HOW TO PRACTISE DRAWING FACES

Summary

This video offers a comprehensive guide on mastering the art of drawing faces. It introduces a 20-week plan, starting with foundational exercises like drawing boxes and cylinders to understand head structure and proportions. The plan progresses to studying facial features, bone structure, and integrating them into complex geometric forms. The video emphasizes the importance of avoiding 'lazy hair' and mastering the three-dimensional aspect of hair. It concludes with tips on developing a personal style by practicing different mediums, proportions, and storytelling through drawings.

Takeaways

• 🎨 Start with a 20-day drawing plan to improve face drawing skills.
• 📚 Begin with the 100 head challenge to understand basic shapes and proportions.
• 📐 Practice drawing boxes and cylinders to grasp the structure of the head and face.
• 🔍 Focus on subdividing planes to understand how features fit within the head's mass.
• 📈 Transition from basic to complex geometric forms to represent facial features more accurately.
• 💀 Study facial anatomy and proportions by drawing skulls to understand underlying structures.
• 👁️ Pay attention to facial landmarks to capture realistic facial features.
• 🖌️ Avoid 'lazy hair' by treating hair as a three-dimensional form with volume and gravity.
• 🎨 Experiment with different hairstyles and mediums to add variety and interest to your drawings.
• 📺 Watch animations and study how artists use form, proportion, and line work to convey emotions.
• 🌟 Challenge yourself by drawing from life, imagination, and different perspectives to grow as an artist.

Q & A

What is the main focus of the video?

The main focus of the video is to provide a structured approach to practicing and improving face drawing skills.

What is the 100 head challenge mentioned in the video?

The 100 head challenge is a drawing exercise where the artist attempts to draw 10 hats every day for a period of time, aiming to improve their drawing skills.

Why did the artist move away from the 100 head challenge method?

The artist found the 100 head challenge to be less efficient and learned that there are more sophisticated approaches to learning and practicing face drawing.

What is the recommended daily practice duration for the artist?

The artist recommends a general outline of 3 hours a day for practice, but acknowledges that this can vary based on individual needs.

What is the significance of drawing boxes and cylinders for beginners in the first week of practice?

Drawing boxes and cylinders helps beginners understand basic forms, the structure of the head, and basic proportions, which are essential for face drawing.

How does the artist suggest practicing facial features in the third and fourth weeks?

The artist suggests evolving from basic geometry to more complex geometric forms, adding features like ears, and understanding how these features fit within the mass of the head.

What is the purpose of studying facial anatomy and proportions in weeks 5 to 8?

Studying facial anatomy and proportions helps artists become more specific with their drawings, understanding the underlying base geometric forms of facial features.

How does the artist approach drawing hair?

The artist emphasizes not drawing 'lazy hair' and instead treating hair as a three-dimensional form, considering its volume and the effect of gravity on it.

What is the importance of challenging oneself in the practice of drawing?

Challenging oneself helps in personal growth and allows the artist to explore different styles, mediums, and subjects, ultimately leading to a more versatile and skilled artist.

How does the artist suggest integrating full face drawing into practice?

The artist suggests starting with basic geometry, moving to complex geometry, mastering bone structure and features, and then applying these skills to draw faces with various hairstyles and expressions.

Outlines

00:00

🎨 Introduction to Face Drawing Practice

The video begins with an introduction to practicing drawing faces, mentioning a 20-day drawing plan designed for learning facial features. The speaker shares their personal sketchbook from 2019, highlighting the 100 Head Challenge they undertook, which involved drawing 10 hats daily. They acknowledge that while this method provided learning opportunities, it wasn't the most efficient. The speaker now proposes a more sophisticated approach, starting with the first week focused on building a foundation by drawing basic forms like boxes and cylinders to understand the structure of the head and basic proportions.

05:00

📐 Geometric Shapes and Proportions

The second paragraph delves into the importance of drawing geometric shapes to understand the structure of the head. The speaker suggests practicing with basic forms like boxes and cylinders to grasp the concept of how planes change in the face. They emphasize the need to understand the proportions and the placement of facial features within the mass of the head. The speaker also introduces the idea of drawing the head from different perspectives and encourages viewers to fill a page with these basic forms as a warm-up exercise.

10:03

💀 Advanced Geometry and Facial Anatomy

In the third paragraph, the focus shifts to more advanced geometric forms and facial anatomy. The speaker explains the transition from basic geometry to more complex forms, such as adding ears and understanding where the neck connects to the head. They discuss the importance of studying the underlying geometric forms of facial features and the need to understand the bone structure of the face. The speaker also mentions drawing skulls to grasp these basic structures and suggests a more imaginative approach to make the practice more enjoyable.

15:07

🌟 Hair as Form and Full Face Integration

The fourth paragraph addresses the common mistake of drawing 'lazy hair,' emphasizing that hair is a three-dimensional form. The speaker provides tips on how to draw hair with volume and gravity in mind. They also discuss the importance of integrating all learned elements—basic geometry, complex geometry, facial features, and hair—to draw a full face. The speaker encourages viewers to practice drawing different hairstyles and to challenge themselves by drawing faces from life or imagination.

20:09

🌐 Conclusion and Encouragement

The video concludes with the speaker encouraging viewers to like and subscribe for more helpful content. They mention the availability of mentorship slots and invite viewers to share their practice results with the world. The speaker emphasizes the adaptability of the suggested practice methods and encourages viewers to find their own style and challenge themselves in their artistic journey.

Keywords

💡Drawing Faces

The primary focus of the video is on the art of drawing faces. This involves understanding the basic shapes and proportions that make up a human face, such as the head being conceptualized as a box and the neck as a cylinder. The video provides a structured approach to mastering this skill, starting from basic geometric forms to more complex features and finally integrating all elements to create a realistic face.

💡100 Head Challenge

A drawing challenge mentioned in the video where the artist aims to draw 10 hats every day for a period of time. This method was used as a learning tool in the past, though the speaker now advocates for a more sophisticated approach. The challenge is an example of how repetition and practice can help improve drawing skills, particularly in capturing the nuances of facial features.

💡Geometric Forms

In the context of drawing, geometric forms are the basic shapes like boxes, cylinders, and planes that are used to represent the structure of the human face and head. These forms help artists understand the underlying structure and proportions before adding details like facial features.

💡Facial Anatomy

Facial anatomy refers to the study of the structure and proportions of the human face, including the bones, muscles, and features such as eyes, nose, and mouth. In the video, the speaker discusses the importance of understanding this anatomy to accurately depict facial features in drawings.

💡Proportions

Proportions in drawing refer to the relative sizes and positions of different elements within an image. In the context of drawing faces, getting the proportions right is crucial for creating a realistic representation. The video emphasizes the importance of understanding how features fit within the overall structure of the face.

💡Landmarks

In the video, landmarks refer to the specific bumps or features on the face that help in creating a more realistic and accurate representation. These landmarks indicate the underlying structure of the face, such as the cheekbones or the brow ridge.

💡Hair

The video discusses hair as a three-dimensional form, not just a flat scribble on top of the head. It emphasizes that hair should be treated as a collection of tubes, each affected by gravity and volume, and should wrap around the head's geometric form.

💡Style

Style in drawing refers to the unique way an artist chooses to represent their subject matter, which can include preferences in shapes, ratios, and the use of certain techniques. The video encourages artists to develop their own style based on their knowledge and artistic decisions.

💡Animation

Animation, as discussed in the video, refers to the art of creating the illusion of movement or sequence of images. The speaker mentions using animation as a source of inspiration for practicing drawing, focusing on how animators use form, proportion, and line work to convey emotions and tell stories.

💡Practice

Practice in the context of the video is the continuous and deliberate effort to improve drawing skills through repetition and experimentation. The speaker provides a structured 20-week plan for practicing drawing faces, emphasizing the importance of consistent practice and challenging oneself to grow as an artist.

Highlights

The video discusses a method for practicing drawing faces, including a 20-day drawing plan.

The speaker shares their experience with the 100 head challenge, which involved drawing 10 hats every day.

The 100 head challenge was a learning experience, but the speaker now uses a more sophisticated approach.

The first week of practice focuses on building a foundation by drawing basic forms like boxes and cylinders.

The speaker emphasizes the importance of understanding how planes change in the face for accurate proportions.

The second and third week involve transitioning from basic geometry to more complex forms.

Weeks 5 to 8 focus on studying facial anatomy and proportions, including drawing ears, eyes, and noses within geometric forms.

The speaker suggests practicing by drawing skulls to understand basic structures and landmarks.

The importance of not drawing 'lazy hair' is stressed, as hair is a three-dimensional form with volume and gravity.

The speaker recommends practicing different hairstyles and applying them to geometric faces.

The goal is to be able to draw faces without thinking, integrating all learned elements seamlessly.

The speaker encourages viewers to challenge themselves and practice drawing in different styles or mediums.

The video concludes with an invitation to share results and feedback, promoting a community of learning and growth.

Transcripts

in this video we're going to talk about

how to practice drawing faces and I will

also share a 20we drawing plan

especially for learning to draw the face

so please enjoy the video this is one of

my sketchbooks from 2019 and this was

the way I was practice drawing faes back

then so this is maybe familiar to some

of you which is the 100 head challenge I

also made a video about that few years

ago you can find it on my YouTube

channel I will also plug it here there

but basically that was a drawing

challenge where you would try to draw 10

hats every day and through this

challenge I really learned a lot I would

say it wasn't the most efficient method

to learn or technically I would say I

would definitely learn to draw the face

differently today but you can see there

was a lot of learning a lot of mileage a

lot of things I could learn about shapes

and whatnot and DEP and shading so that

was an interesting challenge I

personally would not practice drawing

faces this way anymore I want to give

you today a more sophisticated approach

to learn and practice drawing faces as

mentioned I will also provide you with a

20we drawing plan so we want to talk

about how to practice drawing faces

today starting off with week number one

which is basically building a foundation

I want to say that the general outline

for every practice um because I found it

most efficient for myself is 3 hours a

day that could be vary a bit for you it

could be more or could be less

everything that I'm going to suggest is

just optional it's always open for you

to adjust to your own personal needs I

wanted to add first week of drawing

basic forms suggest for every beginner

is learning super basic things I know

some people may be tired of this but I

cannot emphasize this enough drawing

boxes and cylinders is the absolute key

for it the things that we need so we're

going to need

a concept

of a

box and we need the concept of a

cylinder right so we want to combine

these two how do we do that and I would

suggest maybe starting with the box I

want you to

imagine that around this face around

this head there's something like a

invisible box which is the outside

constraint for the general mass of the

face or the head that could look like

this

and now we also need the cylinder but

the neck of course

so like this why do we need that because

we need to get an understanding how

plain changes work in the face and how

the general mass and proportion work so

if I would divide this

because that's what we can do with

planes we can divide them so if you ever

have used a 3D program you can use

something that's called subdivision

where you can subdivis these planes and

we can technically subdivide them again

and again and again and again very small

that's not what we want to do what we

want to do is we want to get a general

feeling for the proportions we can also

try to draw this box more from

below make it a bit harder on our

self but we always want to try to

Envision a

head and again we are just subdividing

it to make it easier to

understand why is the subdivision so

important because when we're going to

place the face and the features in a

later stage we need to exactly know

where we have certain separation because

we can separate these features so your

first week would technically look like

filling a full page just

with

boxes and

cylinders also great warmup can always

recommend

that you can loosen up if you feel like

that that's is still hard for you also

the cylinder sometimes off or the

ellipse is off you can also draw through

if you

want so for

example like this like we could look

inside of the

box right so to make it super straight

that would be like we could look through

the box right so this would be the first

basic approach and you can just fill a

page like this now here's another

example

we can basically just fill a page like

we want to week number one consists

basically out of spending time drawing

practice geometric shapes understand the

structure of the head and study the

basic proportions of the shape after

that we going over to week number three

to four which is three-dimensional forms

what we want to do we eventually want to

get a little bit more further with this

right so we kind of like want to evolve

from the base that's the absolute basic

geometry basic GE

now we want to evolve right because and

know we cannot draw this no one's going

to see that that's a face you're

absolutely right so what's the next step

just draw a box

again now we have few options we could

say we could try to either cut into this

box add to this box or make a more

complex geometric form

e

and we try to go for more of a complex

geometric

form

now we can also start to think

about maybe adding an ear but just

adding the form of the

ear then where would the neck connect to

the Head we just draw over this again

now here we try to draw something a bit

more

complex so more geometrical but what we

want to do and what we eventually want

to achieve is to place these elements

the eyes the nose the mouth and the ears

in a proper way inside the mass right

not inside the Box because that will

kind of like always be limiting but what

we want to do we want to fit these

features there talking about facial

anatomy and that's the subject for the

next weeks which is basically week 5 to

8 is anatomy and proportions so what we

want to do we want to study the

underlying base geometric forms of the

features we need in order to be more

specific with it we can basically draw

the geometric basic shape of an ear and

then try to draw a real ear inside of

that same goes for the eyes and same

goes also for the nose right so we have

to understand this another practice

option would be for you to just fill a

page with these basic geometric forms

and that's super super simple right you

can choose whatever you want whatever it

is that you want to prefer So when you

say I want to practice maybe to draw a

nose and you start just with the basic

geometric forms or you

say I want to practice the basic shape

of an

ear but not to forget that everything

that we draw has planes right right so

everything has side planes top planes

and maybe bottom planes depending on

what is the perspective we have so same

goes for the

eye obviously that's a bit

easier see the pupils right in the

middle right but this is a way where you

can basically just say okay I'm just

going to fill one page only with these

and when you've done that the next step

could be okay now let's try to draw the

these things

inside very common mistake I see that

for example people completely forget

about this upper plane of the ear you

see that everywhere people just do these

very flat ears but they completely

forget about the top plane or the bottom

plane depending on where they at same

for if you learn to draw noses like a

someone who likes anime what they often

do is they in manga they do these

simplifications right these super

indications this is great this is super

artistic but in order to learn it's hard

because what you first have to learn is

this the plane change because this

means always

three-dimensionality right 1 2 3 3D if

effect that's what we always want we

never want only one plane we don't want

this right we want this so fill a page

with these boxes or with these more

complex geometric forms for the

features and try to draw that

in depending on what it is that you try

to draw

right

and challenge yourself if you feel okay

I got this this is easy now do more do

different different views so the next

step then is basically combining that

which means what we want to do and

that's what we already did here is we

want to add these features to the more

complex geometry now when we've done

that we have now more options we can

start to say well let's try to draw a

phase above this or let's take another

step into a proper direction which would

be to not only study facial features but

also bone structure and I made a Draw

With Me video to the topic of drawing

bones and drawing the skull I will also

put it in here but the next few weeks

which could be one or two weeks would be

just by drawing sculls and just trying

to understand these basic structures and

I also want to show you how that could

look you can also go for a more

classical approach by just drawing them

but what I also sometimes like is more

having more fun with these things right

so I at some point I start to just

rotate sculls from my imagination um

just as a warm-up but this is how I try

to approach it in a more fun way where

you don't be like okay I have to draw a

full page of skulls that's something you

can do once or twice if you enjoy it

please do more of it

but if you feel like okay I don't like

the typical academical approach or more

something more free you can do fun stuff

you can draw a full page which tells the

story of imagination so I think I also

shared this in another video already but

uh this is also just a bit further which

means now I draw the full bone structure

and I imagine scenes in my head and I

just do that as my practice that's

basically part of my practice routine by

the way if you want to support any

future videos because I always forget

this please feel free to subscribe and

like the video and if you have also any

content suggestions or questions feel

free to ask them in the comments below

now what could be the next step so let's

say you have now the capability and

possibility to draw a skull in every

angle why do we need that because what

we want to do we want to understand

these landmarks this and

this these things are called landmarks

what they basically mean they indicate

bumps in the face so when we see a face

from the side and we see okay there's a

certain bump coming out on the side what

is it made of because it will help us to

communicate a better realistic face so

now we got the basic understanding of

basic Geo we mastered the complex Geo

plus the features now what we want to do

we want to draw the face over the

geometric form finally right because

that's what you're here for what we can

do is we can go back to make a

combination of the basic Geo and start

to draw features over it what you maybe

will realize when you start with this

approach is that either way you draw the

features too big or too small and there

are very small nuances in adding these

features why because it's extremely

important how big and small they are

every person you meet every face you see

has different proportions but also

depending where is your cultural

background where's someone coming from

these features going to very extreme and

this is why drawing a lot of different

faces is always a good practice and at

some point we think about indication

which means we don't want to draw the

full form we also want to kind of like

find a efficient artistic approach to

draw these faces because what most of us

want to do is find their own style right

but the style contains out of the

knowledge we have and also the artistic

decisions we make so some things are

bound to efficiency some things are

bound to the preference in what shapes

do we like what ratios do we prefer prer

if do we draw a female do do we draw a

male these are all things that influence

our drawings but what we want to do

eventually is we want to be able to do

this to draw faces without really

thinking now we also have to talk about

this which is hair something I see very

often my mentorship students are doing

is something which I call Lazy hair and

by lazy hair I mean they basically just

draw a really nice geometric head and

they then just do a very quick scribble

on top the thing is hair is also form

right hair is not flat it is a

three-dimensional

form super long slim tube the mass of

the hair consists out of a lot of

these super small tubes right so bunch

of them together makes a big string of

hair I really get annoyed by seeing this

because hair is super super easy it's

much easier than this because it's

basically a bunch of tubes all we need

to do is we have to apply gravitation

and we have to apply volume volume just

comes by adding these little tubes

together right so that makes the volume

and gravitation means it gets pulled

down and if it's above a geometric form

it wraps around that form whenever you

draw hair I want to I want you to keep

in mind to not draw lazy hair and

whenever you see someone making a

YouTube video and drawing hair like this

I want you to comment lazy hair below

and tag them with this video a practice

week how could it look basically trying

to draw these geometric faces and then

also try to add different hairstyles on

top so something like this right so you

can start simple you can warm up with a

geometric form sometimes you can also

test different different mediums here I

tested the brush pen it was super shaky

so I just went in and went over the

geometric forms again also draw the head

a bit from below also sometimes see okay

this is too small this is is too big but

that's how you can approach this

practice so what you would do you

basically fill a full page with these

type of faces and then you can also

start to have more fun by drawing

different hairstyles right and trying to

think of how can I make this more

exciting how can I make

this head more interesting how can I

give her more shapes how can I make him

more interesting maybe he has a bit more

beard maybe he has strong eyebrows maybe

he has a stronger beard shape here in

the front right so this is how a full

page of applying this could look so an

an absolute option here is also to for

example give yourself a week of just

drawing basic hairstyles right so

studying different hairstyles practicing

drawing them and focusing on the flow

and movement of the hair and last but

not least is then of course the full

face integration right or something that

we already talked about for me right now

it is for example learning not only

brush pen or a different medium but also

also learning different indications

because when you're able to figure out

the general mass of the head and the

general forms and you figure out okay I

know this now I know how to draw all

these features you can start to

experiment with it and sometimes what I

would do I would kind of like draw the

same thing over and over and over and

over again this is also optional for you

if you are into animation manga or

anything that kind of like goes in that

direction that could be also a week for

you by just doing these pages every day

where you watch your favorite animation

movie or you watch your favorite

animation series and what you do you

look for indication form proportion how

these artists would use their Mark

making to communicate certain emotions

so I just wanted to show you this

because I know a lot of you are also

interested in this type of Direction I

also personally do that I have a lot of

animation movies I love and when I feel

like okay there's something that sticks

with me I take a sheet of paper and I do

these practice Pages where I just try to

understand what is it that I like is it

the proportion is it the shape is it the

mouth right this is basically a warm-up

not focus anymore on just the face but

also focus on full full body but also I

want to tell stories because it's it's

not only drawing only the face is not

that exciting anymore I want to

challenge myself and this is something I

would always advise to anyone it's

always how you react to your

surroundings how you react to your own

personal growth and in order to make

sure that you grow more you have to

challenge yourself so um I just do this

as a warm-up I think about things what

I've seen what do I like and I just let

this come out and this is just by

imagination it's just a random drawing

we start with basic Geo we go to more

complex Geo we want to learn bone

structure when we have the bone

structure and the Geo done we want to

apply features on that we want to not do

lazy hair we want to master the features

and then what we want to do we want want

to be free so we can practice whatever

we want if it's

animation if it's drawing random faces

if it's practicing a medium over and

over if we want to draw stories that's

all up to us so if this video was

helpful for you please make sure to like

And subscribe I also have some

mentorship slots open there's a link

below the video these are all

suggestions it doesn't mean that has to

100% work for you everything is

adaptable and optional give me feedback

in the comments otherwise I wish they a

lot of fun with this practicing and

please make sure to share your results

with the world because everything that

you produce will also motivate someone

else to pursue drawing