The muscles of the face as agents of expression

The most important function of the muscles of the face is to communicate emotion. Because humans are almost always being influenced by our emotions whether they are revealed either subtly or obviously we must have an understanding of the effect it has on the face.

Mouth as an expressive feature...

The shape of the mouth and lips depends on the shape of the teeth. The more curved the teeth are, the more curved the mouth. Care needs to be taken with the mouth because it is capable of great movement. This movement gives great amount of expression. Artists sometimes struggle with the whole teeth thing. One word of caution, don't draw each tooth as a separate shape and hard lines between the teeth. This is an amateur mistake to avoid.

Drawing faces and capturing likeness to the person you are drawing can be a difficult task. One of the most prominent and difficult features for artists to capture is the nose. This is because, quite honestly, it is one of the largest on the face and it sticks out.

So, as an artist, you need to know when drawing faces how to draw the nose correctly. Some artists tend to overlook the nose and then they find their drawing is off somehow. The nose should not be overlooked and is quite simple to draw the nose if you follow these tips when drawing faces.

How to draw a face wont do you any good if you mess the most prominent part of the face up. The nose is important! Don't forget the nose people!

First, you need to know the basic set up and structure of the nose. Knowing what's underneath the skin and the musculature and bone structure of the face will help. It is important to note that everyone's noses are different and unique and to draw them as such. There are great resources on anatomy that you will find below that can help you with the structure of the nose.

Artists have different techniques for drawing noses. Some artists like to keep the drawing of a nose simplified and use the technique of two lines and a ball for the tip of the nose. Some artists start off with a prism to guide them along. This article focuses more on some tips and mistakes to avoid when drawing the nose and not so much the technique.

First when placing the nose on the face, start with your blockin of the head. If you need help with blocking in go here and read this article about it. Next, carefully draw a line through the forehead and the mouth to give you the starting midpoint on the face. This will help you to keep your alignment right. Then use the thumb and pencil technique for measuring to find the exact placement of the nose.

One of the common mistakes beginning artists make when drawing the nose is in outlining and shading. New artists sometimes make the mistake of drawing the outline of both sides of the nose. This will flatten the nose and make the drawing of the face look off. You can spot a beginner a mile away when this is done. Drawing faces can be easy but you need to follow these basic drawing principles.

Take extra care when you are shading the nose. Shading doesn't have to be difficult, just remember these simple rules. You should avoid outlining and use lighting and shadow and directional shading to help create the effect. Usually the shadowed side of the nose will provide the depth and dimension to give the 3D effect.

When drawing the nose, be careful not to make the nose too long. Some artists do this. Also, just a quick refresher in what we discussed...First, sketch out or block in the outline of the nose. Check the placement of the nose on the page using the thumb n pencil method of measuring. Start defining the shape using shadowing, defining the nostrils, etc. Finish shading the nose. That's it in a nutshell.

Make sure not to rush through the drawing of the nose when concentrating on drawing faces. The nose shouldn't be neglected. Often times people concentrate mostly on how to draw eyes or hair but not enough on the nose.