Planes and Forms of the Head

Head Drawing and Construction

Head Construction and Invention

Planes and Forms of the Head

96K
Mark as Completed

Planes and Forms of the Head

96K
Mark as Completed
Michael Hampton
We've mapped basic proportions and now transition to understanding the side plane of the head. This step involves identifying four points: hairline, base of nose, temple, and back of skull, to define the temporal fossa. Drawing is about sculpting, so we cut and add to approximate the reference. This process helps in developing features like the ear, jaw, and cheekbone, and understanding the structure and rhythm of the face. We'll be diving deeper into each feature of the face later, but this will be a good roadmap for you to see how we'll be using the steps we've learned so far.
Newest
@tonycatalano
This music is giving Persona 5. Like we are in a pre-heist team meeting..."If you thought the set-up was something, get ready for some REAL head drawing 😎". On another note, defining the four points for the side plane helps a ton from the typical way it is taught.
Ian Aaron Fuentes Sejas
I have troubles drawing the temporal fossa. How did you find the temple?
Michael Hampton
Most of the time I look for the end of the eyebrow
@veryartthing
How do you find the back of the skull if you're not starting with an accurate skull shape? When you start with this big perfect circle its not gonna accurately reflect where any of this is. I don't know where the circle shape on the inside in this diagram even came from.
Michael Hampton
I look for the width of the occipital ridge. This would be about one ear width behind the ear. I tend to just sight it but you could also use the trapezius to help find you're way there. As this is a construction, I'm mostly dealing in abstraction and estimation. If the basic sphere confuses you and you're looking for something more accurate to the skull try beginning with the form of the cranial mass
Julian Blake
Is it my impression, or the steps 8, 9, 10, and 11 were kindda rushed in the editing? I didn't really get the full process in those steps.
Ash
4mo
Hey Julian! This is a roadmap/course outline for what's to come in the next lesson groups. Mr. Hampton will explain steps 8-11 in the upcoming videos :)
Carlos
4mo
Is there a way of getting the horizontal proportions? Same way you have explained the halves and thirds, but for the width of the face so we don't end up with faces that are, in my case, too narrow. I have thought about this because I don't know where would be a correct position to draw the temple in my sketches to form the temporal fossa. Thank you.
Nick Quason
@Carlos hi if you still need info on this, good ol' Loomis has these guidelines!
Michael Hampton
I don't use anything like this or else I'd happily include it/provide you with a more concrete answer in the videos. You could try experimenting with 5 eyes across. That would work well in a symmetrical view.
@veryartthing
Really would like an answer to this. Rewatched this vid and the next one multiple times and see no explanation for how to find either the temple or the back of the skull accurately.
@meeho
5mo
Sorry, what is step 10? I rewatched it several times and still can't grasp it🥲
Michael Hampton
The eye.
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About instructor
Educator, painter, writer, and art historian. Author of Figure Drawing: Design and Invention.
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