Project 5: The Basics of Faces

Introduction

Drawing people doesn't have to be scary! In fact, this project will show you how to instruct your kids to draw a face using basic shapes. I have drawn a lot faces in my lifetime and have come up with these steps as an easy way for kids of all ages to draw a face effectively.

I think I might do a project soon about blind contours, as doing blind drawings really helps loosen people up. And, they are really fun to look at! I just want to make sure your kids don't get discouraged with art, which happens a lot because they think they can't draw.

Definitely encourage your kids before, during, and after a project. Use supportive adjectives to describe their work and their effort. I remember the encouragement I gave to a little 5-year old girl a long time ago totally backfired on me during an after-school program where we were making hand molds out of clay. I told this precious little girl that her mold looked wonderful and reminded me of the Hamburger Helper guy. This really upset her, and she began crying in the corner of the room. Luckily, another teacher explained that what I had said was a compliment because her mold looked really happy. She was fine after hearing that explanation, but it made me realize how self-conscious kids are about their art. So, take advice from me and encourage kids by using adjectives like amazing and wonderful rather than comparisons!

Materials

• a piece of paper (not construction paper or any type that will get fuzzy with erasing)
• an eraser
  
• a pencil
• crayons or colored pencils

Instructions

1. Tell your kids that they will want to draw lightly throughout the project, as they will erase several areas before they are finished.
2. Help your kids get out paper to draw on. Have them place it on a sturdy surface, such as a desk or table.
3. Have them draw an upside-down egg in the middle of their page.
4. Tell your kids to now draw a line from the top to the bottom of the head right in the middle. Then draw a line from the left to the right side of the head right in the middle. (I drew my horizontal line a little too high.)
5. Next, tell your kids to draw a football shape sitting on top of the horizontal line on both sides of the vertical line. Emphasize that symmetry is very important for faces, so guide them about having the same distance from the vertical line to the football shape for each eye.
6. Now for the nose. At this point, the vertical and horizontal lines can become confusing. Consider labeling them with numbers or letters for reference.
   
7. Have your kids draw a vertical line halfway between the middle vertical line and the chin.
   
8. Now, tell them to draw a vertical line on each side of the middle vertical line that begins at the middle horizontal line and ends about halfway down to the bottom horizontal line.
   
9. Then, have them draw a circle at the bottom of the vertical lines they just drew.
   
10. The nostrils are made by drawing a semicircle on each side of the circle. The top of each semicircle will begin at the middle of the side of the circle.
    
11. Next, they will create the mouth by drawing three triangles. A triangle on each side of the middle vertical line will form the top lip, while an upside-down triangle in the middle of the vertical line will form the bottom lip. Wide triangles are preferred for this step.
12. Now they'll begin using their erasers! Have your kids erase the entire circle part of the nose except for the bottom of the circle.
13. Then, they will create more of a curve where the vertical lines met the circle.
14. You need to make sure the bottom line of their circle extends a little past the bottoms of the semicircles.
15. Next, your kids will erase all the lines in the middle of the lips, except for the horizontal line separating the top and bottom lips. This line was formed from the bottom of the two up-right triangles. Also, have them curve the bottom of the bottom lip so that it isn't pointy anymore.
16. Have your kids draw the inside of the eyes. This is done by drawing a circle inside the football shape, but this circle should be cut off by the top of the football. Then, have your kids draw a circle inside the circle they just drew. This inner circle will create the pupil.
17. Now your kids will draw crescents for the eyebrows.
18. Once the eyes and eyebrows are drawn, your kids will erase the middle vertical line as well as both horizontal lines that have served as guides.
19. Ears don't have to be tricky! The ear shape doesn't have to be detailed, as it can just be a simple curvy line as I have done below. Usually, the top of an ear is horizontal to the middle of the eye/eyebrow area. (I drew mine a little high, but everyone's ears are different!)
20. Now for the hair. Kids typically want to draw the top of the hair right on the skull. Try to help them draw the hair up off the skull a little bit. The hair can be in any style, so encourage then to have fun with it! I've drawn my hairstyle below to be a simple, behind the ears look.
21. Now for the details! Erase the lines that formed the top of the skull. Tell your kids to have fun with the mouth (I've chosen to do a smile by simple curving up the sides of the lips). I've drawn a neck and the collar of a shirt.

The kids are done with the project, now what?

1. Your kids will have a ton of ideas for their newly drawn face. Earrings, hats, clothes, makeup, you name it!
2. They can color their drawing with crayons and colored pencils.
3. They can take their new skills and try to draw a friend (this easier said than done, so you may need to assist them in determining the correct shapes for certain facial features and the distance between features).
4. Give your kids expressions to try to emulate in their drawing (e.g., surprised, sad, confused, etc.). They can partner up and have one be the model for the expression while the other draws.

You might also like:

• The Worldwide Art Gallery has a lesson similar to this one, although a bit more advanced.
• eHow.com has a short article about teaching your child to draw a face without giving them direct instructions. It focuses on an open dialog while the both of you draw. I feel this is an important way to teach your kids, as I loved it when my dad and I would sit on the couch and draw dogs together when I was little.
• HubPages provides quite a few simple drawing projects that use a basic shape, number or letter as a base for the drawing.