TUTORIAL // face planes
Added 2025-03-06 17:35:54 +0000 UTCThis month's tutorial is a much requested topic: Capturing the planes of the face! I talk about how you can simplify the head into basic geometry in order to convey the planes of a head, and how you can use the Asaro head as a reference. I also run you through a few different art styles that have different ways of conveying this topic! This is a great one for those of you who want to capture more 3-dimensionality in the heads that you draw, or get a more sculpted semi-realistic style like in Arcane. I hope you enjoy it! ✨
The main brushes I use in this video are:
The MaCaLabs HB pencil brush for the initial sketch (there's also a Procreate version)
The hard round brush from my own brush set for blending and painting
Yuming Li's brush set for the smudge brush
Here's the artwork I made in the demo:
Here are some additional tutorials I've made in the past that would be a great supplement to this one:
My guide to stylizing faces: this video runs you through how I construct the basic proportions and features of a stylized face.
Creating interesting & flowy shapes: this is a great resource for understanding how you can modify the shapes of shadows and highlights to get a more organic look.
Statue studies | resource video and challenge: this challenge is a great one to try out if you want to draw heads with a focus on volume. The resource video discusses specific challenges around creating volume-based artwork.
Next to that, I also mention two really helpful resources for studying a planar head:
Interactive male head lighting tool on Artstation
Basic head structure building blocks on SketchFab
Here's a cheat sheet with the most important information from the video - you can also find a PDF version with clickable links attached to this post!
I hope you enjoy this video ! Feel free to share any future tutorial suggestions in the #tutorial-suggestions channel in the discord server (If you don't know how to join, just follow the steps outlined here) or leave them in a comment below ❤
Comments
hope you liked it!
Loish
2025-07-10 09:41:21 +0000 UTC👍🏻 Thank you.💙
Michael H
2025-07-06 21:43:24 +0000 UTC☕️. Just getting into this one today.👍🏻
Michael H
2025-07-06 21:23:58 +0000 UTCthat's so odd! i'm also not seeing anything either - maybe there was an update or change to the site that affected the functionality of this tool. hopefully they will fix it! I guess a decent alternative would be the asaro head on sketchfab, which unfortunately doesn't have lighting options but you can still put it at any angle you like: https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/asaro-head-9d26548182f8465a8e97371a9170561e
Loish
2025-05-27 13:54:00 +0000 UTCAwesome tutorial and thank you for putting in the link of the interactive face model. Sadly it doesn't seem to show for me at all - like I can't view it. Tried emptying my chache and all but I simply can't see or use it. Is there some issue I am too stupid to see, or what am I doing wrong? Does anyone else have this issue? Could not find anything else on the internet either.
Jinxed
2025-05-26 08:37:37 +0000 UTCthat's definitely a challenge I've run into as well! something I've done in the past is use a little keyboard for shortcuts, and click the ipad into a special plastic holder that makes it easier to lean your arm on it. it's called a sketchboard pro: https://sketchboardpro.com/
Loish
2025-03-12 11:28:52 +0000 UTCHey Loish! I have a question about ipads. As a cintiq user, how did you get used to the ipad? I recently bought one to draw on the go with, but am so used to my cintiq that it feels weird! Any suggestions for making the ipad FEEL more cintiq-like?
Zombiy
2025-03-11 21:23:26 +0000 UTCThis was enlightning! Thank you so much!
Vane González
2025-03-11 13:27:21 +0000 UTCLoved this one. Now to try it out for one of my face studies.
Atreya
2025-03-11 03:12:31 +0000 UTCyay! that's so great to hear!
Loish
2025-03-10 10:54:18 +0000 UTChappy to hear that! thanks for your kind words!
Loish
2025-03-10 10:50:18 +0000 UTCI'm so glad you enjoyed it!
Loish
2025-03-10 10:50:07 +0000 UTCThanks Loish that was really insightful and useful! x
Panda
2025-03-10 02:56:48 +0000 UTCLove this tutorial. Understanding facial planes is the next step in my art journey. This tutorial was extremely helpful.
Serena Georges
2025-03-10 00:10:12 +0000 UTCThis is exactly what I need. Thanks a million, it is very useful for me :)
gizem bolayir
2025-03-09 11:27:19 +0000 UTCI so needed this tutorial this week. Thank you!
Luniara
2025-03-08 22:35:20 +0000 UTCThat was amazing. I learned so much and I think I just made the most readable face I ever did . Thank you so much . You explain so well too!
Tsvetelina Yankova
2025-03-07 12:35:34 +0000 UTCThank you so much for this wonderful tutorial🙌l Could you show us in another tutorial some tricks to render and finish the illustrations in a professional way, I would love to know how you handle your round brush to create those color transitions. Could you give us some exercises to practice? Like in school 😂💖
Lucía Navarro
2025-03-07 12:07:31 +0000 UTCIt was suggested a bunch of times, but your recent suggestion really inspired me to go ahead and do it! thanks so much for sharing your ideas with me!
Loish
2025-03-07 11:05:07 +0000 UTCthanks so much! I'm glad you liked it :)
Loish
2025-03-07 11:04:34 +0000 UTCthanks so much Raquel!
Loish
2025-03-07 11:04:20 +0000 UTCHot dog! I didn't think we were going to get the planar face tutorial so soon! Thanks so much as always, and breaking things down understandable for us to learn.
Yurika
2025-03-06 22:48:01 +0000 UTCSuch an usefull video! I didn't knew this specific head was called "Asaro head", but I sure learn a lot with your analysis with different styles ! well done as always Lois <3
Inês Garcia
2025-03-06 22:12:41 +0000 UTCI found the tutorial super interesting once more you explained everything so well thank you very much ❤️
Raquel
2025-03-06 20:23:32 +0000 UTCOh I needed this 😀
Art Mancy 🔮
2025-03-06 18:26:17 +0000 UTC
