Most starting students will usually draw the face on paper as a flat disk or oval which it is not. Also, compared to the entire skull, the face is quite petite particularly in babies. Your hand can fit the entire face. Place that same hand on top of your skull and you will know at once how large your skull really is.



To grasp planes and thus obtain a sculptural sensibility in your drawing you must grasp and use simple geometric shapes.

In general, the skull can be framed within a rectangular box. More rightly, this rectangular box should be adapted to a phalanx-like box with the face on the smallest side. The skull tapers towards the front which is the face. This is the basic shape of the skull in the frontal view.

In the profile view the skull is in general a cube. The distinction is the facial angle (the "muzzle") that slopes slightly forward at the chin. In the 7/8 profile, the cube has simply been turned in space.

Again, it is very important to think about the skull in terms of simple geometric shapes. Once you have located the large plain shapes you can start establishing the smaller shapes inside the large ones. Very soon that group of simple shapes becomes quite complex and starts resembling a skull.

Keeping the above in mind you can start with drawing the construct which is the complete outside contour of the skull, hair included. Then you break down the construct into its different sections such as the hair, ear, jaw and neck.

As you block-in the darks and think of the skull as an assortment of simple geometric solids you will by now begin to see the three-dimensional effect, even at this early time.

The key is to think simply and large. At this early time, do not pay attention to the minutia - they tend to delude your sense of distance and direction.

Once the significant entities are established, establishing the features (eyes, nose, etc.) becomes relatively easy. However, if you do not situate those entities accurately you will never be successful.

The frontal view of the portrait poses a unique test. If you are not careful you can end up with a flat, 2-dimensional face. In this view, the plane changes are often quite subtle and difficult to situate.

Be sure to notice all plane changes in this frontal view and draw them carefully in your sketch:

- Showing the forward tapering of the sides of the head is significant to reaching a subtle three-dimensional effect in this frontal view.

- The front of the face lies more or less in one plane.

- The plane of the foreskull changes direction as you move towards the top of the skull.

- The plane along the cheek has a different direction than the adjacent one along the temple.

The idea is to carefully observe the directions of all the different planes that make up the skull and take these differences into account when you draw. If you do, your drawings will possess a sculptural, three-dimensional sensibility. It is not necessary to draw out the geometry of the actual planes, but the differences in direction must be plainly drawn.

In conclusion, it is very significant that you are aware of the fact that a model's skull consists of planes of changing bearings and is not just an egg. This sculptural structure should be reflected in your sketch because it is significant to the likeness and to the illusion of three-dimensionality.