Expressive Eyes
Draw a pair of expressive eyes with strong highlights.
advanced35 min
Category
53 People Drawing Ideas
portrait drawing ideas from quick shape studies to longer proportion and value work, each with a construction tip and an honest time estimate.
Catalog status
46 ideas · 7 illustrated
Faces and hands fail on structure, not detail. Block the skull, the jaw, and the palm as solid forms before a single feature goes down.
Illustrated references
7 with a checked reference image
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Side Profile Face
Draw a clean side-profile face with simple hair shapes.
advanced36 min
Open Hand Pose
Draw an open hand with visible knuckles and palm lines.
advanced40 min
Dancer Silhouette
Draw a dancer in motion with a flowing skirt.
intermediate18 min
Anime Hair Portrait
Draw an anime-inspired portrait focused on layered hair.
intermediate26 min
Chibi Chef Character
Draw a tiny chibi chef holding a whisk.
beginner16 min
Superhero Cape
Draw a dramatic cape hanging from a simple costume form.
intermediate20 min
More ideas
46 more, each with a starting point
These do not have an illustration, but each one names the shape to block in first and gives an honest time estimate.
Beginner
5 ideas
An anime eye with layered highlights
Big iris, dark upper lash line, two highlights: one big, one tiny.
16 minbeginner
A five-minute gesture of someone reading
No outlines. Only the flow of the pose in loose strokes.
5 minbeginner
A chibi character with a head as tall as the body
Two-head-tall proportion; tiny hands, no neck.
16 minbeginner
A cartoon face built from one circle and two lines
Cross lines place the eyes; everything follows from that.
10 minbeginner
A chibi version of a serious character
Two heads tall, no neck, features pushed into the lower third.
18 minbeginner
Intermediate
25 ideas
An eye seen straight on, with a visible catchlight
The catchlight is a hard white shape; leave it, do not add it.
24 minintermediate
A pair of eyes with different expressions
Change only the eyelid curve; the eyeball stays identical.
26 minintermediate
An ear drawn from memory, then from life
Compare the two afterwards; that comparison is the exercise.
26 minintermediate
An open hand with fingers spread
Palm is a box; fingers are cylinders that taper.
24 minintermediate
A face in profile with the jaw clearly defined
The jaw angle sits directly under the ear, never in front of it.
26 minintermediate
A face with hair drawn as five big locks
Five masses first. Individual strands only at the very end.
26 minintermediate
A person seen from behind, hood up
The hood shape is the whole character; face is unnecessary.
20 minintermediate
A self-portrait using only straight lines
Every stroke must be straight — curves are banned.
24 minintermediate
An anime character in a three-quarter turn
Cross the face with a curved centre line before features.
28 minintermediate
The same face with three different emotions
Change eyebrows and mouth only. Nothing else moves.
24 minintermediate
A person wearing headphones, eyes closed
Headphones give an easy horizontal to check the head tilt.
22 minintermediate
A silhouette portrait filled with a pattern
Get the outline perfect first; the pattern cannot rescue it.
24 minintermediate
A baby's face using very large eye spacing
Eyes low on the skull, huge forehead, tiny features.
22 minintermediate
A pair of shoes drawn from where you sit
Whatever foreshortening you see, keep it. Do not correct it.
22 minintermediate
A person in a raincoat under an umbrella
Umbrella ellipse first, then hang the figure under its centre.
24 minintermediate
An anime face in three-quarter view with a large iris
Curved centre line first; the far eye sits tight to the edge.
26 minintermediate
Anime hair drawn as five clumps with sharp tips
Every clump tapers to a point away from the scalp.
24 minintermediate
An anime character shouting, mouth wide open
Mouth becomes a rounded trapezoid; eyes close to arcs.
24 minintermediate
A manga panel with speed lines behind a running figure
Speed lines converge on one point behind the figure.
28 minintermediate
An anime side profile with a small nose and long lashes
Straight forehead-to-nose line, then a sharp step at the lip.
24 minintermediate
Anime eyes showing four different emotions
Change pupil size and lid curve. Nothing else.
26 minintermediate
A school uniform drawn with only four fold lines
Folds appear where fabric is pulled: shoulder, elbow, waist, hem.
24 minintermediate
An anime cat-eared character in a half-turn
Ears sit on the skull curve, not on the outline.
26 minintermediate
A hooded anime character with the face in shadow
One hard shadow shape across the eyes; leave the mouth lit.
28 minintermediate
Your own hand in three different positions on one page
Same light direction across all three or the page falls apart.
30 minintermediate
Advanced
16 ideas
A nose in three-quarter view
Block the ball, two wings, and the bridge plane before shading.
28 minadvanced
Lips slightly parted, seen from below
The upper lip is darker than the lower one in almost all light.
28 minadvanced
A hand holding a pencil, seen from the drawer's own view
Draw what you actually see, foreshortening and all.
30 minadvanced
A fist seen from the knuckle side
Knuckles sit on an arc, not a straight line.
28 minadvanced
Two hands holding a mug
The mug's cylinder tells you where the fingers wrap.
32 minadvanced
A three-quarter face with the far eye partly hidden
The far eye is narrower and closer to the head's edge.
32 minadvanced
Curly hair described with only outline and shadow
Do not draw curls. Draw the shadow between the curls.
30 minadvanced
A figure walking away down a corridor
One vanishing point behind the figure; feet shrink toward it.
32 minadvanced
A dancer mid-turn with the skirt trailing
Draw the line of action as one sweep before any body parts.
30 minadvanced
A seated figure with the weight on one hip
Shoulders tilt one way, hips the other. Exaggerate it.
32 minadvanced
A face made of only five value shapes
Squint until you see five tones, then fill them flat.
30 minadvanced
A face half rendered, half left as line
Choose the split line deliberately down the centre or a diagonal.
30 minadvanced
An old face where the wrinkles follow the form
Wrinkles wrap around forms; they never cut straight across.
34 minadvanced
A skull drawn from a three-quarter angle
Cranium sphere first, jaw box second, teeth last.
32 minadvanced
A hand throwing a paper plane
The plane leads; the hand is still finishing the throw.
28 minadvanced
An eye reflecting a window
The reflection is a hard-edged rectangle bent over the cornea.
30 minadvanced
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