How to sketch a FACE in 7 steps!, by Sketching Scottie on YouTube. 8 min 56 s.
- Video length
- 8 min 56 s
- Time to do it
- 30 minutes
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Steps
- 9
What you need
Steps
Draw a light oval for the head. Mark a vertical center line down the middle and a horizontal line halfway down for the eye level.
Place the eyes on the horizontal line, one eye width apart. Add a small nose line halfway between the eyes and the chin, then a mouth line below it.
Sketch the ears between the eye line and the nose line. Keep the jaw and chin lines soft and slightly uneven for a loose look.
For a three-quarter view, shift the center line to one side. Make the far eye narrower and the far cheek smaller.
Draw the nose and mouth following the curve of the face. The far side of the mouth is shorter than the near side.
For a side view, start with a circle for the skull and add a curved line for the profile. Place the eye close to the profile line.
Add the ear behind the jaw, then mark the nose tip, lips and chin along the profile edge.
Go over your lines with the pen, varying pressure for darker eyes and hair. Erase the pencil guidelines once the ink is dry.
Brush a light watercolor wash over the skin and hair areas. Let each layer dry before adding another.
Tips and common mistakes
Keep your pencil lines very light so they erase cleanly after inking.
Check proportions by holding the sketch at arm's length or in a mirror.
Use fewer, bolder pen lines instead of many small strokes to keep the sketch loose.
Let the watercolor wash stay uneven for texture rather than filling every area flat.
Questions
Do I need watercolors to follow this?
No. The pen sketch works on its own. The wash is an optional final step you can skip or replace with pencil shading.
How do I get the eyes the right distance apart?
The space between the eyes is roughly one eye width. Mark that gap first, then draw each eye to fit.
What pen should I use?
A fine liner around 0.2 to 0.3 mm works well. The video uses a Uni-ball Ultra Micro, but any waterproof fine liner is fine.
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.
