How to Draw a Face in Profile

So today I figured I would do another how to draw post. So here is how to draw a face in profile. Hopefully you be able to apply these tips to create your own character. 

This is what the final product will look like after I have finished giving you the step by step tips.

First we start off with the best circle you can muster. It doesn't have to be perfect but it helps a lot when you get to drawing the back of the head and the neck.

Then you draw a line down it facing where ever your character is going to be looking. You want to be sure not to make it too long or too short, if too long the back of the head will be too far up. If too short the back of the head os too low or your eye lines could be messed up. 

Next you add the jaw line. Try and make it go towards the circle a little bit, not straight out. Otherwise it makes the face look less realistic and a little boxy.

Here I added some guidelines for the eyes and the nose. The one that goes all the way through the head is for the eyes and eventually the ears. The smaller one is for the nose. The eyes are halfway down the face and the nose is halfway between the eyes and the chin. For the back of the neck you want to curve it a bit because thats what necks do. And for the front just find a place where it feels like a good size to you because not everyone has the same size neck.

When drawing the nose follow the circle guide for a while till you get to the bridge of the nose where the eyes will be. After that there are many different types of noses you could do. You could have hard edges or soft button nose. For this drawing I did sort of a mix in between. 

Now is the time to add the eyes! First make a line that is slightly curved vertically, careful not to make it too close to the edge of the nose. Then depending on the type of eye you could do several things. You could make it short and long or tall and thin. Mine is tall and medium width I guess, that is my favorite type because it add a sort of bubbly or puppy feeling to the eye. 

Eyebrows are the most important thing when creating an expression. I figured I would make him slightly sad or worried. To do this I simply tilted the eyebrow up at the end to create that effect.

Now I added the ear and the lips. The ear goes from the jawline to the eyebrow-ish area. I personally feel that if you go any longer it makes them look like they have incredibly enormous ears and it does not please me. For the lips you simply make a sort of triangle shape. Some artists only draw the upper lip but I feel it makes it seem a bit strange, I can't really explain it. 

Now its time for the hair, but before we get to the style I sometimes draw the hairline if its a new hair style I want to draw. So this guy is going to have the not-so-sideburn in front of his ear.

In animes people usually have very large hair, but in my type of style its a bit smaller than that. So the line around the head is how far I want the hair to go.

This is my favorite type of hair style for reasons I know not. But hopefully with this guide you will be able to use your own type of hairstyle.

Just figured I would a shirt line.

So now I shaded the hair and it is finished. And that is how you draw a face in profile. 

I hope this helped you in your exploring of art-ness. let me know what you think in the comments below. If you want your request to remain private or anonymous just say so and I won't post it but I can still see it. Post a comment and tell me what you think! See you next time :D

Oh! And you should also check out this amazing girl. She is a fantastic artist and posts some really funny pictures and stuff.