How to Draw a Nose – Step by Step

2.9M
Mark as Completed

How to Draw a Nose – Step by Step

2.9M
Mark as Completed

Draw the Nose

Take a picture of your own nose or find some good photos online (get some with clear light and shadows). Follow my step-by-step lesson to complete the drawing. Rewatch the lesson to review all the anatomical details. Those take a few times to understand.

Newest
Nicole Guz
4mo
Nicole Guz
5mo
Nicole Guz
5mo
I dont think i quite get the importance of the anatomy and the minor planes. Is it for when putting shadows?
@robot0906
5mo
Hello there everyone, after doing nose studies after a week I feel pretty confident to moving on with the next piece of anatomy. Any advice that you can give me for these pieces?
Rachel Dawn Owens
Looks great!
@robot0906
5mo
Here’s my anatomy tracing of it. Is it necessary to do? @Jesper Axelsson
Vera Robson
I find drawing noses extremely hard for some reason. After drawing them for weeks I definitely improved, but it is still very hard to 'feel' the shape on paper when drawing.
Ruan Lombaard
Hi there! Absolute beginner here. The nose looks good, but I feel that it could do with more defined shapes. Try to push your value ranges further to give yourself more room for more subtle nuances. Darkening your darks, such as the nostrils, even further will help accentuate your highlights and vice versa. Don't be afraid to go "too dark" or "too light" especially at the beginning. Stepping outside your comfort zone to create something that's "too bold" helps you gain confidence in your art. Looking forward to see the rest
Silvia Spadone
Hi! I struggled a bit but here some noses, any advise?
Martha Muniz
Your construction seems good, and I think the purple nose came out great. I think what makes it more successful is the contrast between light and dark that allows it to be more readable and clear in its structure. Continue applying the method of finding the separation between light and shadow after laying in your structure, as this continues to communicate the form of the nose. Your work is overall on the right track, but keeping this in mind also helps the process become more manageable. Hope this helps! :)
Joseph Osley
I drew 100 noses. I definitely got more comfortable with them as I went along. Shading is still not something I am competent in. Noses are tricky and I'll need to do much more work before I can get them down from all angles. All in all, this was good practice that should help when doing future face studies.
Franca
9mo
I once watched a video of nose anatomy, quite interesting and it helps understading how to "invent" a nose, would recommend it. But these look very good and varied :)
Gannon Beck
Great work! I admire your dedication to do 100!
THEO
11mo
Would love any critique/tips! I'm really trying to get the structure of the nose in my head as a general basis, I have a little uncertainty about where to place the major plane change on the ball of the nose, but I think I just need a bit more practice to feel secure. also trying to keep in mind not every nose/angle follows these rigid plane changes in reality. (let me know if tagging instructors/moderators isn't preferred, I know there's a lot of areas of the site to keep track of @Liandro)
Joseph Osley
These look absolutely wonderful. Definitely can see the structure and planes. Shading is lovely. Getting the ball to behave at odd angles is a trial. I am no expert so I can't offer much, but you seem to be doing most everything right to me. Awesome stuff! Thank you for sharing this.
James Reed
11mo
who nose best
@grugrugru
1yr
Taylor Patterson
Man I don't have any critique on this but I appreciate your hard work, inspiring really!
Vin
1yr
My first attempt. Shading a nose is so hard, and I need to practice more how to draw the shape of nose.
@ern1s
1yr
I taught eyes are difficult.. until I've tried nose.. any suggestions on where to focus in order to improve?
Liandro
1yr
I think you did a nice job, @ern1s! The complexity of the nose has a lot to do with perspective, so the best way to approach it is with a "constructional mindset": start by thinking of the "major planes" (a simple boxy object) so you can solve the overall perspective first; then, develop the big, simpler forms into smaller, more complex forms ("minor planes"), but still keeping the same logic of perspective, depth and overlaps; and, lastly, "polish" those minor planes into a rendered drawing, adding more details, softening the edges and making even smaller adjustments, but still keeping the same overall structure as before. I'm attaching some visual notes along with a paint-over - notice that the shading should follow the perspective since the earlier stages and remain consistent throughout the whole process: the top planes, which face the light source more directly, are lighter, while the bottom planes are significantly darker. When doing this with traditional pencil on paper, try to keep the outlines as light as possible during the sketch / construction phase so that they don't get in the way of rendering the tones later on. If you have any trouble visualizing the major or minor planes on a real nose or on a photo reference, maybe get a careful review on Stan's main lesson, take some notes for yourself and, perhaps, do some sketches without shading in order to get a stronger grip on those basic forms. Other than that, it seems that these are your first steps drawing the nose, so take it easy and just keep going! As you practice and study more, things should become progressively clearer and more manageable. Hope this helps. If you have any questions or extra commens, feel free to let me know!
Change To ‘Atylass’ From The Game.
29/10/2023 And another one.
Change To ‘Atylass’ From The Game.
29/10/2023 Hey guys. Sorry for the LOOOOONG disappearance, school’s been eating away at me for awhile, and Noses hasn’t been easy to grasp for me, the hardest thing I’ve done yet. As from now on, I shall be uploading everything at once for or at least more than just 3 images for faster uploads. Hope you enjoy.
S R
1yr
The shading is super chunky, but I feel like I'm getting to understand the underlying forms
@somepleb48
Trying to get a feel specifically for when the nose bridge wedges into the cartilage + the side planes of the bridge. I would also appreciate any help with visualizing where the wings of the nose enters the skull.
Alex S
1yr
Shading is something that I'm still working on, otherwise I think I've got the structure/shape of the nose figured out (mostly).......
@mogumogu
1yr
@mogumogu
1yr
hArtMann
1yr
Struggled a bit with the darker skin tones but getting better at painting them.
@aeyt
1yr
Man, drawing noses is hard! Will have to revisit this exercise at some point but for now I’m gonna move on to the mouth. Feedback appreciated!
Martha Muniz
Good work! Just one thing I'd like to note is to make sure the perspective aligns from the top of the bridge to the placement of the nostrils. Something I noticed as a tendency (e.g. #6, 7, 11, 12) is that the bottom of the nose seems to be facing one way while the top of the bridge is shifted at a different angle. It would help to create a quick guideline across for these two points and compare that they are parallel in the same direction.
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Founder of Proko, artist and teacher of drawing, painting, and anatomy. I try to make my lessons fun and ultra packed with information.
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