3 Mistakes That Make Your 3/4 Faces Look Flat, by One Pencil drawing on YouTube. 6 min 45 s.
- Video length
- 6 min 45 s
- Time to do it
- 30 minutes
- Difficulty
- Medium
- Steps
- 10
What you need
Steps
Draw a circle for the cranium. Keep it light so you can erase it later. This circle is the back and top of the skull, not the whole head.
Add a horizontal line across the circle for the brow. Then draw a vertical center line down the front of the face.
Move the center line off the middle of the circle. On a turned head it sits toward the far side, because the face wraps around the front.
Cut the side plane. Draw a short line from the brow line back toward the ear to mark where the front of the face turns into the side of the head.
Split the front of the face into three equal parts from the brow line down to the chin. Equal parts keep the face from looking stretched.
Draw the jaw and chin, then the neck. Add the ear on the far side, lined up between the brow line and the bottom of the nose.
Place the features. Put the nose at the bottom of the middle third, the lips above the chin, and the eyes on the brow line.
Add shadows under the chin and along the neck to show depth. Clean up the construction lines and sketch the eyebrows.
Draw the shoulders and shirt, then the hair over the top of the skull. Keep the hair volume outside the circle.
Draw the eyes on the brow line, not higher. Check both eyes sit on the same line before you darken anything.
Tips and common mistakes
The most common mistake is centering the vertical line. On a 3/4 view it belongs toward the far side of the face.
Keep all construction lines light until the features are placed, so you can erase without smudging.
The eyes sit halfway down the head, on the brow line, not near the top of the skull.
Use a reference photo of a real 3/4 view face to check your proportions as you go.
Questions
Why does my 3/4 face look flat?
Usually the center line is in the middle of the circle and the face is not split into equal parts. Both make the head read as a flat coin instead of a solid form.
Where do the eyes go on a turned head?
On the brow line, halfway down the head. They also shift toward the far side of the face because of the turn.
Do I need special pencils?
No. An HB pencil for construction and a softer 2B or 4B for shadows is enough to start.
This guide was drafted from the video's details and general task knowledge. It has not been checked against the full video. Check the video and relevant product instructions before following a procedure. Report a correction.
