Drawing: Basic Face / Head Proportions

No, this isn't a drawing class -- but like the "Rule of Thirds" this technique can apply to many of our projects and designs.  Almost everybody who draws a face draws them out of proportion -- usually by placing the eyes too high on the head.

Please follow along with my presentation on the whiteboard so you have a better understanding of facial structures before you begin working on the head in Sculptris.

Notice that if you look at the human skull and divide it into a 4x4 grid, the eyes are directly in the center of the face.

By applying that same division to a human face, we can see that the line appears right on the top of the eyeball in most faces.

You may also notice that the width of the eyes usually equal the distance between the eyes -- and really, on the sides of the face as well.  This diagram shows 5 eye widths on the face.

Another interesting observation is that the center of the eye roughly lines up with the edges of the mouth, and the edges of the nose generally line up with the inside corners of the eye.

Notice in the finished drawing that the same line (now invisible) that ran across the top of the eyes also indicates where the ear joins the head.  Also notice that the eyebrows are not directly centered above the eyes.

You should keep these lines in mind if your figure is not looking directly at you.  Also remember that the head is really skull-shaped with "attachments" (nose, lips, hair, etc.).

While we are on the subject of proportions, this is an interesting general diagram showing human [male] body proportions.  Notice that "one head" is the unit of measure.  At the "second head" the line intersects the models chest -- at the 3rd, across the top of his naval... etc.

And this "sewing guideline" chart shows a few variations to the original.

Finally, here's a video demonstrating the facial proportions: