Most starting students will usually render the face on paper as a flat disk or oval which it is not. Also, compared to the entire head, the face is quite small particularly in babies. Your hand can fit the entire face. Place that same hand on top of your head and you will experience straight away how large your head really is.



To grasp planes and thus obtain a sculptural sensibility in your drawing you must grasp and use simple geometric shapes.

Generally, the head can be framed within a square box. More rightly, this square box should be modified to a phalanx-like box with the face on the smallest side. The head tapers towards the front which is the face. This is the fundamental form of the head in the frontal view.

In the profile view the head is generally a cube. The difference is the facial angle (the "muzzle") that slopes a bit forward at the chin. In the 7/8 profile, the cube has simply been turned in space.

Again, it is very essential to think about the head in terms of simple geometric shapes. Once you have located the large plain shapes you can start establishing the smaller shapes inside the large ones. Very soon that collection of simple shapes becomes quite complex and starts resembling a head.

Keeping the above in mind you can begin with drawing the construct which is the entire outside outline of the head, hair included. Then you break down the construct into its various sections such as the hair, ear, jaw and neck.

As you block-in the darks and think of the head as an assortment of simple geometric solids you will by now begin to see the three-dimensional result, even at this early stage.

The key is to think simply and large. At this early stage, do not pay attention to the details - they tend to mislead your sense of length and direction.

Once the significant entities are established, establishing the features (eyes, nose, etc.) becomes relatively easy. But, if you do not position those entities accurately you will never be successful.

The frontal view of the portrait poses a distinctive test. If you are not careful you can end up with a flat, 2-dimensional face. In this view, the plane changes are often quite subtle and hard to position.

Be sure to notice all plane changes in this frontal view and draw them carefully in your sketch:

- Showing the forward tapering of the sides of the head is significant to reaching a subtle three-dimensional result in this frontal view.

- The front of the face lies approximately in one plane.

- The plane of the forehead changes bearing as you move towards the top of the head.

- The plane along the cheek has a different bearing than the adjacent one along the temple.

The idea is to carefully note the directions of all the different planes that make up the head and take these differences into account when you draw. If you do, your sketches will possess a sculptural, three-dimensional sensibility. It is not necessary to draw out the geometry of the actual planes, but the differences in bearing must be clearly rendered.

In closing, it is very significant that you are aware of the fact that a subject's head consists of planes of changing bearings and is not just an oval. This sculptural structure should be reflected in your sketch because it is significant to the likeness and to the illusion of three-dimensionality.