Human Face Proportions

If you want to learn how to draw portraits correctly, then you need to know the human face proportions. I will teach you this in this lesson.

Here the ideal human face proportions, which are used in artistic practice, will be described. Of course, in real life it is rare to find a person who has perfect facial features. Nevertheless, this knowledge helps to better understand the individual proportions of living nature.

So, the shape of the head is conditionally divided into two parts – the cranium and the front part. The middle of the height of the head is the line of the eyes, while the hairline is not taken into account.

The height of the face can be divided into three parts:

• One part is located from the hairline to the eyebrow line;
• The second part – from the eyebrows to the line of the base of the nose;
• The third part – from the base of the nose to the bottom of the chin.

To correctly depict the eyes, you need to divide the central horizontal line of the head into five parts, while the temporal parts of the face are equal to the length of the eyes. The distance between the inner corners of the eyes is equal to the length of the eyes.

The width of the nose is also equal to this distance. The length of the nose is measured from the bridge of the nose to the base of the tip of the nose. The bridge of the nose is located just above the line of the eyes. The nose and ear are parallel and approximately equal in size.

To determine the position of the mouth, you need to divide the lower part of the face from the base of the nose to the chin into three parts and the upper division will correspond to the line of the mouth. The size of the mouth is equal to the distance between the line of the mouth and the base of the tip of the chin.

If you want to draw a person’s face, then you need to outline the extreme points from the chin to the top of the head and draw a central line.

At the initial stage, the head must be depicted in the form of an oval-shaped. Then you need to make notes on the profile lines – determine the position of the eyes, the base of the nose, the incision of the lips, the base of the ear and the contour of the neck.

At the next stage, you need to depict the eyes, brow ridges, the shape of the nose and lips. When all the main contours are ready, you can proceed to detailing.

Now you know the basic human face proportions. Try to put this knowledge into practice. Thanks to regular training, you will learn how to draw portraits correctly.