The eye is not a perfect sphere. The cornea bulges out in front of the iris (the colored part), so that the while the iris looks flat, reflections from the front of the eye show a curved surface. The drawing above illustrates this. �?nbsp;Note that when viewed from an angle, the pupil sits in the plane of the iris, and being in perspective is oval rather than circular. �?nbsp;The iris is not a solid tone, but has streaks of color, dark around the edge. �?nbsp;At this angle, the rim of the lower eyelid is visible. Use the lightest hint of tone here, except where shadowed. �?nbsp;The 'whites' aren't really white. They have slight color and often visible blood vessels, and are frequently shadowed. Reserve pure white for highlights.

	The shape of the lids changes as the eye moves. We tend to think of the eyes as being mirror images of each other, but when gazing to one side, they can look very different.
	Expressions can drastically alter the shape of the eye. Pay attention to the lines and wrinkles around the eye, not just the lids themselves, otherwise the eyes will just look mis-shapen.
	Pay careful attention to placement of the eyes. If drawing without any aids, refer to the key 'landmarks' of the face, checking the angle and distance of the inner and outer points of the eyes in relation to the ears and nose.
To begin with , I use construction lines to indicate the planes of the face, place the pupils and draw in main lines of the lids and brows. Including wrinkles and lines at this point can help provide reference points. I don't usually get too detailed at first, but work up the whole face, adding further reference points and ensuring that everything fits together. Some people prefer to focus on a single area at a time. Careful observation is the key. Observing the tiny details of light and shade in the eyes will bring the subject to life.

Tips:
• Sometimes a little artist's licence is needed if light is poor or when working from a photo. Adding a little curved highlight cutting across the pupil and iris, a shadow under the lid, or detail to the iris, can brighten flat eyes.
• Don't automatically outline the lower lid - often the lower rim is highlighted and needs to be lightly indicated.
• Observe the subtle changes in tone which indicate the eye socket, and the planes of the nose and brows, which help to sit the eyes into the face.

 

Drawing the Human Head from Life
Using Basic Structure
Now that we know the basic proportions of the head, how do we apply these concepts to drawing from life? The trick is to take it a step at a time, and to trust your eyes. Keep proportion and perspective in mind, and remember that what you 'know' about the face may be very different from what you see, depending on the angle. Two of the most common faults are placing the eye too high on the face, and making the skull too short. Here is a step-by-step guide to drawing the head using a simple linear approach. Observing the subject, begin with a rough ball indicating the main part of the skull. Draw the line from forehead to chin, form the plane of the face, and add the jawline and main features. Note that the line indicating the nose shows the base of the nose, not the tip. This will help with modeling the nose later. Place the ear, construct the nose (in a frontal view using two lines along the length), draw the jawline and indicate the brows, forehead and cheeks (depending on the pose). Position the eyes carefully. Erase construction lines. Improve the linework, checking the model constantly, adding detail and correcting shape. Add hair. Note that the drawing of the neck and shoulders must also be accurate. This drawing has been darkened to demonstrate the observed lines. If you wish to shade your drawing, keep the linework light. Tips: Practice drawing the head from many different angles. Observe how the facial muscles change as an expression changes. Try taking your own reference photos. Adults are easier to draw than children, as their features are more sharply defined. Try doing some studies of a skull if you can, (try the local museum,art school or school science department) as this will help you understand the planes of the face. Proportions of the Human Head Drawing the Structure of the Head and Face To draw the human head accurately, first become familiar with the basic proportions. Traditional rules of proportion show the face divided into six equal squares, two by three. The upper horizontal division is roughly at the 'third eye' level mid-forehead, the lower at the base of the nose. The eyes sit on the horizontal centre, the mouth on the centre of the lower third. If you are skeptical of such simple mathematics, try it out on some models in magazines - it works! While this is an ideal which does not account for racial and individual variation, observing these basic proportions gives you a starting point to measure against. By ensuring your basic proprtions are correct to begin with, you will avoid major re-draws at a later stage of the drawing. To construct a well-proportioned head, follow these simple steps. Begin with a ball. Drop a line from mid-forehead to the chin. 'Slice off' a circle at the side of the head, and from the front of this circle, curve a line down to the chin. Complete the plane of the face with a line on the other side. Now add the jawline. Construct the nose, indicate mouth and chin position and elongate skull slightly. (The distance from chin to crown is almost the same as from forehead to the back of the skull). For an in-depth explanation of this method, see Ron Lemen's excellent tutorial.