# [Guide] Human Facial Anatomy - Help for Artists



## Jacob (Jan 18, 2016)

*Info*

Need help with your anatomy? Are you already amazing at drawing people? This thread may be of interest to you.
I have created this thread for anyone out there who *needs* tips on or anyone who can *give* tips on human anatomy.
I will also post some of my drawings for critique and help.

I would love for this to be a cooperative thread, so please feel free to post your own drawings that pertain to human anatomy, as a community we can help each other!



*Helpful Tips*

I am in need to tips for this section, for myself and all other artists. If you have ANY tips of facial placements, eyes, noses, ears, mouths, hair, etc., please post them below for all to use. Thanks!
Note: Tips are useful for both Digital and Traditional art.

Please also refer to here if you need extra help! 
http://daily-commission.tumblr.com/post/119290572537/some-anatomy-studies
(Thank you Riummi)
And Here
 *Proko *
(Thank you G u m m i)



Spoiler:  Tips for Eyes



1. The bottom line of the eye should be invisible. The bottom of the eye is not draw, it is implied. 
2. The pupil (small circle in the center) should always be black. It should also not be located in the center, but lifted a little bit towards the top of the iris, however not always.
3. Don't forget to draw a tear duct.
4. Top of the iris should be darker and blend into the natural color as you move down.
5. Edges of the iris (main/colored circle) should be darker as well.
6. Bottom eyelashes are not attached to the main part of the eye, but on a fold of skin about 1 centimeter below.

Links:
http://www.onlypencil.com/blog/tutorials/drawing-the-human-eye/
http://drawsketch.about.com/od/drawingportraits/ss/draweyes.htm



noizora said:


> Threw together something for colouring eyes:





Spoiler:  Examples






















Requesting more tips.





Spoiler:  Tips for Noses



1. The female and male nose though having the same components are quite different in appearance. This mainly comes down to the latter having a more prominent nasal bone and nostrils, and the former drawn with a much lighter hand and with little to no curves on it.
2. it comes down to is getting familiar with the shape of the nose and the way it’s constructed and learning to spot its main attributes. For example noticing that the tip of the nose of your subject is larger/smaller than usual, or that the nose bridge is quite prominent will help you a lot in drawing more accurate portraits.

Links: 
http://likesketch.com/tips-on-drawing-the-nose


noizora said:


> Don't have any tips because I think noses are ridiculous to draw too so I looked at how some other artists drew noses and copied them ovo





wassop said:


> when i'm drawing noses a common problem i have is with the nostrils . it's good to look at the/a reference's curvature in that area to make sure that the nostrils aren't weirdly shaped/placed , and it always looks better after i focus on that . it's usually what messes mine up : p





Spoiler:  Examples




















Spoiler:  Tips for Mouths



1.Tthe mouth is not on a flat surface and it should not be drawn that way. When viewed from the top it’s clear that it is on a curved surface or mound.
2. Generally, shine is only visible on the bottom lip.
3. The outer corners of the closed mouth are in vertical line with the inner corner of the iris.
4. The bottom lip is usually at the same height as the angle of the jaw.
5. The central line of the mouth, also called aperture, will be roughly situated at 1/3 of the distance between the bottom of the nose and the chin line.
6.The crease between the upper lips and the nose is called the philtrum. Don't forget to shade the philtrum accordingly.
7. Each lip has a bit more than 20 creases, but most of the time, only the most important ones will be visible (Vertical shiny/dark lines)

Links: 
http://likesketch.com/tips-on-drawing-the-mouth
http://www.craftsy.com/blog/2013/11/drawing-lips-step-by-step/



Spoiler:  Examples
























Spoiler:  Tips for Hair






Lee-chan said:


> Ok so I made these small hair tutorials a while back^^
> they are not necessarily realistic, more manga style, but they might help some of you anyway xD
> 
> 
> ...








Spoiler:  Tips for Ears



Not too much to say about drawing an ear. It really is just knowing what they look like and knowing how to shade properly. Drawing what you see if the best advice I can give you.

You can also try watching some videos, so I will leave some here for you.









Links:
http://www.wikihow.com/Draw-Ears





Spoiler:  Tips for Portraits



1. Boys' faces are generally longer and more ovular than girls' faces.
2. The face should be either split into 1/3's or 1/8's with horizontal lines - depends on the face.
Requesting more tips.
3. Eyes should have 1 eye length in between each other for equal spacing.
4. [More Advanced] Cut the face in half with a line, this line will be the bottom/center of the eyes.
cut another line in between this line and the bottom of the face, this will be the bottom of the nose.Cut a 3rd line between the nose and bottom of the chin, this will be where the bottom lip is located.
5. Ears should be located in the same section as the eyes.
6. Try your best to draw portraits not facing forward, but on an angle. Not necessary.


riummi said:


> eh kind of semi-realistic but hopefully it helps?
> 
> 
> Spoiler: a wip -





noizora said:


> Edit: more because it's 12am and why not.
> The golden ratio face visualised and rule of eyebrows








Spoiler:  Tips for Skin and Blending



Traditional- 
1. Use a blender or your finger to close the strokes for a better skin-like material.
2. Keep shadows consistent.
3. Shadows should never be gray or black, but a darker shade of the current skin tone.
4. Shadows usually appear under hair, eye sockets, under nose, under bottom lip, bridge of nose, sides of face and forehead.
5. Highlights should either be in white or pale tone of current skin color.
6. Highlights usually appear in the center of the forehead, tip of the nose, tip of the chin, cheek bones, above eyebrows, and right above the top lip.

Digital-
Most tips remain the same. 
Requesting tips for tools and blenders for digital art!


noizora said:


> Oh yea, this one's not exactly anatomy specifically, but it was a quick diagram I had drawn up when someone asked about blending
> (drawn in paint tool SAI)








Spoiler:  More!






Pasta said:


> this video is awesome!
> it's by Kiwi Byrd.
> 
> 
> ...





 


*Advanced Tips*


This part of the guide will be directed more towards the technical part of the human face. Up above were the more "basic" for those who needed a quick look over, but now I will explain stuff like the Golden Ratio and proportions to actually help you guys understand and easily construct a human face.

*Golden Ratio*
First tip for this section, not every face will follow the golden ratio's rules. However, it is believed that a face that follows these rules have more attractive faces and will generally lead to more intriguing and attractive art.

Even a small understanding of the Golden Ratio in the face is helpful, so I won't go too much into detail with this just yet.

The golden ratio can be expressed as A/B = B/(A+B). This ratio is seen a multitude of times on a face.
I would explain why, but no one really knows. It is theorized however, that having a face in perfect proportions leads to better living conditions but that's not important.
So where can the Golden Ratio be seen?


Spoiler:  This video explains a lot of generally accepted placements











Always be sure to keep the Golden Ratio in mind when drawing a face!

*Proportions*
As a result to the Golden Ratio, the face is split up into multiple proportions, some of which I briefly mentioned way back up.


Spoiler:  List of Proportions



- If you view a head from the front, its width is approximately two thirds of its height.
- If you view a head from the side, its width is approximately seven eighths of its height.

- The proportions of the head can be divided horizontally into four equal quarters.
- The first quarter measures from the top of the head down to the hairline.
- The second quarter measures from the hairline down to the eyes in the middle of the head.
- The third quarter contains most of the features. At the top of this section the eyes are usually level with the ears, and at the bottom the nose is roughly level with the ear lobes.
- The final quarter stretches from the base of the nose to the chin with the mouth positioned just above the halfway mark.

- The eyes are situated approximately half way down the head.
- If you view a head from the front, the distance across the eye is similar to the distance between the eyes.
- The distance between the eyes is similar to the breadth of the nose.
- The width of the head is about 5 eye lengths long.

- The corners of a closed mouth are aligned in the same vertical position as the center of the iris.
- The edge of the nostril is in the same vertical position as the tear ducts.

Know any more? Let me know so I can add them in!


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## Nightmares (Jan 18, 2016)

Ohh this is awesome! 
Thanks so much! I suck at this stuff xD


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## himeki (Jan 18, 2016)

GOD BLESS YOU


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## Albuns (Jan 18, 2016)

Ooh, this might be helpful~ o:


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## Jacob (Jan 23, 2016)

I know there are lots of really talented artists on tbt
 Please lend any tips to those who need it


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## pickle inkii. (Jan 23, 2016)

I need intense help with noses. Looking forward to seeing tips for that, this is pretty helpful so far!


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## riummi (Jan 24, 2016)

eh kind of semi-realistic but hopefully it helps?


Spoiler: a wip -


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## noizora (Jan 24, 2016)

pickle inkii. said:


> I need intense help with noses. Looking forward to seeing tips for that, this is pretty helpful so far!



Don't have any tips because I think noses are ridiculous to draw too so I looked at how some other artists drew noses and copied them ovo


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## Llust (Jan 24, 2016)

ahh, thank you so much for this. i've been struggling with anatomy for quite some time now, but looking through this really helped


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## PeeBraiin (Jan 25, 2016)

What is a good blender tool for fire alpaca?
Also, how do you ensure that your colors blend in with each other?


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## Jacob (Jan 25, 2016)

riummi said:


> eh kind of semi-realistic but hopefully it helps?
> 
> 
> Spoiler: a wip -





noizora said:


> Don't have any tips because I think noses are ridiculous to draw too so I looked at how some other artists drew noses and copied them ovo



Thank you 2 for these, I will add them to the op when I get home, these can really help!


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## noizora (Jan 26, 2016)

Oh yea, this one's not exactly anatomy specifically, but it was a quick diagram I had drawn up when someone asked about blending 
(drawn in paint tool SAI)


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## kelpy (Jan 26, 2016)

noizora said:


> Oh yea, this one's not exactly anatomy specifically, but it was a quick diagram I had drawn up when someone asked about blending
> (drawn in paint tool SAI)



holy moly that looks great 0_0
I suck at blending etc but I might try this stuff some time ^^


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## riummi (Jan 26, 2016)

some anatomy tips from someone on tumblr: http://daily-commission.tumblr.com/post/119290572537/some-anatomy-studies


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## wassop (Jan 26, 2016)

when i'm drawing noses a common problem i have is with the nostrils . it's good to look at the/a reference's curvature in that area to make sure that the nostrils aren't weirdly shaped/placed , and it always looks better after i focus on that . it's usually what messes mine up : p


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## Jacob (Jan 27, 2016)

Thank you everyone for the help! I updated it all.
All tips are helpful!


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## Jacob (Jan 29, 2016)

Requesting Tips!


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## kelpy (Jan 29, 2016)

blah! Still waiting for the hair tips/tutorial thing. If anyone can help please do post. I suck at hair.


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## Jacob (Jan 30, 2016)

bump


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## Jacob (Feb 5, 2016)

Need tips, especially for hair and ears
anything would be great, doesnt need to be a lot : )


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## Jacob (Mar 5, 2016)

looks like some members are in need of help.
Tips would be helpful!


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## Lee-chan (Mar 5, 2016)

Ok so I made these small hair tutorials a while back^^ 
they are not necessarily realistic, more manga style, but they might help some of you anyway xD 


Spoiler:  one on how I sketch hair














Spoiler:  one on how I color hair










I use Paint Tool Sai & a wacom tablet btw
I hope this helps!!!


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## Jacob (Mar 5, 2016)

Lee-chan said:


> Ok so I made these small hair tutorials a while back^^
> they are not necessarily realistic, more manga style, but they might help some of you anyway xD
> 
> 
> ...



Very nice, thank you so much
will add to the OP now.


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## Jacob (Mar 9, 2016)

bump it out


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## kelpy (Mar 10, 2016)

free bump
:]


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## g u m m i (Mar 10, 2016)

Great help for people struggling with anatomy, I love him 
 *Proko *


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## Jacob (Mar 12, 2016)

g u m m i said:


> Great help for people struggling with anatomy, I love him
> *Proko *


Thank you very much, will add along to op


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## piichinu (Mar 12, 2016)

tip: draw what u see


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## Jacob (Mar 12, 2016)

Also, I will be working for a couple hours to add as many tips as possible to make this an actually helpful guide.
So keep the tips coming ; - ;

and ty claire, drawing what you see definitely is important

Edit: Also began to add a more advanced tips section.. If this is a lame idea let me know lol


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## noizora (Mar 13, 2016)

Threw together something for colouring eyes:





Edit: more because it's 12am and why not.
The golden ratio face visualised and rule of eyebrows


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## Jacob (Mar 13, 2016)

noizora said:


> Threw together something for colouring eyes:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Amazing, Thank you so much!
I split up the quote and put it in the eyes and portrait sections


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## Jacob (Mar 17, 2016)

please share ur tips


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## kelpy (Mar 18, 2016)

this video is awesome!
it's by Kiwi Byrd.







Spoiler: she has other tut videos too


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## Jacob (Apr 7, 2016)

Can never have too much anatomy tips


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## Jacob (Apr 17, 2016)

bump


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## Jacob (Jul 22, 2016)

Bump


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