ART GUIDE: Dos and Don'ts for Beginners - Part 4 - "15 Most common mistakes in drawing Noses, Lips and Ears" 👃🏻 👄 👂🏼

Hi everyone!

This is the fourth post of a series based on observations of my students' exercises on Domestika.

✍🏼 My comments and observations usually apply to people who are just starting their adventure with drawing. Therefore, I refer to these tendencies as "mistakes". Not because there is only one way to do art. It's just worth knowing the rules first in order to be able to break them effectively and consciously.

🍓 When I complete a series of these posts, I will create a summary to make everything easy to find and follow.

You can find previous guides here: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3

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Today's post will be about drawing noses, lips and ears. In the next one I’m going to talk more about drawing whole faces.

👃🏻 👄 👂🏼  MISTAKE NO 1: DRAWING OUTLINES WITHOUT THINKING ABOUT THE FORM AND PLANES OF THE FEATURES

I think the most popular mistake among beginners is drawing the face features in a “flat” way, without following the form and volume.

Linear drawing is of course acceptable and popular in art but requires previous learning with showing forms and volumes. Without such a background, beginners' errors are very noticeable.

The reason why these objects look 3D is because they have visible planes. Each plane is facing a different direction. Multiple planes on one object give the illusion of depth. Each, even a very smooth looking object has its planes.

If you’re having troubles with noticing such planes, work with low poly models. They have simplified forms and very visible planes

👃🏻 👄 👂🏼MISTAKE NO 2: CLOSED, REGULAR OUTLINES

As I mentioned in the Part 2 of this guide, one of the most common mistakes is drawing closed, regular contours. I think it’s the most common in drawing lips.

👃🏻 👄 MISTAKE NO 3: LOST CENTRAL POINT OF THE NOSE AND LIPS

When drawing a face, always be aware of the central line. It turns and changes its curve when the head is moving.

(This 3D Procreate model will be available with my second Domestika course 😊)

The central line is very important to find the symmetry and placing the nose and the mouth. Even small differences can change the whole expression:

👃🏻 👄 MISTAKE NO 4: DRAWING THE NOSE AND THE MOUTH ALWAYS FROM THE FRONTAL VIEW

This is a very common mistake, visible especially in ¾ view drawings. Remember that the features visible from this angle don’t look symmetrical as they would from the front.

👃🏻 MISTAKE NO 5: REGULAR AND IDENTICAL NOSTRILS

This is a very popular mistake in nose studies. Beginners often try to simplify the nose too much and eliminate the irregular lines of the nostrils which can have so many different shapes. It is also a matter of drawing the nose as if it is always visible from the front (with symmetrical nostrils).

👃🏻 MISTAKE NO 6: COMPLETELY BLACK NOSTRILS

It is easy to think of the nostrils as completely black holes, but they will only be black on one side and then brighten with a smooth gradation towards the light.

👃🏻 MISTAKE NO 7: HATCHING OR SKIN DETAILS THAT AREN'T PLACED ON THE PLANES OF THE NOSE

I usually see this error with noses. Remember to follow the planes of your nose when you draw freckles or usually shading or hatching on it. In this way, you will emphasize the form and its three-dimensionality.

👄 MISTAKE NO 8: TOO STRONG DETAILS AND TOO WHITE HIGHLIGHTS

Simplifying in drawing is like seeing something from a distance or with squinted eyes. You wouldn't see each separate hair or fine line. Therefore, drawing too many details on the lips (or in the eye) looks unnatural and draws too much attention. The same case is with too contrasting and too bright highlights. 

Beginning artists often have a problem with creating the right contrast, so they help themselves with white highlights. I did it myself and you can see it in early works on my instagram :)

👄 MISTAKE NO 9: TOO BIG, STRETCHED OR TOO POUTED LIPS

This is a mistake I often make myself. I try to emphasize my lips and make them too pouted. Sometimes it looks good, but they usually appear to be misplaced from the centerline or it causes strange expressions.

 👄  MISTAKE NO 10: STRONG LINES BETWEEN THE TEETH

This is the most common mistake in drawing teeth. Separate, clearly outlined teeth appear creepy. You can use this effect when you want to emphasize that a character is crazy or dangerous. However, if you’re aiming for a subtle facial expression, try to skip the gaps and treat the teeth arch as one (or with very subtle lines between the teeth).

 👄 MISTAKE NO 11: IRREGULAR OR TOO MANY TEETH

This mistake is also pretty common. Treating the teeth as if they were hair - irregularly scattered pieces. Only that the teeth have a specific number and division that should not be ignored.

To avoid this mistake, count the visible teeth and divide the tooth arch into their exact number. Remember that teeth come in different sizes and shapes. Always be aware of the central line!

 👄 MISTAKE NO 12: TEETH ARCH WITHOUT THE CURVE

As you can see, the teeth cause a lot of trouble :) This is another mistake in drawing them - the arrangement of the teeth on a flat plane. Remember that the teeth are based on the arch and they will hide in the darker values in the corners of the mouth.

👂🏼MISTAKE NO 13: MESSY SHAPE OF THE EAR

As humans we tend to look at the central part of the face because there are the most signals and emotions shown by the mimics. Therefore, when drawing, we often skip the ears. This is also because they are often hidden under the hair and because they have a complicated shape.

Balance is important in sketching the ears. You should simplify them properly so that they do not take too much time, but also know their shape so as not to draw them too messy and irregular.

Drawing a mess won’t suggest an ear properly. The mess needs to be organized anatomically:

👂🏼MISTAKE NO 14: INCORRECT POSITION AND ANGLE OF THE EAR

The position of the ears often causes problems because there are not too many landmarks around them. Remember that the ear should be approximately at the center of the head, at eye / eyebrow level (top), and at the bottom of the nose (bottom). At the top, the ear is slightly tilted towards the back of the head.

Minor mistakes in this area are difficult to notice but more experienced artists will see them if they’re not placed more or less correctly.

👂🏼MISTAKE NO 15: NOT CARING ABOUT THE EAR AT ALL :)

The ears are very often hidden in portrait drawings or just neglected. This is especially noticeable when other features of the face are drawn very accurately and the ears are flawed or incomplete. Study the ears to understand their shape, form and position, and avoid such situations.

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That's all for today! Let me know what you think and which mistakes you do the most often. For me it would be too pouted lips and not caring enough about the ears 😅

If you'd like to see a video with eyes, noses, lips and ears - here is the one with my pencil studies: Tutorial Video: How to draw face features - REAL TIME pencil drawing process 🎞 

Hugs! 🤗

Gaby