Common Issues with Drawing Faces

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These are just some common issues that I find I notice when I see people who are having difficulties with drawing faces.

Tools:
Adobe Photoshop CS6
Wacom Cintiq 22HD
Camtasia Studio

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Comments

Peteru Avertis says:

The eyebrow thing… The difference in girls and guys is really gender
specific stuff and not at all set in stone. I think you should perhaps
refer to masculinity and femininity, because lets face it ( no pun ), we’re
all different and the whole guy/girl thing is profoundly different in the
far ends of the spectrum of femininity and masculinity.

This is just an example.
It’s something I notice a lot of artists talk about “Girls need more
feminine features” (usually concept art, but happens with all sort of art).
It usually ends with warrior type females being portrayed with either
“slutty” or with pro-dominant feminine features, even though a warrior type
female character would probably favour practical armour and clothing and
rarely any make-up (unless it’s war-paint).

Character design is something to keep in mind, and you’re going to want
characters of both spectrum’s. The only problem is you rarely ever see
anything that isn’t a stereotype feminine sex bomb.
I’d love to see a video on the very subtle changes that makes us recognize
a character as either sex. I feel like it’s always all-or-nothing kind of
characters people talk about in videos like this. People are a lot plainer
than this.

You know? I don’t think it’s too relevant for this video specifically, but
it’s a thing going on everywhere online. A bit ignorant to assume we’re all
the stereotypes.

Freja Rößle says:

Also could you do a video explaining thick and thin lines? As in lineart
and so on?
I know that it has something to do with weight but I’m still a bit confused
about it and I don’t think you’ve gone over it in any of your videos.

mrmadgoblin says:

17:15
wtf was that thing at the top left..
Was that a persons butt painted like a pumpkin?

wat

Bobby O says:

Can you do heads facing different directions, and how to change the
proportions of the facial features accordingly?

RAPH FELIX says:

been going through a major art block.. the ideas are there.. but the art is
not coming.. i also think i may have lost my confidence in myself. i feel
wrecked. i used to draw at the drop of a hat, now its a struggle just to
scribble a line..wtf ? have you ever dealt with this ?

andyskeetskeet says:

your upload schedule is crazy man, it’s 2am where I’m at lol

Ali Wei says:

Wow, I’ve been drawing faces off & on for about 10 years now, and this is
possibly the best teaching that I’ve come across on the subject. Thank you!
And I’m definitely subscribing.
Also I’ve always had trouble with jawlines, but your advice to think in 3D
instantly improved my drawing as I was practicing while watching your
tutorial. How you think really does make a huge difference! Again, Thanks!

Heinz Pasulke says:

“When you change how you think, you change how you draw.” – Sycra, 2014 

Moe says:

Wow no dislikes 

GatsuRage says:

14:43 u just thinking of MORTAL KOMBAT. What I believe you were explaining
there for people who still having hard time trying to figured out, its that
the “lines” only defines where the “strong shadows” are in, but the true
shape of it, is “lineless” and more rounded on a more tridimentional shape,
that’s why there is really no true lines on the sides (depending on
perspective, almost all lines around the face can fade away)
It is not a bad explanation of sycra, is actually very well explained, and
hope people take what I say as addition and nothing more (i’m a beginner on
drawing too, that’s why m here lol)

Nick Star says:

17:15 LOL WTF IS THAT

fla gkdsa says:

your did the planes of the face and did eyes, but no nose,

Madeline Osigian says:

Hey Sycra! I don’t really have a problem with proportions, because I’ve
seen TONS of proportion videos and stuff, but my faces all seem the same.
Any tips on how to change up faces while keeping correct proportion?

heart2draw says:

I kinda understand why you make the line darker at the front of the chin
and then ease it as you go backwards on the jaw. But at the same time I
find it a bit confusing since the chin catches more light, and that it
therefore maybe would be more natural for the chin to get a lighter line?
Idk, it’s just a thought

Ristro44 says:

The chin thing, does that depend on the lighting though? I find with a lot
of female characters a darker chin just makes them look like they have a
bit of a beard. :S
Chins are one of those things that are really simplified as well. If you’re
doing something more realistic there’s usually a line 1) under the lip and
2) there the lips meet the cheeks.
People usually leave out the line between the nose and mouth as well…but
they’re a really handy line if you’re trying to figure out how wide the
mouth is supposed to be.

Short rant here: the fact so many people miss out those lines is a little
sad to me. Sure, sometimes they’re just shading but everyone has them and
the deeper they are the more likely you’re a smiley person. All I’m saying
is I’d like to see them represented in young people more is all…
rant over :p

ThomThomV says:

Wow I never really considered the spatial proportions of the face and
applying it to art. This cool as heck!

Christian Golda says:

Lol 17:16 I don’t know wut ur up to sycra butt I know it’s some kind of
message 

Skwee says:

I’m curious since you mentioned in this video to use arm movements, I read
somewhere or heard in one of your videos that you used to work on a
graphire 4×5 tablet, which is what I am attempting to use (It has been
sitting around for years unused) and I have no idea how you would use arm
movements on such a small surface, and that isn’t even including the fact
that skin likes to stick to plastic so my hand just gets caught all the
time even if I tried. Also I just tried to “ink” a drawing I had done and
found it incredibly difficult to do long lines (or even short ones)
accurately without doing it slowly which in turn creates wiggly lines. It
just seems impossible to translate the tiny movements on a 4×5 surface into
something on a much larger screen space.

LilKirschkid says:

Thank you, thats very helpful. I really have problems with the eyes,
finding the right place and making the second one.
But really hard is to do it in another perspective, if the face is turned a
little bit to a side, im totally failing on EVERYTHING. I just cant make
the eyes right, or the nose or the mouth. And im trying to do it so many
times, and never really get that.

Fritz Mueller says:

at 10:10 DID ANYONE ELSE HEAR SIRENS

Anthony Marquet says:

Very helpful like to learn more

Painkiller Beatz says:

now i understand that i have nothing understood

David Crisler says:

your going too fast next video

TheDuke568 says:

lol your connection between lines that are farther away than others vs a
tree made no sense…. why didnt you just say any object closer to you is
more defined (which means darker lines) than objects farther away
(lighter/faded lines)

Michael Frenier says:

Anyone really looking for a good grasp on drawing faces of all types of
people from imagination should consider studying the book Heads and Hands
by Andrew Loomis very thoroughly. 

Mike Stone says:

3:15
I think you just contradicted yourself a bit there. You said in another
video that you didn’t like the idea of “feeling it out”.

Zyraelify says:

That’s really nice, simple and very useful video, can i find you somewhere
on the DeviantArt?

carbonpictures says:

just tried it out- works for me- thanks!

Jessica Smiles says:

Literally mind-blown

Kfreeks says:

This is really really great information. 

lauren inacio says:

your lessons are really helpful! keep up the great work

Wren Howerton says:

This helped me so much! I’ve been in a rut for the past year, trying to
figure out how to make my drawings look more three dimensional and really
breathe life into them. I’m sure these tips will help. Thank you so much!
<3

The Masquerader says:

Great tips. Thanks for the free assistance to all of us new artists.

Ana Serra says:

A M A Z I N G drawing and teaching skills!!! Great video! Thanks for
sharing!!!! :)

Jessica Smiles says:

Pumpkin butt at 17:16?

luttiart says:

When I draw on an A5 paper (which most of my textbooks and sketchbooks
are), I find it hard to use my arm to draw, because I feel very limited to
stay within the paper, do you have any suggestions about that? This happens
sometimes when I draw with my tablet (which is about as big as an A4 paper)
as well, but not as often.

Guy Saar says:

Helped a lot!!! thanks for the tips =]

allluckyseven says:

The height of the ear going from the bottom of the nose to the eyebrows
only works if you’re using classic human proportions.

David Kachushi says:

Can anyone help? I have cs6 on pc and what I want is to have this old paper
background whenever I create a new page instead of white or transparent
page. I think I have to somehow save texture jpg or something so it would
appear under the “background contents” option. Is it even possible? I don’t
really want to upload photoshop old paper texture every time I want to draw
something and to look old etc.

Octavio uptheass says:

I’ve seen a bit of my techniques in here. I feel more confident

Colin Baker says:

ugh so much knowledge, thank you +Sycra, even though i just started in may
and watching your videos this week, i’m learning all this stuff that i saw
was a huge problem (ie, having difficulty expressing 3D on a 2D plane,) and
just could not figure out how to effectively make it work, outside of just
adding shading as a faux 3D creator. 

Osjey says:

id love to see the face looking up down left right n stuff. especially how
it changes the jaw area.

sunshinedracoluv says:

Could you do a video on facial expressions? Ive heard about the squishing
and movement of the face but im always too afraid to venture from the
proportions I know the face holds

Bethany Francia says:

I just can’t draw a face at all. Not a person’s face, anime face, chibi
face, etc. I just suck at drawing faces. But I have absolutely no problem
drawing everything else -,-

AttackOn Tacos says:

this helped me so much. Thank you

Yu Iko says:

Such messy and scratchy lines! haha. I love the video, but it was just a
bit hard to watch with the messy lines. It might help beginners to show
them that clean line work is important from the get go. Otherwise, great
vid. :)

Click Top says:

you are a great teacher sycra! im learning some biology and drawing basics
all in one! good job and keep sharing. 

Cup Cake Unleashed says:

Do you use a tablet or a touch screen for your drawing?
What programs do you currently use?

RedWhirlWind says:

I’ve been drawing since as long as I can remember, but your tips still
greatly helped me, especially with eye sz, that always took me too long.
thanks, seriously, thanks.

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