To produce a relaxed feeling in your portraits quite often you will need to render the head tilted. Most people when they are at ease will view with their head slightly tilted. In this article we will point out what to look for and how to tackle the tilted head.

In the tilted head view the model will show a clear change of bearing from the action of the torso to the slant of the head. Also take note of where the shoulders are. The model's shoulders will almost be aligned with the bottom of the nose.

With this information in mind, the first step is to measure the angle of the head's slant (from the bottom of the chin to the top of the head) before sketching the arabesque. To do this hold your pencil (or a knitting needle) at arm's length, looking through one eye, and adjust the angle of the held pencil so that it corresponds to the angle of the slant. Keeping your arm straight and locked you can now transpose this angle onto the drawing.

Now that the angle of the slant is found you can draw the arabesque and validate the height/width proportion.

The axis of the features is perpendicular to the slanted facial angle. A common trend while drawing is to straighten out the features so that they are horizontal to the paper. Be aware of this and ever on-guard because this trend is delicate and is constantly trying to sneak into the drawing.

It is not a recommended practice to position all of the features at this time. It is actually more correct to first fix the brow line and the bottom of the nose and work from there.

When the head is slanted you should also be conscious of the effect that gravity has on the face. The skin, especially on the underside of the jaw, will be a bit pulled down. This effect is quite subtle but for those of you who are advanced portraitists you should capture this in your original arabesque. If you are a novice just put this information away for future reference.

Take note, also, of the neck. The relevant visible neck muscle is stretched out. Its companion is shortened. This opposing muscle action is referred to as abduction/adduction. This action of the neck always renders a beautiful effect.

Once the arabesque is located and you are satisfied with its accuracy relative to proportion and shape you can sketch in the features and block-in the main big darks and lights. Keep the tone simple. The more complex the lighting arrangement, the more this applies.

The tonal arrangements are worked further, but are still a bit crude and unresolved. The main concern is the overall light effect.

There are a few things to keep in mind as you prepare to finalize the drawing:

1. Determine how far you should carry the drawing. You can get a good effect if you give the shoulders and upper torso an unresolved quality. Remember, drawings are not meant to resemble photographs.

2. As you gain a better understanding of the facial structure the trend exists to render what you know rather than what is actually there. So make sure you always pause to observe the life model or the model in the photo.

In conclusion, the slanted head view is special in that the features will be centered on a slanted axis and that the tension in the shoulders will be different from one side to the other. Also the transition from the torso and shoulders to the head should be carefully observed.