When drawing portraits, people usually do not put too much effort into creating a likeness with their subject’s ears because we usually recognize people by their faces or other unique features that stand-out.
Even though they are not given a lot of attention, it is still good practice to learn how to draw an ear and understand it’s structure.
Drawing ears may seem difficult and complex because they contain many bumps, valleys and folds. Learning how to draw an ear is is a lot easier when you learn to simplify it’s complex shapes like the example image below.
Materials I used for this simple ear drawing tutorial:
– Blending stump
– HB and 4B Derwent pencil
– Canson Sketch paper (not the usual Canson Bristol Paper which is my ultimate favorite. Ran out of that.)
Step 1:Â Draw the shape of an ear
Outline the shape of the ear making sure the bottom part of the ear (ear lobe) is smaller in proportion to the top part of the ear (known as the helix).
“Where exactly do I draw an ear on the head?” Click here to find out!
Step 2: Draw the bumps and folds
Draw 2 curves to indicate the main folds within the ear. The first curve should line the middle to top part of the ear. You can make this curve as smooth or jagged as you want.
Remember to leave a small amount of room around the edge. The left side of the curve should curl slightly into the center of the ear.
The second curve should come out of the first one and have a tear-shaped bottom. Wrap the curve up to form a flap (known as the tragus). Make sure you leave a good amount of space at the bottom for the ear lobe.
Step 3: Shading preparation
At the beginning of the tutorial, I pointed out three main shapes within an ear. We drew two of them in step 2. The third shape looks like the letter ‘y’. You can either draw the ‘y’ very lightly or picture it on your drawing instead. We’ll be using it later in this step.
Decide on a direction from which the light is coming from and use soft lines to indicate where the darkest shadows will fall. These places will be the most prominent folds and deepest valleys within the ear.
For this example, the light is shining from the left side.
If any shadows cross through the ‘y’, make sure you warp them to compliment any ridges, bumps or valleys of the ‘y’.
Step 4: Shade the darkest areas
Shade the areas outlined in the previous step with a 4B pencil. Remember to shade deeper parts of the ear darker and bumps lighter.
Click here to learn how to shade!
Step 5: Add mid tones and light tones
Using an hb pencil, shade the rest of the ear, keeping in mind that the bumps should be lightest and valleys darkest. Use a blending stump to blend each area separately (learn about how to use a blending stump here). Use a kneaded eraser to bring out the lightest areas of the ear if needed.
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If you enjoyed this short and simple tutorial on drawing the human ear, please share it with your friends!
What’s next? Click here to learn how to draw it on a face!
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.
Darlene thank you i started reading your blog from the sketching art because its so helpful through i still fail a lot of drawing i think im not sucking at sketching im just not experienced yet or maybe…i hope it isnt this way…i just cant be a artist…
and i started reading the sketching tutorials after i went in a discord vc and a person there drawn 2 sketch styled(my favorite to note style) arts in under 5 min each and i decided : i want to learn this all
It will really help me to get them look the same.
Can you do the other ear to?
Your tutorial is really helpful it helps me in all my drawing.
thx this helped me alot since i suck at realistic art and are more into anime. i suck at that too tho. im 12 and this was an art class hw so this really helped.
wow cool as i computed you are 17 in this year and im 13 in this year and i suck at either realistic or sketch or anime or any other art but im trying because i read that high iq also helps in creativeness and art i dont know maybe iq doesnt help me at so much young age (cause i told i suck at all art(ok really i dont suck at isometric cube art) through my iq 130-155 there was the first result at an evening so thats why it was lower) (sure the free service where i checked the iq was arealme)
Awesome work ma’am .. i’m beginner . will you please suggest me which type of pencil should i use?
AHHH !!!! I can’t thank you enough Darlene !! Drawing ears was my literal worst nightmare,not to mention realistic ones, i hated watching the long long tutorials and trying to memorize it all ! Then I found you by a quick google search ! you make it so easy with easy steps, and further ellaboration ! I really cant thank you enough.
Thank you! You have helped so much! I swear I’m only good cause it runs in the family lol. I’m 12 and I did like all of your face tutorials and DANG I have surprised myself it looks SO good! And this is my 1st time doing realistic! (more into the cartoon style) So this all is a BIG thanks!!!!!!!
I am 50 looking for a new hobby and WOW, I draw like a pro. I’m glad to see young talent is happy.
i didnt understand are u still looking for hobby or u found drawing?just wanted to say make your hobby stream a game like minecraft or bloxd(second option better free and easier) lol
And my sorry i did fork from the drawing theme and i necropost just i have so much to say to evryone i see
Break up 4 to 5 into more detail because I have no idea how to go from 4 to 5
I really like your tutorials. It really help me improved my drawing techniques significantly.
very good and very helpful, i especially like the short tutorials, and they are easy to follow, the eye, the nose, and the lips have been very helpful so far
im in grade 5 and it worked well
Never knew sketching can be so much fun. 😊 Thank you so much for your easy but awesome tutorials!