Mandy JW, Art and Design: How to Draw A Realistic Face

Today I am going to do a step by step tutorial on how to draw a woman's face. Not all of the details will be explained in this post, so I will be following up on this to explain things a bit further. All you will need for what we will be doing today is a light pencil (like a 2H), a dark pencil (like a 4B), a stump and an eraser.

Step 1

Begin with an oval for the face and a circle for the brain using your 2H. The circle should be placed relative to the direction you want the head to be facing. In this drawing, the head is going to be turned slightly to the left and slightly looking down. This means that you will be able to see the top and right side of the head.

Step 2
Draw one horizontal line curved down. This line represents the eyes and is curved down to show the downward direction of the head. Draw a second vertical line curved to the left. This line represents the center of the face and is curved to the left to show that the head is turned slightly to the left.

Step 3
Begin to sketch in the face of the shape. Since this is a female face, she is going to have softer, rounded angles. Her jaw will be shaped more like a "V" and her face will be narrower. At this point you can also add an angle for the cheek bone, an ear, and a neck.

Step 4
Add a light source in this step and begin to shade any areas that the sun would not naturally hit. Here I've added the light source to the upper left corner and as you can see, it then leaves the right side and bottom parts of the face in darkness. Because areas like the nose and the lips stick out, they naturally catch more sun and are left light.

Step 5
Roughly sketch in some hair and lightly add a hair line...

Step 6
At this point, erase most of the lines that are no longer needed and add some rough shading to the hair. I have also gone over the proportions again and modified the face so it is narrower and more feminine.

Step 7
Based on your light source again, lightly shade the eyes, brow bones, nose, lips, and chin areas that will be in the shade, just as I have done so in the example. Center the nose and lips with the vertical reference line and place the eyes along the horizontal line.

Step 8
Once the rough shading is complete, you can move on to the more detailed shading. The upper lip will have darker shading than the bottom lip since it is in the shade. Likewise, the bottom and sides of the nose will have shading as well. Use logic to deduce where the light will not hit, and shade there.

Step 9
Sketch two circles for the the iris' of the eyes...

Step 10
Using the two circles you just drew as a guide, sketch in the bottom, top, and crease of the eye lids. In the picture, I am placing the top eyelids half way shut to indicate that she is looking down.

Step 11
Shade in the crease and the sides of the eyelids, as well as the tear ducts. Add in the brows by lightly sketching vertical short lines that gradually turn horizontally. You can also add some eyelashes, but it is not necessary. I'm adding full, long eyelashes for a dramatic look.

Step 12
Now, using the corner of your eraser, carefully erase any areas of the face that jut out and get direct sunlight to create highlights. In the example, these areas will be the top of the forehead, nose, chin, left line of the face, philtrum, brow bones, cheek bones, and the top part of the bottom lip.

Step 13
To soften the shading, take a smudge stick or stump and blend the shading. Be careful not to blend the highlighted areas.

Step 14
For the final step, take a 4B pencil and re-shade any of the darkest areas like right under the jaw and nostrils. In the example, I have added some extra shading on the eyelids, to the eyelashes, and a slight shadow right under the eyelashes, again, giving the eyes a bolder look. Casting a shadow on the neck can also give the picture more depth and realism.