Your art is so realistic what.
Can I see how you do eyes chins and front facing noses pls :)
WAUGHHHH THANK YOU SO MUCH😭😭😭😭😭😭. I am not an incredible teacher but I think of these features as a set of identifying qualities that work together to show a convincing angle and convey the subject's character.
Portrait shots of model CatH
Someone who's looking down will look like they have a smaller chin than if they were facing forward. It sounds obvious but sometimes I physically can't grasp this and feel like I'm doing something wrong when I take perspective into account.
When I need to see how features look at a certain angle I go to find refs on Pinterest. When I can’t find the exact angle I want I close the app and take pictures of myself to use as refs. But the danger of this is that if you constantly use pics of yourself you might fall into same-face syndrome. So it's best to look at the faces of many people while using your own.
I also think about how the eyes, nose, and chin could give nods to their personality and emotional state. First, I’ll use Pure Vanilla as an example.
He has a large chin, but I avoid a square jawline to make him look resolute but gentle. Since he’s facing forward I don’t draw lines denoting where the sides of the nose would be. Instead I shade in some shadows to imply a soft and convincing shape. His eyes are closed in downward half-circles since he's looking down just a little bit, and also to create the stylistic impression that his eyes are smiling with his mouth. It’s a close-up portrait, so his face is the point of the piece. I made his features as readable as possible for this reason.
Sometimes the face isn’t the point of the drawing, so it's ok to keep it simple. As long as the feel of the expression is identifiable while looking at the whole piece it's ok to get away with not getting into the details.
Here I’ll use Eternal Sugar.
When looking at the full piece, you can make out her eyes as these two downward swoops. This suggests to the viewer that she’s gentle and lax, which is just enough information to get a feel for her character within the context of the piece. But when you zoom in, you can see that her features are actually just a couple exaggerated lines and dots. There is no lineart for the chin, but the viewer can tell where it stops because I used lights and darks to imply the shape. She has a chubby face and round relaxed features to make her look non-threatening.
If this guide is really loaded in the bad way i give you full permission to disregard everything I've said and just remember this:
TL;DR, Once you know where features are supposed to be placed you can do whatever you want.
I've had teachers in the past who were so frustrated with me because I struggled with concepts they swore up and down they taught me to the best of their ability. And even though they did, the advice just didn't resonate. Sometimes it actually made me feel like my art was worse than before they tried to help. I’ve heard that there are university tutorials on youtube for portraits if you wanna get really cracked at getting where things go, so it could help to follow along and weave in some comfort art of things that you like along the way. Practice can get boring after a while and art should be fun.
Pretty much every single thing I've described is either a stylistic choice or a rule that can be broken once you're chill with the basics. If the rules were never broken then art would lack character, and everyone would draw the same way.
I sincerely hope this helped, and thanks again for asking!!
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