Need help spotting my head perspective problem.

Bigby

So Ive been studying the head, just sketching and painting. I noticed I always have this problem with a head at a 3 quarter angle. Even if I use guides, I always seem to go for this odd perspective interpretation. This angled 3D but looking flat look. I cant explain it but I know I should think of the head as a sphere more or less. I just cant for the life of me draw it like that.

I can draw and shade a sphere. I can draw and shade a tube. I just cannot get the outer parts of the head to look "right".
I cant see it. I cant visualize what this head is supposed to look like as a sphere correctly. The area around the zyg arch doesnt feel right. Same for the eyes. Im sure theres more im not seeing.

Sorry if I sound flustered. Heres an example. I could flood the entire thread with heads but they all look the same and have the same problem. I figured I should post before this becomes a bad habit.

Ignore the neck. I would great appreciate it if someone could do a quick draw-over to show me some critiques. Something to lead me in the right direction in the hopes that it "clicks".

EVF

As far as what you have there, try protruding the brow.
Ear is too high, usually in between eyes line and bottom of nose line.
cranium should be bigger in back.
I know you said ignore the neck but.... it doesn't help.
Do you use references?
Have you looked at this? : 
http://www.proko.com/how-to-draw-the-head-from-any-angle/
Best of luck, keep on trying!

[Deleted User]

The user and all related content has been deleted.

Bigby

Thanks for the suggestions. Ive been really trying my best practicing perspective. Between these two heads, which would you say is closer to being "right" I guess is what im asking. I asked a friend of mine if she could rearrange the face on the left into what she thinks is correct. I drew the left one, she duplicated and rearranged it into the right one.

I personally like the left one more (the one I made) but I could be seeing it wrong.

EVF said:

As far as what you have there, try protruding the brow.
Ear is too high, usually in between eyes line and bottom of nose line.
cranium should be bigger in back.
I know you said ignore the neck but.... it doesn't help.
Do you use references?
Have you looked at this? : 
http://www.proko.com/how-to-draw-the-head-from-any-angle/
Best of luck, keep on trying!

Ive seen proko's stuff but I dont click with his teaching.

chubbycat

Ive seen proko's stuff but I dont click with his teaching. 

Proko basically just goes through Loomis' method of drawing heads. Which is something all artists should check out.

My hunch is that you're not understanding heads because you don't understand what is under the surface - the skull. The skull is the best guide for understanding how the head works in a 3/4 view. Thinking in terms of the skull and it's landmarks is helpful in transitioning into 'thinking 3d'.

Like EVF mentioned, the neck is an issue.. even in the pic above. Without the neck being placed correctly, the head will never remotely look right. Also, above, the hairline is way too far up the head. Like the neck, the issue of the hair also throws things off. I really encourage you to practice the above pose in the mirror because you'll find that the angle of the chin (and how 'strong it looks') doesn't exactly match up with the rest of the features of the face - the face is going one way, the features another

Three other suggestions for the above pic. Firstly, I'm not sure if it's a style choice or not, but the way you do eyes are too big. The lip and nose need more space between them. Study the nose more since on that angle, we should see a tiny bit of the nostril on the other side, and the nostril on the side we do see doesn't flow correctly.

Best of luck. Keeping pushing those studies

Bigby

chubbycat said:

Ive seen proko's stuff but I dont click with his teaching. 

Proko basically just goes through Loomis' method of drawing heads. Which is something all artists should check out.

My hunch is that you're not understanding heads because you don't understand what is under the surface - the skull. The skull is the best guide for understanding how the head works in a 3/4 view. Thinking in terms of the skull and it's landmarks is helpful in transitioning into 'thinking 3d'.

Like EVF mentioned, the neck is an issue.. even in the pic above. Without the neck being placed correctly, the head will never remotely look right. Also, above, the hairline is way too far up the head. Like the neck, the issue of the hair also throws things off. I really encourage you to practice the above pose in the mirror because you'll find that the angle of the chin (and how 'strong it looks') doesn't exactly match up with the rest of the features of the face - the face is going one way, the features another

Three other suggestions for the above pic. Firstly, I'm not sure if it's a style choice or not, but the way you do eyes are too big. The lip and nose need more space between them. Study the nose more since on that angle, we should see a tiny bit of the nostril on the other side, and the nostril on the side we do see doesn't flow correctly.

Best of luck. Keeping pushing those studies

I just meant I dont like the way proko teaches. I'll keep practicing.

brucemoose

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2T7cDY7YDsg watch this and apply the methods of the masters, yes it's pretty boring and dry but you will see results.

brucemoose

Bigby said:

Thanks for the suggestions. Ive been really trying my best practicing perspective. Between these two heads, which would you say is closer to being "right" I guess is what im asking. I asked a friend of mine if she could rearrange the face on the left into what she thinks is correct. I drew the left one, she duplicated and rearranged it into the right one.

I personally like the left one more (the one I made) but I could be seeing it wrong.

EVF said:

As far as what you have there, try protruding the brow.
Ear is too high, usually in between eyes line and bottom of nose line.
cranium should be bigger in back.
I know you said ignore the neck but.... it doesn't help.
Do you use references?
Have you looked at this? : 
http://www.proko.com/how-to-draw-the-head-from-any-angle/
Best of luck, keep on trying!

Ive seen proko's stuff but I dont click with his teaching.

This is a long and very dry tutorial but if you listen and take notes, you will see a dramatic improvement in how you approach head drawing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2T7cDY7YDsg

brucemoose

Bigby said:

Thanks for the suggestions. Ive been really trying my best practicing perspective. Between these two heads, which would you say is closer to being "right" I guess is what im asking. I asked a friend of mine if she could rearrange the face on the left into what she thinks is correct. I drew the left one, she duplicated and rearranged it into the right one.

I personally like the left one more (the one I made) but I could be seeing it wrong.

EVF said:

As far as what you have there, try protruding the brow.
Ear is too high, usually in between eyes line and bottom of nose line.
cranium should be bigger in back.
I know you said ignore the neck but.... it doesn't help.
Do you use references?
Have you looked at this? : 
http://www.proko.com/how-to-draw-the-head-from-any-angle/
Best of luck, keep on trying!

Ive seen proko's stuff but I dont click with his teaching.

This is a long and very dry tutorial but if you listen and take notes, you will see a dramatic improvement in how you approach head drawing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2T7cDY7YDsg

Bigby

Improvement slightly? Just trying to figure out my style. Cant seem to get over drawing the nose that way