing Faces from the Side
Part 1: Drawing Faces from the Front View
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Darlene created RFA In 2013 with the goal of sharing simple yet detailed drawing tutorials with other artists on the world wide web. She is a self taught pencil portrait artist and Youtuber.
Great tutorial
Thanks 😊
your awesome darlene nuguyen your steps are easy to fallow
your pretty
she looks good can you give me some tips
Step 5. Add neck and ear. The ear is just above and behind the jaw. Suggestion: You could study your own jaw and ear in a mirror (or just feel it with your fingers where you are now) to get an idea of how your ear and jaw meet up. Once you’ve placed the ear it should be easy to draw the neck. As you can see, if you were to extend the neck, the earlobe would be in the middle of it. This is true for this picture, but might not be true in other cases, as it depends on the angle of the photo and the build of the individual.
Thank you :)
Awesome work and thank you for help
I found this blog online by accident, and I was happy when I found an explanation and a detailed description of the drawings as I found here
Plus I found my language (Arabic) between the languages of the site making it easier to read the steps with more understanding
Thank you very much because this blog exists, I will learn a lot from it
Hi Darlene,
I just wanted to tell you that YOU ARE THE BEST!!!
Your tutorials are just GREAT! Really! I and my 12 years old son enjoy them so much! They are so easy to follow and suddenly to create really beautiful drawings!
Where can I send you some examples of before and after your tutorials?
Me gustan mucho tus dibujos y tus clases. Podrías incluir retratos de personas de Asia, África, Latinoamérica y otras regiones del mundo? hay mutaciones fenotipicas y genotipicas que resultan interesante a la hora de hacer retratos y plantear toda la diversidad de la raza humana. Gracias!
I wanted to get the PDF link so I could print this out for my 11 year old to try. I did what you asked; clicked on Facebook and shared, but nothing. Then I clicked on Google+ and nothing again! Very disappointing.
Sorry about that, Sydney. It must be a bug. I’m sending it to you now via email :)
Thanks so much, I have needed this tutorial for quite some time now. I have definitely improved with this type of art and I now have a sense that I can learn to do something with the right instructions.
Thanks again for your wonderful technique.
-Jey Ko’nesha
Can u please tell how we can come to know by viewing the refrence pic that where is the circle drawn and how low the chin line should be made and where the nose line should be.
because everyone doesnot gave the same lvl of chin or nose
Hi Asad, this tutorial is for drawing faces in general. The portrait drawing process is a completely different thing that I will cover in a future tutorial. Portrait drawing requires measurement techniques such as the ones in lesson 4 from my beginners’ course.
Thank you so much! I’ve been really stuck on how to draw faces and this has really helped <3
nice madam ..nice works
can you send hair tutorials ??
Thanks! Here are two hair tutorials: Ultimate hair tutorial, Short hair.
I love this!! Its sooooooo easy to learn. You r awesome!!!!
very easy to follow gracias
Thanks for your feedback Shay!
your method was very helpful and easy
Thanks Naomi!
Wow, you are amazing. You are the one who inspired me to continue my dream in sketching. Thanks :)
god bless you . your method is very simple , easy , useful and unique .
Thank u , excellent instructions . U allowed me to draw my art and it looks good (from someone who can’t draw
Wow thanks these tutorials are great and easy to follow!
thanks so much!
Wow! your way of teaching is superb..and i’m learning new tips and tricks every time.
keep up the good work.
Thanks Uzo!
Great drawing tutorials for art students to follow.
Nice, easy to follow.
regards Werner
Thanks Werner!