How to draw a Three Quarter Face

Step by Step

You can use this to draw your own face, or you can try to copy this face exactly, but remember, if you do copy exactly, please do give credit for the original, and the original character to me. I think that goes without saying, but hey, I would rather not make assumptions.

1. Start a three quarter face by shaping the head. The bottom of the head is round, and then a circle shape goes into the back of the head to the top of the head and down to the brow. Then draw a bit of an inward slant for the brow and then draw the cheek as is shown above. Draw lightly.
2. The two lines show the two mid lines. They need to be rounded and slanted to fit the face. The horizontal line will help place the eyes. The vertical line can be bent more than just round because there is an indent in the middle of our faces where the brow of the nose is. Remember, these lines are guides to the shape of the face. Think of it like carving and sculpting. You start with this shape, represented by these lines, and then you carve and sculpt a face into it.
3. I always draw a side view of the face a long the middle line. I draw it exactly as I would an actual profile. This is really to add more detail and it can be used to replace the vertical line, but I keep the line there to help keep the profile centered on it.
4. Now to draw the eye sockets and the cheek. You want the height of both eyes to be the same, pay attention to that. But the eye on the outer edge is squished in a little, and allow for part of it to stick out of the original head shape if that is what you get. Drawing the eyebrow line isn’t drawing the eyebrow, but the ridge of the eye. I draw these extra lines on the cheeks because of two reasons. The cheek lines are vital in placing the eye. If the cheek doesn’t connect the shape of the nose and the eye in a natural looking way, then the eye is drawn in the wrong place. It might need to move in more or move out more. The lower line of the cheek is to help see if the cheek really does have a natural shape. A IF you can’t mark that line without it looking natural as well, then you might want to work on it a little, because that line is where the shadows will usually fall when shading a picture. This is when you add the hair line as well.
5. Now the fun part. You have all the guiding lines, start drawing the actual eyes, using the lines you’ve made to guide you. You can draw these lines a little darker, and you can erase the guiding lines as well. Draw in the edge of the nose too.
6. Finish drawing in the face, and erase all guiding lines but the hair line, and the middle line above the hair line. These will help guide you in drawing hair.
7. Draw the hair and erase the rest of the guiding lines. If you want to know how to draw Ko-Chan’s hair, I have a tutorial on that. Ko-Chan’s hair tutorial, click here


Related tutorials using the same picture:
General anime drawing guide, click here
drawing Ko-Chan's hair, click here
drawing clothes, click here
coloring dark hair, click here
shading clothes, click here
coloring skin, click here
coloring Ko-Chan’s clothes, click here